Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies.

To tell or not to tell: Do patients really need to know who—or what—writes their doctor’s notes?
When blinded as to authorship, healthcare consumers slightly prefer medical messages composed by generative AI to those written by human clinicians.
CMS ends ACA special enrollment, changes deadline for signing up
Changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act marketplace, with the new deadline for annual enrollment shifted to Dec. 15.
Report: NIH continues to pull research grants, in violation of court orders
While the policy of President Donald Trump is to axe research on transgender issues and DEI, scientists who spoke to the Boston Globe said their work does not run up against those restrictions.
HHS sends 80K workers a $25K ‘voluntary’ resignation notice
Per a media report, employees received the offer via email on Friday. No official layoffs have been announced.
More than 1,000 hospitals earn $700M opioid crisis judgment
Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen (Cencora), Cardinal Health, McKesson, Johnson & Johnson, Teva and Allergan do not admit to wrongdoing. However, they have agreed to a settlement which will compensate providers for opioid abuse treatments.

artificial intelligence ai in healthcare

To tell or not to tell: Do patients really need to know who—or what—writes their doctor’s notes?

When blinded as to authorship, healthcare consumers slightly prefer medical messages composed by generative AI to those written by human clinicians.

CMS ends ACA special enrollment, changes deadline for signing up

Changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act marketplace, with the new deadline for annual enrollment shifted to Dec. 15.

Report: NIH continues to pull research grants, in violation of court orders

While the policy of President Donald Trump is to axe research on transgender issues and DEI, scientists who spoke to the Boston Globe said their work does not run up against those restrictions.

HHS sends 80K workers a $25K ‘voluntary’ resignation notice

Per a media report, employees received the offer via email on Friday. No official layoffs have been announced.

More than 1,000 hospitals earn $700M opioid crisis judgment

Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen (Cencora), Cardinal Health, McKesson, Johnson & Johnson, Teva and Allergan do not admit to wrongdoing. However, they have agreed to a settlement which will compensate providers for opioid abuse treatments.

VA planning 83,000 layoffs as part of restructuring

The reports are based on a leaked internal memo in which the agency said it’s working closely with Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut jobs.

artificial intelligence AI in healthcare cybersecurity

HIMSS survey report: Beware insider threats to cybersecurity involving AI

Almost one in three healthcare organizations allow their people to use AI without formal restrictions.

HHS spokesperson abruptly resigns, reportedly after clash with RFK

Tom Corry was sworn in as the assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS two weeks ago. He announced his unexpected departure in a LinkedIn post.

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business

Boston Scientific enters renal denervation market with acquisition worth up to $540M

Boston Scientific has announced another significant M&A deal, scooping up an Israeli medtech company focused on RDN technology.

Radiology Business

Shift toward imaging outside the hospital could save billions

Harvard’s David A. Rosman, MD, MBA, explains how moving imaging outside of hospitals could save billions of dollars for U.S. healthcare.

Cardiovascular Business

FDA announces catheter recall for Johnson & Johnson PFA system due to stroke risk

The recall comes after approximately 3% of patients treated with the device during the early stages of its U.S. rollout experienced a stroke or transient ischemic attack following surgery. The expected stroke rate is closer to 1%, the FDA explained.