Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

• Roll Call reports,
  • “House Republican leaders are giving up on trying to put the pieces back together for a rule needed to take up a raft of pre-recess legislative priorities after a group of GOP rebels blocked the procedural measure earlier, largely over lack of movement on voter ID requirements.
  • “The decision to send members home early for the July Fourth recess after Tuesday afternoon votes came after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., huddled in his office with Rules Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and others on how to reconstruct a path forward.” 

• Modern Healthcare relates,
  • “A bipartisan House bill would require extensive reporting on private equity firms’ healthcare holdings and ownership structures.
  • “The draft measure could reveal tactics such as sale-leaseback arrangements like those that contributed to Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy.
  • “Some Democrats want to go further than transparency and say enforcement needs to be tougher.”

• Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
  • “A growing number of states are moving to cap what hospitals can charge commercial payers and employers, turning hospital pricing into one of the most active battlegrounds in state health policy.
  • “Several states enacted hospital price caps in 2025, and the 2026 legislative sessions have brought a fresh wave of proposals tied to Medicare rates, according to The Commonwealth Fund. ” * * *
  • “For now, the cap fight is a state story. The federal government’s lever on hospital prices has been transparency and site-neutral payments, not price ceilings.
  • “CMS finalized price transparency rules requiring hospitals to post median and percentile allowed amounts in their machine-readable files, with enforcement beginning April 1, 2026. In June, the White House warned more than 500 hospitals to post pricing information or face fines. CMS also expanded site-neutral payment policies in its 2026 outpatient rule, aligning some hospital outpatient rates with lower-cost settings. Meanwhile, renewed scrutiny of the 340B drug discount program has systems bracing for further cuts.
  • “What began as isolated state efforts has evolved into a broader movement to rein in hospital prices. Whether these policies ultimately lower costs without undermining hospital finances will likely shape the next chapter of healthcare affordability debates.”

• ZeroHedge shares different perspectives on the Affordable Care Act plan’s enrollment loss.
  • Obamacare enrollment declined by nearly 3 million in 2026, sparking renewed debate about the affordability of healthcare in America.
  • “National politicians and policy experts disagreed on the reasons for the dip in enrollment, with some saying that it was driven by rising premiums. 
  • “Others said the decline was evidence that program integrity measures taken by the Trump administration were successful in rooting out fraud and waste.” 
    
• The American Hospital Association News informs us,
  • “The Department of Health and Human Services June 30 announced it will terminate emergency use authorization declarations for certain drugs and medical devices used to treat COVID-19, saying circumstances justifying the authorizations no longer exist. The declaration for drugs and biological products will end June 29, 2027, while the declaration for medical devices will end Dec. 26, 2026. The EUA declarations were issued in 2020 to accelerate access to medical products during the COVID-19 pandemic.” 
    
• Per a U.S. Office of Personnel Management news release,
  • “The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in partnership with the US Department of War (DOW), today announced the launch of War Force, a DOW-specific recruiting initiative under OPM’s Tech Force program designed to attract exceptional software engineers to support the nation’s most critical national security missions.
  • “Through War Force, OPM will recruit top engineering talent from across the country and connect qualified candidates with high-impact technical roles at the Department of War. The initiative builds on the success of Tech Force by tailoring recruitment to the Department’s unique operational and mission requirements.
  • “America’s national security depends on attracting the best technical talent to some of government’s most important missions,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “War Force builds on the momentum of Tech Force by connecting outstanding engineers with opportunities to solve complex challenges alongside the War Department. We’re making it easier for top talent to serve their country through meaningful technical work.” * * *
  • “Applicants must be US citizens and eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret/Top Secret clearance. Applications close July 10, 2026. View the job announcement and apply here.”

No Surprises Act news

• Beckers ASC News reports,
  • “Some surgical assistants are using arbitration provisions in federal billing law to collect far more than the surgeons they assist, according to The New York Times.
  • “Surgical assistants are typically paid a standard fee equal to about 16% of a surgeon’s reimbursement. But some are now collecting far more than the surgeons they assist by capitalizing on a law meant to protect patients from surprise billing, according to a New York Times report.” 

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• BioPharma Dive reports,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration is losing another top drug reviewer in Vijay Kumar, who intends to step down as acting director of the office of gene and cell therapy reviews in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
  • “Acting CBER Director Karim Mikhail will serve as the acting director of the Office of Therapeutic Products “to ensure absolute regulatory continuity” while the FDA seeks candidates for the role within and outside the agency, the spokesperson said. Kumar will remain with the FDA, having been elevated to the acting director role from his position as lead physician.
  • “Kumar’s decision comes amid personnel turbulence at the FDA, following the resignation of former Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad, along with the firing of Tracy Beth Høeg as director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Multiple top-level positions at the agency are staffed by officials in time-limited acting roles, without a clear indication when they will be filled permanently.”

• Per an FDA news release,
  • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Tregzi, the first regulatory T (Treg) cell-based immunotherapy for improving chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-free survival in adult patients with blood cancers undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). It represents a novel approach to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in some adult patients with high-risk blood cancers. It addresses an important unmet need in transplantation, where curing the cancer is often only part of the challenge; avoiding chronic GVHD is equally important for long-term outcomes.
  • “Tregzi uses stem cells and immune cells collected from blood of a closely matched donor to help the body fight cancer while reducing the risk of a serious complication called chronic GVHD — a condition that can occur when transplanted donor blood cells attack the patient’s body. Patients receive this treatment after undergoing chemotherapy to prepare their bodies for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.
  • “For patients with blood cancers who need stem cell transplantation, chronic graft-versus-host disease has long been one of the most feared and difficult-to-prevent complications,” said Karim Mikhail, B.Pharm., M.S., Acting Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). “Today’s approval offers a genuine new approach that can help reconstitute the immune system while substantially reducing that risk and reflects the promise of what cellular therapy can deliver for patients.”  

• The Wall Street Journal relates,
  • “U.S. officials are allowing Zyn to market itself as being less harmful than traditional cigarettes, making the product the first nicotine pouch on the market to be granted such a distinction.
  • “The Food and Drug Administration announced that 20 different Zyn nicotine pouches—including flavors ranging from cool mint to cinnamon—can carry language stating that using the pouches instead of smoking cigarettes puts users at a lower risk of mouth cancer, stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
  • “Zyn nicotine pouches, a product of Swedish Match USA which is owned by Philip Morris International PM -1.07%decrease; down pointing triangle, contain no tobacco and are the most popular brand in the U.S. They were granted permission to stay on the market in early 2025, the first pouch to receive the authorization.
  • “Nicotine pouches look similar to small tea bags and are filled with nicotine, salt and can contain other materials like flavorings and wood pulp.” 

• Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
  • “The New England Journal of Medicine has retracted the clinical trial publication behind Amgen’s rare disease drug Tavneos after two of the study’s authors requested the retraction over undisclosed changes to how patient outcomes were assessed. 
  • “In a June 29 retraction statement, NEJM said the primary endpoint assessments for nine patients were readjudicated after the trial’s database was locked and unblinded, without the two authors’ knowledge, calling the omission “inconsistent with proper research conduct.”
  • “The retraction is the latest setback in a months-long dispute between Amgen and the FDA over Tavneos, a treatment for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis that Amgen acquired through its $3.7 billion purchase of ChemoCentryx in 2022. The FDA first asked Amgen to voluntarily withdraw the drug from the market in January, citing concerns over how ChemoCentryx had re-adjudicated efficacy data for nine of the 331 patients in the pivotal trial. Amgen declined the request on Feb. 3, saying it was not aware of issues with the underlying patient data and that its own review of clinical findings and real-world evidence continued to support the drug’s effectiveness.”

• Per Cardiovascular Business,
  • “Stryker is recalling its InZone Detachment System due to a potential battery issue. The recall includes a total of nearly 45,000 devices. 
  • “The InZone Detachment System helps interventional radiologists and neurosurgeons perform neurovascular embolization procedures to treat intracranial aneurysms, and neurovascular abnormalities such as arteriovenous malformations and fistulae. The device is also indicated for arterial and venous embolizations in the peripheral vasculature.
  • “The device, compatible with a variety of detachable coils, was designed to detect potentially challenging conditions and adjust as necessary. It includes a detachment button, a series of LED indicators and a cable connection port.”
• and
  • “Artivion, an Atlanta-based medtech company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis.
  • “The AMDS was designed to help clinicians treat DeBakey Type 1 dissections complicated by malperfusion. It works as a complement to hemiarch replacement, preserving the native arch and making reinterventions possible if needed. According to Artivion, it is the first surgical device of its kind.
  • “In December 2024, the AMDS received the FDA’s Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE). This allowed select patients to undergo treatment with the device, but a separate institutional review board (IRB) approval was still required in each instance. Thanks to this full approval, the AMDS is now covered across the board for the treatment of all DeBakey Type 1 dissections with clinical or radiographic malperfusion.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research,

• The New York Times reports,
  • “Two of the hottest trends in health — longevity medicine and weight loss drugs — are colliding.
  • “A theory that GLP-1 medications like Ozempic or Zepbound might help people live longer has been bandied about by biohackers and aging researchers for several years. Online pharmacies already market compounded versions of the drugs to purportedly extend health span. But so far, academic research into the hypothesis has been scant.”

• Per a National Institutes of Health news release,
  • “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued the most expansive data release in the history of its All of Us Research Program, making available data from more than 747,000 participants and establishing All of Us as the world’s largest integrated genomic and electronic health record (EHR) database. The latest data release includes more than 535,000 whole genome sequences linked to nearly 482,000 electronic health records, a combination of genomic depth and clinical breadth unmatched by any research program in the world.
  • “There’s a paradox at the heart of precision medicine,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D. “To tailor treatments to individuals, you actually need very large populations to uncover the patterns that connect genetics, lifestyle, and the environment to health outcomes. That is exactly what All of Us provides: research at unprecedented scale.”
  • The new data issuance represents growth of more than 114,000 participants since the previous data version, bringing the program’s total enrolled-participant count to over 883,000. The dataset now encompasses more than 1.3 billion genetic variants, 553,000 genotyping arrays, 96,000 structural variant records, and 600,000 physical measurements, alongside 747,000 survey responses capturing social circumstances, behaviors, and environments. EHR data grew by 22% in this release, driven by expanded data sources including participant-mediated EHR submissions and health information exchange data.
  • “All of Us reflects the trust of people across the country who chose to contribute to research to benefit everyone,” said All of Us Research Program CEO Josh Denny, M.D. “This release puts a richer dataset into the hands of scientists working on real clinical problems. This is how we advance the health of all Americans.”

• Health Day relates,
  • “Many young adults may be missing important preventive healthcare screenings, according to a national survey.
  • “The poll of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, commissioned by Ohio State University in Columbus, found only 71% of people ages 18 to 29 have a regular doctor, compared with 97% of adults 65 and older.
  • “Even among young adults who do have a doctor, fewer than half — just 47% — had a checkup in the past year.
  • “The authors say skipping routine visits can mean missing recommended screenings, vaccines and early warning signs of conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
  • Dr. Zachary Bittinger, a family medicine physician at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said having a primary doctor is especially important when you are young.
  • “We look ahead five years, 10 years and 20 years, because that’s ideally how long you see your primary doctor,” he said. “That kind of relationship means that for each stage of life, from college to raising children to retirement, you get the kind of advice that keeps you safe.”

• MedPage Today informs us,
  • “A large population-based cohort study in Hong Kong demonstrated that acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy was unlikely to increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in exposed children.
  • “In sibling-matched analyses, prenatal acetaminophen exposure was not associated with autism (adjusted HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.91-1.11) or ADHD (adjusted HR 1.01, 95% CI 0.93-1.08), reported Eric Yuk Fai Wan, PhD, of the University of Hong Kong, and co-authors.
  • “Findings were consistent regardless of when exposure happened, the cumulative acetaminophen dose, or how often the drug was used, the researchers wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.

• MedCity News discusses “The Terminology Gap Undermining Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines.”
  • “While the Pap identifies the cell changes, the HPV test determines the root cause before those changes even happen. Both tests have saved lives. But they are not interchangeable, and treating them as such puts the patient at risk.” 
    
• Genetic Engineering and BioTechnology News points out,
  • “Neurodegenerative diseases affect tens of millions of people worldwide. A new study published in Cell Death Discovery titled, “Sustained dysregulation of iron and glutathione homeostasis induces chronoferroptosis, a persistent ferroptotic adaptation in neuronal cells,” points to iron accumulation as a key target in the effort to predict, prevent, and treat neurodegenerative diseases. 
  • “Resilience has become a huge topic of discussion when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, trying to make the brain more resilient in the face of stressors that contribute to neurodegeneration,” said Pam Maher, PhD, co-corresponding author and a research professor at the Salk Institute. “Our study reveals that cells lose resilience when iron hits a certain level, making neurons more susceptible to stressors that damage or even kill them.”
  • “Found in dark leafy greens, starchy cereals, lean meats, seafood, and other common foods, iron helps red blood cells develop, carries oxygen, makes hormones, and engages in key functions across the immune system and energy production. 
  • “It’s one of the most important minerals in the body,” says co-corresponding author Nawab John Dar, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Maher’s lab. “So, it isn’t the iron itself that is a problem with age. It is this accumulation of iron over time that is the problem.” 

• BioPharma Dive notes “10 clinical trials to watch in the second half of 2026.”
  • “The biotechnology sector’s upswing accelerated in the first half. Positive results from anticipated trials in lung cancer, Alzheimer’s and multiple autoimmune conditions could add to the momentum.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

• Beckers Payer Issues reports,
  • “Some CEOs may come and go. But David Cordani, the outgoing CEO of The Cigna Group, has been with the company for around 35 years, becoming president in 2008 and CEO in 2009.
  • “Mr. Cordani departs his role July 1 but will remain as executive chair of the board. Prior to his Cigna head executive position, Mr. Cordani assumed leadership roles in finance, marketing and operations across the company. Later, he played a broader role in the health insurance landscape, as well, serving as AHIP chair in 2019. 
  • “During his time as Cigna’s CEO, Mr. Cordani gave the company a major makeover, betting big beyond insurance. Those bets appear to have paid off: In 2025, the company brought in about $275 billion in revenue, up from roughly $18 billion when Mr. Cordani began his tenure, according to Cigna. The company now employs more than 70,000 and serves about 185 million customer and patient relationships across its business lines.
  • “Since becoming CEO, one of Mr. Cordani’s boldest moves was the $67 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts in 2018. The deal survived Justice Department scrutiny and ultimately paved the way for Cigna to unify health services under the Evernorth Health Services brand in 2020. In 2025, Evernorth brought in nearly $235 billion in revenue, with more than $132 billion from pharmacy benefit services and $102 billion from specialty and care services.”

• The American Hospital Association News relates,
  • “The AHA June 30 announced the appointment of Steve Walsh as its next president and chief executive officer. Walsh, who has served as president and CEO of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association since 2017, will assume leadership of the nation’s largest hospital and healthcare system membership organization this fall.  
  • “Following a thoughtful national search, the Board unanimously selected Steve Walsh to serve as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Hospital Association,” said Marc L. Boom, M.D., chair of the AHA Board of Trustees and president and CEO of Houston Methodist. “Steve is a proven healthcare leader, innovator and accomplished advocate for healthcare improvement, who understands both the challenges facing hospitals and the opportunities ahead. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an ability to bring people together, build consensus and advance meaningful solutions on behalf of patients, caregivers and communities.” 
  • Boom also thanked and praised outgoing AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack, noting the “Board’s decision reflects our confidence that Steve is uniquely prepared to build upon the strong foundation established by Rick Pollack while helping the Association strengthen its role as a trusted voice, convener and advocate for health care providers across America.” 

• Modern Healthcare tells us,
  • “Empath units are gaining national attention for improving care for people in crisis while reducing the strain on ERs ill-equipped to treat them.
  • “M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital loses $500,000 annually on its Empath psychiatric unit due to insufficient government reimbursements.
  • “Hospitals are pressing for higher payments for such visits, which are less intensive than inpatient admission but more involved than outpatient therapy.”

• MedTech Dive informs us
  • “Zimmer Biomet has agreed to pay up to $140 million to acquire Pacira BioSciences’ iovera pain relief device, the companies announced Tuesday.
  • “Zimmer has agreed to pay $70 million upfront and up to $70 million more in revenue-based milestones through 2031. Zimmer will acquire the rights to develop, manufacture and sell iovera as part of the agreement. 
  • “BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman wrote in a research note Tuesday that the acquisition complements Zimmer’s existing product portfolio. Iovera has room to expand into new markets and is supported by legislation that went into effect last year to expand access to non-opioid pain treatments.”

• Per STAT News,
  • “Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm, on Tuesday announced the availability of Claude Science, an application that optimizes the company’s large language model for use in scientific laboratories and, especially, within the research operations of pharmaceutical companies.
  • “At a launch event here, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said that until now, humans have wrestled with the complexity of biology only with their minds. While biology is not as simple or clean as code, he still thinks it can be just as powerful in this domain.
  • “It’s going to be a general purpose technology that helps us to make sense of that complexity, in its full complexity, better.” But, he admitted, “We don’t know for sure if that’s going to work out. But I think we’re seeing signs that we’re seeing the beginnings of it.”
  • “The product is a beachhead in Anthropic’s larger battle for the future of biology. The firm has ambitions so big they would seem caricature-like were it not for its financial means. A month ago Anthropic said it had reached annualized sales of $42 billion — about as much as the drug giant GSK — and that it is valued, based on a $65 billion funding round, at $965 billion, far more than any health care company except Eli Lilly.”