Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC

• Per Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services news release,
  • “The Trump Administration announced today that a $144 million investment is being delivered to improve health outcomes for Alabamians through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) This investment will support 138 grants to expand access to care, modernize healthcare technology and infrastructure and strengthen the rural healthcare workforce.
  • “This funding will help rural providers modernize their technology and cybersecurity, enhance telehealth and mobile care services, strengthen emergency and maternal care, and improve access to mental health and substance use care. The Trump Administration is also investing in expanding the healthcare workforce through training, scholarships, apprenticeships, and recruitment efforts, while helping local providers strengthen community-based care and better coordinate services. These investments will help make healthcare more accessible, connected, secure and sustainable across Alabama regardless of your zip code.”

• Per a Department of Health and Human Services news release,
  • “U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced sweeping new efforts to strengthen school meals by connecting more American farmers with local schools, investing in school kitchen infrastructure, and giving states and school districts new tools to serve healthier, more nutrient-dense meals to America’s children.
  • “Secretary Kennedy joined Secretary Rollins at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alongside farmers, students, school nutrition leaders, athletes, chefs, and parents to announce the next phase of the Trump Administration’s work to Make America Healthy Again.” * * *
  • “If we want to Make America Healthy Again, we have to start with our children, and that means improving what we put on their lunch trays every single day,” said Secretary Brooke L. Rollins. “Harvest to Hallways is about bringing more American agriculture into the school cafeteria. We are connecting schools with the farmers and ranchers in their own communities, investing in the kitchens and equipment school nutrition professionals need to prepare real food, and cutting through barriers that have made it too difficult to serve healthy, American-grown food. When we strengthen the connection between the farm and the lunchroom, everybody wins: our children eat better, our farmers gain new markets, and our communities grow stronger.”

• STAT News adds,
  • “New restrictions on the use of food benefits to purchase soda and candy have been one of the biggest changes enacted by the Make America Healthy Again movement. But a key question has been how profoundly the bans would affect public health, with some economists arguing that people would just use other funds to buy Coke and other sugary drinks instead.
  • “Now a new study shows that soda purchases did indeed fall by about 12% among people who receive Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits after the bans went into effect in 10 states. The study, which was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research and has not yet been peer-reviewed, says this translates to a person drinking about 34 fewer 12-ounce cans of soda per year.”
  • “That’s not huge, according to the study’s authors, but it’s far from nothing.”

• Beckers Hospital Review reports,
  • “More than 200 healthcare organizations urged CMS not to finalize proposed limits on remote monitoring, warning the changes would disrupt care for about 1 million Medicare beneficiaries who manage chronic conditions from home.
  • “In a sign-on letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, the coalition asked the agency to hold off on remote physiologic monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring policies included in the 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. More than 30 health systems and hospitals signed the letter. 
  • “The provision at issue, proposed July 14, would allow clinical practices to bill Medicare for the services only if the clinical staff delivering them are directly employed by the billing practice rather than contracted through a third-party vendor. Staff could still work off-site; the billing relationship would have to run in-house.
  • “That distinction carries broad reach. An estimated 60% to 70% of hospitals and health systems using remote monitoring rely on partially or fully outsourced vendor models, according to Becker’sprior reporting. The signers of the letter said small practices, rural providers and safety-net organizations would be hit hardest, and that many would have no option but to cut enrollment or end their programs.”

From the U.S. Office of Personnel Management front

• FedWeek reports,
  • “President Trump has not yet sent Congress the alternative pay plan letter that will determine the 2027 federal pay raise, and the statutory deadline to do so arrives August 31. The letter is the clearest remaining signal of whether federal employees face a full pay freeze next year or another modest increase similar to the one delivered a year ago.
  • “Under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) of 1990, the president must submit an alternative pay plan to Congress by the end of August, or a statutory formula tied to private-sector wage growth automatically takes effect instead, producing a far larger locality pay increase than any administration has allowed to take hold since the law passed. FedSmith has explained the mechanics of this deadline before, and last year’s letter covering the 2026 raise arrived on August 28, just three days before the cutoff. A similarly late announcement is likely again this year.”
• and
  • Federal employees under the General Schedule receive a base salary plus a locality payment that varies by geographic area. The 2026 rates range from 17.06% in the Rest of U.S. locality pay area to 46.34% in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA, locality pay area.
  • “The federal locality pay system adjusts General Schedule salaries to reflect differences in non-federal pay levels across geographic regions. Authorized by the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, the system took effect in January 1994. Its purpose is to reduce pay disparities between federal and non-federal workers performing similar work in the same labor market.
  • “Locality payments are calculated as a percentage of base pay and applied according to the employee’s official worksite. The Office of Personnel Management publishes annual tables that incorporate both the across-the-board base pay increase and the locality adjustment for each designated area. For 2026, locality pay percentages remain at the prior year’s levels, while base pay received a 1.0% across-the-board increase.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration cleared a blood test for identifying Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, which was developed by Roche and Eli Lilly.
  • “The Elecsys Phospho-Tau Plasma test identifies amyloid pathology associated with Alzheimer’s in people 55 years or older.
  • “It provides positive, intermediate and negative result categories to support doctors assessing the likelihood of amyloid pathology. Results are interpreted in conjunction with clinical information and other relevant findings as part of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
  • “The blood test is meant to address the gap in diagnoses, as an estimated 75% of people living with dementia are undiagnosed, Roche said.
  • “Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp both said they plan to start offering the blood test.”

• MedTech Dive relates,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration has picked two behavioral health companies to join its Technology-Enabled Meaningful Patient Outcomes, or TEMPO pilot, growing the total number of participants to four.
  • “Limbic and Sondermind are the next companies to join the pilot program, which allows participants to gather real-world data on devices while being exempted from premarket authorization requirements.
  • “Amid the pilot program, the FDA has also held discussions on digital health technologies for mental health, with patient groups calling for broader oversight in the use of generative artificial intelligence.”

• Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
  • “The FDA has again paused Regenxbios RGX-121 gene therapy trial for Hunter syndrome after small, asymptomatic masses were found on the spines of five patients. Regenxbio does not expect to resubmit its biologics license application for the therapy in the near term.
  • “The spine findings, either a small nodule or cystic mass, surfaced through an expanded MRI monitoring plan Regenxbio adopted a few months ago, according to an Aug. 24 news release. All five patients received intracisternal or intraventricular RGX-121 three to six years ago, remain asymptomatic and have shown stability to improvement on neurocognitive assessments. Investigators consider the findings nonserious and likely benign, though no pathological evidence confirms their cause.
  • “The pause comes seven months after Regenxbio disclosed that a boy who received its similar MPS I therapy, RGX-111, developed a brain tumor, a case researchers have since linked to AAV gene therapy, the vector platform used in most gene therapies over the past 20 years.”

From the judicial front,

• Fierce Pharma reports,
  • “On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Merck & Co., rejecting its claim that the price negotiations are unconstitutional because they violate the First and Fifth Amendments. The argument is one that has been made by multiple drugmakers pushing back against the program.” 

• Per a Justice Department news release,
  • “Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the launch of the National Fraud Detection Center (NFDC), a prosecutor-led, multi-agency team designed to investigate the most harmful actors defrauding federal government programs, including illicit actors overseas and those operating fraud schemes across federal programs. The NFDC will bring together law enforcement agencies and analytical capabilities to generate criminal leads to drive more impactful prosecutions and enhance fraud-fighting results for the American people.
  • “The creation of the NFDC marks a decisive shift in how the federal government detects and investigates complex fraud,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “By breaking down institutional silos, embedding analysts from across the IG community, and leveraging shared technology, the NFDC is actively closing the window of opportunity for bad actors who seek to exploit taxpayer dollars. Today’s announcement sends a clear message: if you defraud federal programs, we have the tools and the law enforcement partners to find you.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• Beckers Hospital Review reports,
  • “A fast-moving wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills has forced two Northern Nevada Health System facilities in the Reno, Nev., area to evacuate patients and close, according to CBS News and The New York Times.
  • “Both facilities remain closed with no timeline to reopen. The health system said it is in active communication with emergency response teams and will reopen each facility once crews clear the area and deem it safe, at which point it will activate an opening plan and notify the community.”

• Better Report tells us.
  • “We spoke with board-certified emergency medicine physician Dr. Joseph Radachy about what he wishes more patients would prioritize. From simple ways to avoid everyday accidents to daily practices that support long-term health, here are six things your doctor wishes you’d do.
    • Stay Active Physically and Medically
    • Make your House Safer.
    • Advocate for Yourself
    • Know your Medical History
    • Remember: Moderation in Everything
    • Stop Smoking
      
• The New York Time asked experts whether the bland BRAT diet is the best way to treat a stomach bug.

• The American Medical Association lets us know “what doctors want patients to know about dry eyes.
  • “Dry eye disease can cause burning, tearing and blurry vision. Learn what triggers symptoms, which treatments help and when to seek care.”

• Beckers Behavioral Health informs us,
  • “The age-adjusted death rate for alcohol-induced deaths among U.S. adults aged 45 and older increased from 2014 to 2024, according to an Aug. 20 report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
  • “Death rates increased from 19.5 per 100,000 population in 2014 to 25.2 in 2024. In 2024, the death rate was 36.8 among men and 14.3 among women. Death rates were higher among men than women throughout the 2014–2024 period.
  • “The findings are based on National Vital Statistics System mortality data.

• Parkinson’s News Today points out,
  • “Parkinson’s disease involves the progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons, leading to motor symptoms.
  • “Starting rehabilitation within the first year of a Parkinson’s diagnosis may be linked to longer survival.
  • “Delaying rehabilitation is associated with a progressively higher risk of mortality across all disability levels.”

• Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology New notes,
  • “Cancer metastasis is responsible for at least two-thirds of cancer deaths. Drugs targeting the metastatic progression have largely failed, in part due to the lack of predictive models that would help identify the underlying mechanisms of metastasis.
  • “Now, new work reports the development of a multi-organ chip that mimics how cancer cells spread from vascular flow to distant organs—the first model of cancer metastasis of its kind. The chip includes compartments with millimeter-sized engineered human bone and lung tissues, and the vascular flow that contains circulating breast cancer cells and allows the dynamic cross-talk of the tissues being colonized.
  • “The key advantages of this advanced model of metastasis are that it is human and can be patient-specific,” said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD, university professor and professor of biomedical engineering and professor of medical sciences at Columbia University. “It faithfully mimics some of the key aspects of human metastasis that are otherwise largely inaccessible for direct study.”
  • “This work is published in Science Translational Medicine in the paper, “Organ-specific colonization and niche remodeling in a human tissue model of metastasis.”

• STAT News takes us “inside Moderna and Merck’s cancer vaccine triumph.
  • “The drugmakers overcame rampant doubts, logistical challenges, and the pandemic.”

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

• Fierce Healthcare reports,
  • “Highmark Health closed the first half of the year with $17.5 billion in revenue and $2 billion in net income, bolstered by a significant turnaround at its insurance unit.
  • “The $2 billion in net income accounts for $911 million in non-cash gains from the company’s affiliations with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and Heritage Valley Health System.
  • “Highmark Health Plans posted $672 million in operating income through the first two quarters of 2026, an increase of $612 million compared to the first half of 2025. Highmark said in the announcement that it expects elevated utilization and cost trends to persist across the industry, though pressures have eased.”
• and
  • “Berry Street, a nutrition care company, has merged with India-based Healthify to form what executives call the largest insurance-covered AI metabolic health platform in the U.S. 
  • “The merger combines Healthify’s AI technology, including its nutrition and metabolic health assistant Ria, with Berry Street’s nationwide network of more than 2,000 clinicians and insurance-covered nutrition and GLP-1 care. The companies say the goal is to offer AI-powered, clinician-backed metabolic health support accessible through health insurance.
  • “Financial details of the merger were not disclosed. Berry Street shared the news exclusively with Fierce Healthcare.”

• Beckers ASC Review relates,
  • “Kaiser Permanente is advancing construction plans for its long-planned Redlands, Calif., medical campus, with the Redlands Planning Commission set to review detailed site plans for the project’s first building Aug. 25, Community Forward Redlands reported  Aug. 24.
  • “The commission will consider a 113,000-square-foot, three-story medical office and ASC at Kaiser’s existing property. The building, known as Medical Office Building/Ambulatory Surgery Center 2, would house urgent care, outpatient surgery, chemotherapy infusion, imaging, laboratory services and medical offices.”
• and
  • “Becker’s has reported on more than 30 ASC closures in 2026 as outpatient surgery facilities cite consolidation, efficiency and shifting care sites. 
  • “[The article offers] a look inside five more recent ASC closures as the industry battles reimbursement declines, staffing shortages and shifting market power dynamics. 

• Healthcare IT News tells us,
  • “Telemedicine has made it routine for clinicians and patients to connect by video. But for health systems, establishing that connection is no longer the hardest part of virtual care. The bigger challenge is making sure the right patient gets a virtual visit in the first place – and that everything that should happen afterward actually happens.
  • “For telehealth veteran Dr. Joe Kvedar, professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and senior clinical advisor and two-time board chair at the American Telemedicine Association, the operational issues confronting provider organizations now come down largely to two areas: EHR integration and patient triage.
  • “Many health systems have made substantial progress integrating telemedicine into the electronic health record, says Kvedar, but determining which patients and conditions truly belong in a virtual encounter remains more difficult.”
• and
  • “For decades, hospitals have largely treated discharge as the end of the acute care journey. Once patients left the building with a folder of instructions and follow-up recommendations, responsibility shifted largely to them and their families.
  • “But that approach is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain as hospitals assume greater accountability for patient outcomes long after patients leave inpatient care.
  • “New payment models, continued pressure to reduce avoidable readmissions and growing expectations for coordinated care are forcing provider organizations to rethink what happens after discharge.
  • “For Dimer Health CEO Caroline Hodge, PA-C, the answer is straightforward: Transitional care must become an active, technology-enabled extension of the hospital, rather than a passive handoff.
  • “The first 90 days aren’t an afterthought anymore,” Hodge said. “They’re where the outcome, and the economics, actually get decided.”

• MedTech Dive informs us,
  • “MiniMed has begun shipping its new insulin pump in the U.S. with the Abbott-made Instinct sensor, the Medtronic spinout said last week. The sensor can be used for up to 15 days before it needs to be changed.
  • “The company said the rollout of its new MiniMed Flex delivery device with Instinct combines the smallest and only app-controlled insulin pump with the world’s smallest sensor.
  • “MiniMed is supporting the launch with its first major marketing campaign for the insulin pump. The campaign focuses on MiniMed Flex’s “discreet” design, app control and automation.”

• Beckers Hospital Review notes,
  • “Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. has partnered with RxSaveCard and nonprofit Golden Thread to streamline sourcing and reduce costs of pediatric cancer clinical trial medications. 
  • “Once enrolled in a study, patients will sign up for RxSaveCard and receive trial medications delivered to their homes through Cost Plus Drugs, according to a news release shared with Becker’s.
  • “No study should stall over the price of a generic drug and no family should wait on one,” Alan Bowe, chief commercial officer at Cost Plus Drugs, said in the release. “We’re proud to work with Golden Thread and RxSaveCard to make trial medications affordable and deliver them directly to patients’ doors and we hope every trial that needs this model uses it.”