From Washington, DC,

• The House of Representatives and the Senate are in session on Capitol HIll this week for Committee business and floor voting.

• The Wall Street Journal reports.
  • “Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) faces a tougher-than-expected vote to end a partial government shutdown this week, after House Democrats pushing for sweeping changes to immigration enforcement signaled they wouldn’t help Republicans pass any funding measures through the narrowly divided chamber.
  • “Johnson, with a 218-213 majority, will need to keep almost all Republicans on board or risk the shutdown that started Saturday stretching deep into the week. The measure, endorsed by President Trump, funds swaths of the government for the rest of the fiscal year, while providing a two-week extension for the Department of Homeland Security—which contains immigration-enforcement agencies. The extension is intended to jump-start talks on reining in enforcement officials’ practices.
  • “I’m very optimistic that we will get everyone back in town,” Johnson said Sunday in an interview, referring to GOP lawmakers. “We will convince them that we need to implement the president’s play call,” giving the White House time to discuss changes to DHS with Democrats.” * * *
  • “Johnson’s tiny vote margin gives any one or two GOP members powerful leverage if they want changes or concessions. Johnson as soon as Monday is expected to swear in Christian Menefee, a Democrat who just won a Texas special election to represent Texas’ 18th Congressional District after former Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death last year. That will bring the majority to 218-214.”
    
• The American Medical Association tells us,
  • “The influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted in January to address inadequate payment for Medicare physician services under current law, once again underscoring a longstanding policy failure that is widely recognized but remains unresolved.
  • “MedPAC voted to recommend an additional 0.5% update on top of the updates specified in current law—0.25% and 0.75%—and will forward that recommendation to Congress. 
  • “The AMA appreciates that last year’s reconciliation bill provided a temporary 2.5% update for 2026; however, that increase expires in 2027. Absent meaningful reform, physicians again will face payment cuts, and Congress will once more be forced into last-minute efforts to avert further disruption,” AMA Board Chair David H. Aizuss, MD, said in a statement.
  • “The AMA is leading the charge to reform the Medicare payment system. That includes strongly urging MedPAC to recommend to Congress that they update 2027 physician payment rates so that they keep pace with the Medicare Economic Index (MEI).” 

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• Per an FDA news release,
  • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today began accepting requests to participate in the FDA PreCheck pilot program. FDA PreCheck is designed to strengthen the domestic pharmaceutical supply chain by increasing regulatory predictability, facilitating the construction of manufacturing sites in the U.S., and streamlining aspects of pharmaceutical manufacturing facility assessments in advance of a specific product application.
  • “After 35 years of globalists taking pharmaceutical manufacturing overseas, the FDA is taking bold steps to bring it back,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “The PreCheck program is one of several powerful incentives we are providing to make the U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing sector more resilient and competitive.”
  • “The agency will select an initial cohort of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities and begin conducting PreCheck activities in 2026. Facilities will be selected based on overall alignment with national priorities across multiple selection criteria, such as products to be manufactured, phase of facility development, timeline to producing pharmaceutical products for the U.S. market, and innovation in facility development. Additional priority consideration will be given to facilities producing critical medications for the U.S. market.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• MedPage Today reports,
  • “There’s been a small but “alarming” bump in aortic stenosis (AS) deaths among people ages 45 to 74 in recent years, according to nationwide trends.
  • “In this younger group, age-adjusted AS mortality rates had been relatively stable until 2019, when they started climbing from a rate of 3.33 per 100,000 to 3.57 per 100,000 in 2023 — a statistically nonsignificant change that is notable nonetheless, according to Sameer Hirji, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
  • “In comparison, those ages 75 and older showed a consistent decline in age-adjusted AS mortality rates from 2012 (112.3 per 100,000) to 2023 (104.1 per 100,000) based on the CDC WONDER database, Hirji reported at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)opens in a new tab or window annual meeting.
  • “This emerging trend — spanning sex, race, and geography — demands urgent evaluation of existing screening practices, timely diagnosis, and equitable access to both transcatheter and surgical therapies,” he concluded.”

• The Washington Post relates,
  • “For years, scientists have been working to unravel the mystery of patients with failing kidneys dying from heart-related complications.
  • “Researchers now say they’ve uncovered a clue that explains why people with chronic kidney disease have such a high risk of heart failure — and it could have major implications for the diagnosis and treatment of the two common health conditions.
  • “A new study found that diseased kidneys released tiny particles that were toxic to the heart, according to findings published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation.” * * *
  • “That molecular discovery is helping to shed light on one way the kidney and heart are linked — and, in this case, to dangerous effect, said Susmita Sahoo, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
  • “No one has shown this causal relationship before,” Sahoo said.” * * *
  • “Sahoo said her team’s findings could help identify heart disease in kidney patients earlier, before they show symptoms.
  • “By measuring these cardiotoxic microRNAs, you can actually predict or identify or diagnose the patient who are on the way to developing a failing heart,” she said.
  • “The research can also influence treatment recommendations, said Erdbrügger, the study co-author who is also a practicing kidney doctor. For instance, Erdbrügger said if she knew one of her kidney patients had a higher risk of heart disease, she would consider treating more aggressively by increasing drug dosages or using more combinations of medications.”
    
• The Wall Street Journal tells us,
  • “Federal regulators issued a safety warning, telling used-car owners in the U.S. to examine their vehicles’ maintenance histories regarding air-bag safety.
  • “NHTSA said nine people have died and two were injured in otherwise-survivable crashes after DTN inflaters ruptured.
  • “NHTSA urged drivers who find that their vehicles experienced an air-bag deployment to have an inspection.” * * *
  • “If a DTN inflater is found, the vehicle should not be driven until you are able to have it replaced with genuine parts,” NHTSA said.

• NPR Shots informs us,
  • “Building strength and muscle comes with huge payoffs for health and longevity, but most Americans still don’t lift weights or regularly practice any muscle-strengthening activity.
  • “Why? People often blame a lack of time.
  • “Exercise physiologist David Behm says often when he talks to people about resistance training they seem to think they’d need hours in the gym to get results, working through rows of machines targeting each muscle.
  • “They’re like ‘my God, I’m going to be in there for an hour and a half or longer,” says Behm, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada.” * * *
  • “The evidence shows you can make real gains in strength and muscle with as little as one or two quick workouts a week — depending on the approach, you might be able to get away with as little as a half hour in the gym (or even less).
  • “The key is focusing on what are called multi-joint exercises, or compound lifts.”

• The New York Times points out,
  • “A study published this week in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that a close, nurturing relationship with parents during middle and high school was associated with a variety of positive social metrics up to two decades later.
  • “Researchers looked at six outcomes, such as having three or more close friends or socializing at least once a week. They found that high social connection in adulthood was more than twice as common among those who had felt the strongest family ties in youth, compared with those who had felt the weakest.
  • “We tend to think of adult loneliness or low social connectedness as byproducts of individual choice or adult social structures,” said Dr. Andrew Garner, a pediatrician and researcher at Case Western Reserve University, who was not involved in the research. This study, on the other hand, “forces us to think developmentally.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• Healthcare Dive reports,
  • “2026 is an “execution year” for Teladoc Health, CEO Chuck Divita told Healthcare Dive.
  • “The telehealth company has spent the past year focusing on a strategy shift, prioritizing international expansion, improving operating efficiency, better leveraging its mental health assets and enhancing its integrated care business.
  • “The goal is to deliver sustainable long-term growth at Teladoc, which has seen its stock price decline significantly from the heights reached during the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, the virtual care giant completed multiple acquisitions last year, launched new products and began accepting insurance coverage at its direct-to-consumer mental health arm BetterHelp. 
  • “I believe that we have the right strategy, the right priorities, and it’s really about execution now,” said Divita, who took up the role as Teladoc’s chief executive about a year and half ago.”
  • For the full interview, read the article. 

• McKinsey & Co. discusses the changing contours of health and wellness.
  • “As 2026 takes shape, long-held notions of health and wellness, both in and out of the workplace, are evolving—expanding beyond disease prevention to focus on longevity, performance, and quality of life.
  • “Advances in healthspan science are driving biomedical innovations that contribute to healthy longevity, while the rapidly evolving wellness economy reflects shifting consumer expectations around fitness, nutrition, and healthy aging. McKinsey Health Institute research from Barbara Jeffery, Jacqueline Brassey, Lucy Pérez, and Darshini Mahadevia also shows that workplace health interventions can deliver measurable gains for both individuals and organizations. 
  • “As you navigate your own wellness journey this year, explore these insights on what it means to live a healthier, more fulfilling life.”

• Per Fierce Healthcare,
  • “Maven Clinic launched a research institute on Thursday to rally further research and collaboration in digital health.
  • “The Clinical Research Institute is based on what Maven claims is the largest public evidence base measuring the impact of virtual care on women’s and family health. Maven has published over 40 peer-reviewed publications. A clinical research team, including Maven’s chief medical officer, is part of the center and driving its research and collaborations with partners.
  • “The goal is to serve as a platform for partnerships across academia and industry while expanding the scope of women’s and family health research. Current and past research partners include Harvard Medical School, Brown University, Posterity and OURA, with additional studies planned.
  • “The Institute also advances research through Maven’s Visiting Scientist program. Visiting Scientists work part-time with Maven for up to one year, contributing to research that informs care delivery and helps translate evidence into practice.”
• and
  • “Nourish, a virtual nutrition provider, is launching a program that gives patients access to free cardiometabolic lab testing. 
  • “Nourish Labs will integrate blood testing into personalized nutrition care. The free basic panel will include key cardiometabolic markers like cholesterol, A1C and thyroid-stimulating hormone. An enhanced lab panel for insights into heart and hormone health will be available for a small add-on cost. 
  • “The objective measurement will improve treatment plans and strengthen patient engagement, executives say.
  • “We had just really wanted to, for a long time, bring it in-house and to be able to do this ourselves,” Aidan Dewar, co-founder and CEO of Nourish, told Fierce Healthcare in an exclusive advanced interview.”