Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

• The Senate remains in session this evening while it considers Senator Susan Collins substitute amendment #6732 to H.R.6500, the Senate’s legislative vehicle for a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal goverment from October 1, 2026, through December 11, 2026.

• Roll Call adds,
  • “Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Friday he intended to vote to confirm Todd Blanche to be attorney general, ending a weekslong back-and-forth with the White House to win over GOP holdouts.
  • “All eyes were on Cassidy’s Friday morning floor speech after his fellow Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced they would vote against Blanche, citing myriad concerns such as the Epstein files, the so-called “anti-weaponization” fund and questions of his independence.
  • “With Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., still absent after a hospitalization, Senate Republicans could afford to lose only two votes in their ranks if all Democrats vote against Blanche. Had Cassidy not supported Blanche, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would lack the votes to confirm him before the August recess. Now he can move ahead and hold a final vote on the Senate floor.”
• and
  • “A bipartisan bill aimed at combating hepatitis C is stalled in the Senate due to a high score from the Congressional Budget Office, the bill’s lead sponsor Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Thursday.
  • “The bill, co-sponsored by Sen Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., proposes a national strategy to reduce hepatitis C infections by providing free medications and expanding testing for high-risk and vulnerable groups.
  • “Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is a former liver doctor who spent much of his career treating the disease and has said getting this bill across the finish line is a priority before he leaves Congress in January. But the measure has not advanced since its introduction in June 2025, despite bipartisan interest.
  • “There was a score on it that was a disappointing score, but there’s at least some conversations taking place by some with the CBO to get that re-scored,” Cassidy said Thursday afternoon.
  • “Cassidy’s office would not provide the exact figure for the bill’s estimated cost but did say it was higher than a related CBO estimate last Congress.”

• Govexec points out, “The Senate on Friday confirmed in a 51-47 party-line vote multiple executive branch nominees, including several involved in government oversight and federal employee matters.” 

• Per an August 5, 2026, AHIMA news release,
  • “AHIMA, a founding member of the Patient ID Now coalition, applauds the Senate introduction of the Patient Matching and Transparency in Certified Health IT (MATCH IT) Act of 2026 by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jim Banks (R-IN), a companion bill to H.R.2002 introduced in the US House of Representatives by Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Bill Foster (D-IL).
  • “The MATCH IT Act addresses the problem of patient misidentification within the healthcare ecosystem. The bill would create an industry standard definition for how patient match rates are measured and would improve standardization of patients’ demographic elements entered into certified health IT products to ensure patients are accurately matched with the correct medical record.”
• FEHBlog observation: Congress should pass this bill.

• Per an August 6, 2026, White House news release,
  • President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance are waging war on the fraudsters and scammers who have looted hardworking Americans for far too long.
  • Today, that war becomes fully transparent at fraud.gov — a new website where Americans can track every action, every takedown, and every dollar recovered as part of the unrelenting effort.

• The American Hospital Association News tells us,
  • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Aug. 7 released a procedural notice on its new pathway to expedite access to certain Food and Drug Administration-designated Class II and Class III devices for Medicare beneficiaries. The Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and Immediate Device coverage pathway, or RAPID, is designed to reduce delays between FDA market authorization and Medicare national coverage determinations. CMS is accepting comments on the procedural notice for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.”

• Beckers Hospital Review reports,
  • “The U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, but healthcare kept adding positions, according to the Aug. 7 jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • “Here are [three] things to know from the July jobs report:
    • 1. Healthcare employment continued its upward trend in July, adding 22,000 jobs, though that marked a slower pace than the average monthly gain of 36,000 over the prior 12 months.
    • 2. Hospitals were essentially flat in July, dipping by about 400 jobs after adding roughly 9,500 in June. 
    • 3. Ambulatory healthcare services drove most of the sector’s gains, adding 18,100 jobs, including 4,200 in offices of physicians and 4,600 in home health care services. Nursing and residential care facilities added 4,300 jobs. 

• Per an August 7, 2026, U.S. Postal Service news release,
  • “The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (Apr. 1, 2026 – Jun. 30, 2026). Controllable loss, which excludes certain expenses that are not controllable by management, was $1.0 billion for the quarter, compared to controllable loss of $1.6 billion for the same quarter last year.
  • “Net loss for the quarter under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) totaled $2.5 billion, compared to $3.1 billion for the same quarter last year. This $562 million decrease is attributed to an operating revenue increase of $1.1 billion along with a decrease in workers’ compensation of $416 million. These are partially offset by increases in retirement benefits of $324 million, retiree health benefits of $195 million, and compensation and benefits of $129 million.
  • “Our results this quarter reflect some progress relative to those areas of the business where we can exercise control, namely with revenue generation, cost control and service improvement,” said Postmaster General David Steiner. “Nevertheless, the Postal Service is today continuing to face a severe liquidity crisis, and our financial losses this quarter reflect systemic challenges inherent in our Congressionally established business model and regulatory framework. We are taking responsible steps to conserve cash to extend our operating window, but we require thoughtful legislative and other actions to establish a financially sustainable Postal Service capable of serving the American public far into the future.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• MedTech Dive reports,
  • “A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meeting is scheduled for September to evaluate data for Grail’s Galleri multicancer early detection blood test.
  • “Grail launched Galleri as a laboratory developed test in 2021. Designed to detect signals from multiple cancers using a single blood sample, the MCED test hit a setback in February when a clinical trial missed its primary endpoint.
  • “CEO Josh Ofman told analysts on an earnings call this week that Grail continues to expect Galleri to receive FDA approval in the first part of 2027.”

• Targeted Oncology tells us,
  • “The FDA has granted fast track designation to BI-1808, a first-in-class anti-TNFR2 antibody, for the treatment of advanced platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), according to a news release from BioInvent International AB.”

• Fierce Pharma informs us,
  • “Fresenius Kabi voluntarily recalled one lot of morphine sulfate injection due to a labeling mix-up with prefilled syringes of the opioid dilaudid that could trigger an overdose resulting in severe respiratory distress or death.
  • “The recall, issued in a letter dated Aug. 4 and posted to the FDA website, is for a single lot of morphine sulfate marketed as Simplist 2 mg/1 ml that was mislabeled and could contain a prefilled syringe of dilaudid 0.5 mg/0.5 ml.”

No Surprises Act News,

• The American Hospital Association News reports,
  • “Guidance on the implementation timeline for the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution operations final rule was released Aug. 7 by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management. The final rule, issued May 28, was designed to streamline communication between group health plans and health insurance issuers, providers and certified IDR entities, while clarifying timelines and processes. The guidance includes details on applicability dates of certain provisions associated with the final rule, including the stand-alone claim adjustment reason codes and remittance advice remark codes guidance.” 

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today,
  • “As of August 7, 2026, the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is very low.
  • “Based on multiple data sources, COVID-19 activity is low in many regions but is increasing in the West and South.
  • “RSV activity is very low in most areas of the country. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for RSV are low but remain highest among infants and children younger than 4 years old.
  • “Seasonal influenza activity is low.
  • “Parainfluenza (PIV) and respiratory adenovirus are elevated nationally. Whooping cough (pertussis) continues to circulate at lower levels compared to post-pandemic peaks.”

• The American Hospital Association reports,
  • “A study published Aug. 5 by Nature found that COVID-19 infection can reactivate dormant, chronic viruses such as Epstein-Barr and cytomegalovirus. The study found that reactivation is correlated with the severity of the COVID-19 infection. The study included data from more than 1,100 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and found reactivation of various Herpesviridae and Anelloviridae viruses. Researchers said that reactivation occurred frequently in “immunocompetent” individuals during severe illness.”
    
• The University of Minnesota CIDRAP relates,
  • “Working-age adults living with long COVID feel less satisfied with life, experience less happiness, and have less hope, according to a study published this week in BMC Public Health. The paper highlights the association between having long COVID and poorer wellbeing. 
  • “The findings underscore that the burden of long COVID extends beyond clinical health outcomes to encompass how individuals evaluate and experience their lives,” wrote the authors, from Syracuse University in New York.
  • “Long COVID symptoms were significantly associated with lower levels of subjective wellbeing in a dose-dependent manner.”  
  • “The World Health Organization defines long COVID “as the continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least 2 months with no other explanation.”
• and
  • “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed 94 new measles infections—most of them in Pennsylvania—bringing the US total for the year to 2,465, the agency said in its weekly update.
  • “The numbers likely provide additional data to move the United States toward losing its measles elimination status this year. The nation gained that distinction in 2000, but  has now logged consecutive years of more than 2,200 measles cases (2,289 for all of last year). This year’s total is the highest since 1991.”

• The Washington Post tells us,
  • “Michigan health officials say new cases of cyclosporiasis are declining in the state hit hardest by an outbreak that has sickened more than 12,000 people and left two dead in the state since June. 
  • “The state’s health department said new case reports are slowing and diarrhea-related emergency department visits are trending downward. The drop in cases prompted officials to lift their broad recommendation to avoid bagged salad mixes. But Michigan continues to recommend avoiding recalled lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico sourced from central Mexico.
  • “Michigan officials said they believe most of their exposures took place in late June to early July and that most contaminated produce is probably no longer available for consumption.
  • “Cyclospora infections typically cause symptoms about seven days after exposure, although symptoms can take up to 14 days to appear. The health department said residents can now return to routine food-safety guidance for handling and consuming produce, including lettuce and salad greens.”

• The AP informs us,
  • “In the past year, the U.S. has seen a jump in frequent marijuana users going to the hospital with a nausea and vomiting condition, according to a report released Thursday.
  • “The abruptness and sustained magnitude of the increase” is largely due to the condition getting its own diagnosis code last fall, which is providing a more accurate picture of what was an underrecognized problem, the authors of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report wrote.
  • “Hospital emergency room diagnoses of the condition, cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, rose 16% from last October to May of this year, federal researchers found.
  • “The syndrome — seen in people who frequently use marijuana, especially smokers — is characterized by recurring nausea, uncontrollable vomiting and excruciating abdominal pain.
  • “Past research has suggested that an estimated 2.75 million Americans suffer from it each year, and that hospital emergency room visits have been rising as daily recreational marijuana use has increased.”

• MedPage Today points out,
  • “Maintaining three key health factors during midlife — normal blood pressure, no diabetes, and not smoking — was associated with nearly 13 additional dementia-free years, a study of 12,000 people in the U.S. showed.
  • “Individuals who met these criteria at age 55 lived an average 30.1 more years dementia-free, reported Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, of NYU Langone Health in New York City, and co-authors.
  • “Conversely, those who smoked, had hypertension, and had diabetes at age 55 had dementia-free survival of only 17.5 years, Coresh and colleagues wrote in Neurology Open Accessopens in a new tab or window.”
• and
  • “Low-fat vegan diets can help aid in weight loss, but the mechanisms behind this have been unclear.
  • “Adults on a low-fat vegan diet reduced dietary energy density by 30% compared with controls in a secondary analysis of a randomized trial.
  • “Reductions in dietary energy density were significantly associated with greater weight loss after adjusting for overall energy intake.”

• Medscape adds,
  • “Adding coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring to risk estimates helped better identify adults at lower and higher risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events. People with no detectable CAC had lower observed risk, while those with CAC had higher observed risk, especially when the decision about starting a statin was uncertain.”

• Healio notes,
  • “Adults with type 2 diabetes and established CVD had lower risk for CV events with tirzepatide [a/k/a Zepbound] compared with sitagliptin [a/k/a Januvia].
  • “Tirzepatide decreased risk for infections leading to hospital admission.

• Per Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News,
  • “For people with severe food allergies, avoiding a trigger food like peanuts or tree nuts can mean constant vigilance. Approximately 8% of children and 10.8% of adults in the United States experience some type of food allergy. Even trace exposures can provoke reactions, and while oral immunotherapy can raise the threshold for some patients, the protection often depends on continued treatment and is associated with disease relapse in many patients. A new study suggests that another route to food tolerance may run through the gut microbiome.
  • “In a small Phase I open-label trial (NCT02960074), researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital tested whether oral encapsulated fecal microbiome transplantation (FMT) could safely increase peanut tolerance in adults with peanut allergy. The work, published in Science Translational Medicine, also used mouse models to probe how donor gut microbes might help restore oral tolerance. The study is titled, “Fecal microbiome transplant in food allergy in humans and mice identifies a role for bile acid metabolites in oral tolerance.”

• The Wall Street Journal adds,
  • “Artificial-intelligence systems have been displaying some eye-opening new abilities in recent weeks: breaking out of their enclosures, hacking other companies, lying to people. 
  • “And now, for the first time, an AI model has created a new virus. A whole family of them, in fact. 
  • “In a study published in the journal Science, researchers at Stanford University and elsewhere said they successfully directed an AI model to create a collection of simple viruses that only infect bacteria and pose no threat to humans.
  • “In an interview, two of the authors said their research could help develop designer viruses that could be used to eliminate drug-resistant bacteria, which according to the World Health Organization kill millions of people every year.
  • “If we develop responsibly, I think it can lead to tremendous benefits in human health,” said Brian Hie, a computational biologist at Stanford and an author of the study.”

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

• Fierce Healthcare reports, “Insurers see positive results in managing health costs in Q2.”
  • “The health insurance industry weathered a rough 2025, and the turnaround for some companies through the midpoint has surprised even Wall Street analysts.”
    
• Beckers Payer Issues adds,
  • “Clover Health posted a $28 million profit for the second quarter of 2026, according to a recent earnings filing.
  • “During the same period last year, Clover logged a $10.6 million loss. The company had its first profitable quarter in 2024.
  • “Total revenue for the second quarter of 2026 was $743.2 million, up nearly 56% year over year. The company attributed the improved results to membership growth and a disciplined approach to administrative spend.
  • “On June 30, Clover had 157,309 members. The company’s benefit-expense ratio dipped to 87.6% this past quarter from 88.4% during the same time in 2025.”
• and
  • “CVS Health’s pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, is bringing on Keith Reynolds as chief growth officer.
  • “Chief Sales Officer Jim Fowler will transition into retirement, according to an Aug. 7 LinkedIn post from Mr. Reynolds.” 

• Beckers Hospital Review relates,
  • “A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.
  • [The article identifies] 52 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker’s reported since Jan. 1

• Health Exec adds,
  • “When a nursing home closes down, the local population and press often perceive the move as a simple exit from the market due to failing fiscal health. But in about half the cases, additional forces are in play—and “closures” may be, in truth, do-overs of one kind or another. 
  • “Researchers at the University of Massachusetts fill out the picture with facts in a study published July 31 by JAMA Health Forum.
  • “Joohyun Chung, PhD, RN, and colleagues suggest understanding the dynamics behind nursing-home closings is important because such events can disrupt continuity of care, place additional burdens on remaining facilities and disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.” 

• Fierce Pharma tells us,
  • “Injected weight loss drugs remain favored over newer oral treatments by a significant margin, with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound leading the pack, according to a survey of healthcare specialists by Spherix Global Insights.
  • “In the poll, which includes input from 185 specialists in the United States, 80% were highly satisfied with Zepbound, compared with 59% for Novo Nordisk’s rival injectable, Wegovy. Though it remains early in the launches of Novo’s oral version of Wegovy and Lilly’s GLP-1 pill Foundayo, 48% and 47% of those surveyed were highly satisfied with the newer products, respectively.”
• and 
  • “Prescriptions for Eli Lilly’s Foundayo continue to build, jumping 16% sequentially to 34,219 the previous week, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi. The oral GLP-1 med has been on a roll lately as it appears to celebrate four weeks of consecutive growth in total scripts. However, as Citi noted, there’s still a potential gap in IQVIA’s capture of telehealth data, and it’s not clear how much of the scripts growth was from IQVIA getting better at including those data, or, if the actual growth was much faster in telehealth channels.
  • “This week, Lilly’s reported Foundayo sales for the second quarter—$98 million in total, including $67 million in the U.S.—disappointed many. As CEO David Ricks noted on an earnings call, Lilly began broad direct-to-consumer marketing to raise consumer awareness after securing commercial access across the three major pharmacy benefit managers in June. Besides, The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program went live on July 1, offering coverage for certain weight-loss medications, including Foundayo, for a $50 copayment per month. Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly USA and global customer capabilities, said the company is “starting to see an inflection point on Foundayo now.”
  • “As for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, total scripts recorded by IQVIA have been largely flat with small upticks in the past two weeks, having reached roughly 172K in the previous week. The oral version of semaglutide now makes up 35% of total Wegovy scripts, which take up about 40.6% of the U.S. obesity market share, as Lilly’s Zepbound remains the leader.” 

• Fierce Healthcare informs us,
  • “Despite the rapid implementation of artificial intelligence solutions across the healthcare industry, many organizations are still working on establishing necessary infrastructures and governance foundations, a new report from UPMC’s Center for Connected Medicine and KLAS Research found.
  • “Ninety-three percent of respondents report that their organizations deploy third-party AI solutions, though only 44% have a dedicated data platform or environment for tool testing. But 92% of respondents report testing third-party tools prior to deployment.
  • “What’s emerging from this research is a clear recognition that implementation is only the first step,” said Rob Bart, M.D., UPMC chief medical officer, in a statement. “Health systems are now focused on building the governance structures, testing capabilities and organizational strategies necessary to ensure AI delivers meaningful and measurable value.”
  • “The “Validation and Trust: The Governance of AI Solutions at Health Systems” report drew insights from 27 healthcare leaders, including those from health systems and ambulatory care organizations.” 
    
• Healio adds,
  • “Many patients report high comfort with health systems using AI-written portal messages, noting it gets them information quickly and reduces clinician workload.
  • “Their comfort comes with caveats, though. Patients want both clinician oversight and transparency that AI is being used.”