Policy

The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday outlined potential changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, suggesting kids shots should be spread farther apart in contrast to recommendations from pediatric groups. The request for information fulfills directives outlined in President Donald Trump’s executive order from Aug. 10 that seeks to stagger vaccine doses in childhood and asks […]

By Kate Yandell ANALYSIS — Studies have shown no connection between COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and increased risk of miscarriage. Despite this, Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Johnson resurrected a long-debunked claim of an astronomical rate of miscarriage after vaccination while also accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of deceiving the public about the safety of […]

The Trump administration has begun searching for new members for a vaccine advisory committee it is quietly reshaping to look at alternatives to vaccinations, a move that has drawn worries from outside groups.  The National Vaccine Advisory Committee, created in 1987, has worked across agencies to advise the Health and Human Services assistant secretary for health […]

Local television ownership groups could grow after the Federal Communications Commission took a controversial vote to remove the national ownership cap. The FCC voted, 2-1, at its August open meeting Thursday to lift the cap, which limited individual broadcasters’ ownership to stations that in aggregate reached no more than 39 percent of households, replacing it with […]

LONDON — At King’s College Hospital in the south of London, anyone who has blood drawn in the emergency department is automatically tested for hepatitis B and C. Posters throughout the facility inform patients that the screening is routine, part of a new approach helping find and treat thousands of people who might otherwise never […]

The Trump administration’s planned deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., through the end of his presidential term will cost $1.43 billion, or $51 million a month, in addition to the amount spent so far, according to a new Pentagon estimate. The new estimate of the costs going forward, first reported by The Washington […]

The Senate Finance Committee advanced a bipartisan tax administration package Thursday aimed at modernizing the IRS, improving customer service and strengthening taxpayer rights. The committee voted, 26-1, to approve the sprawling tax modernization bill, which encompasses a laundry list of tax provisions including some proposals that have already gotten backing from either House tax writers […]

Voters in battleground states and congressional districts tend to voice support for proposals in Congress that would expand access to health care or lower drug costs — often irrespective of their party affiliation — according to new polling from the University of Maryland. The poll, first shared with CQ Roll Call, surveyed people in 11 competitive states like Pennsylvania, Georgia […]

Rep. Morgan Griffith would love to eat an all-beef hot dog. But the eight-term Virginia Republican from one of the biggest cattle-producing districts in Congress doesn’t eat red meat — against his will. Griffith is one of the at least 450,000 Americans who have been diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome, a disease caused by a tick […]

Republicans in Congress have spent the past year sounding an alarm over waste, fraud and abuse in government health care programs with a midterm-focused message that cutting fraud will help lower consumers’ costs.  While many voters say that soaring health care costs are a top issue for the approaching elections, new polling shows they’re largely […]