“The number of recorded measles cases in the U.S. during 2025 has exceeded 2,000 for the first time in more than 30 years,” Axios reports.

“This year’s surge in cases and prolonged outbreaks could cause the U.S. to lose its globally recognized measles ‘elimination status’ for the first time in decades by the end of January 2026.”

“The outbreaks come amid Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to downplay the risks of measles and spread misleading claims about the vaccine, while suggesting other alternatives without evidence.”

“On his way to being confirmed as the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised lawmakers he would do nothing that ‘makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines,’” the Washington Post reports.

“Almost 100 days into the job, amid rising measles outbreaks and congressional scrutiny of his messaging on vaccines, Kennedy made clear behind the scenes that he wanted to reshape the nation’s immunization system.”

“At least a dozen states are working to shield people from soaring health insurance costs following Congress’ failure to extend Obamacare subsidies for tens of millions of Americans,” Politico reports.

“The efforts, which include actions taken by state leaders in California, Colorado and Maryland, in nearly every case come with a major caveat: They will only be able to help a portion of the people whose health insurance will be too expensive without the enhanced subsidies that Congress opted not to renew before leaving Washington for the year.”

“The United States, a nation of 343 million people with a complex and overburdened health care system, is poised to adopt the childhood vaccine recommendations used in Denmark, a country of six million with universal health care. The decision has alarmed public health experts in both countries,” the New York Times reports.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary, is expected to announce the move in the new year. It would reduce the number of immunizations required for American children to 10 from 17, radically changing the recommended vaccines without the deliberative process that the United States has relied on for decades.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans to have the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule mirror Denmark’s are also getting pushback from critics who argue that the U.S. doesn’t have European levels of health care access and has different levels of disease, Politico reports.

“Medicaid programs made more than $200 million in improper payments to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for people who had already died,” the AP reports.

“The Trump administration plans to shift the federal government away from directly recommending most vaccines for children and suggest they receive fewer shots to more closely align with Denmark’s immunization model,” the Washington Post reports.

“Four House Republicans snubbed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and teamed up with Democrats to force a House vote on a three-year extension of expiring Obamacare funds,” NBC News reports.

“All of them have one thing in common: They face re-election in swing districts in next year’s midterm elections.”

“And since the GOP hasn’t come up with a replacement plan, voters will have little doubt about whom to blame when those premium hikes hit.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) spoke to Kaitlin Collins on CNN:

COLLINS: What do you say to people who say Republicans have had 15 years to change the ACA and they haven’t done it?

SCOTT: Well, I mean, Democrats they’re the ones who created these subsidies… Why didn’t Democrats fix it?

“Harvey Risch, a Yale epidemiologist long respected for his work in cancer research but who has faced controversy for promoting an unproven covid-19 treatment, has been selected by President Donald Trump to lead the nation’s cancer initiative,” the Washington Post reports.

CBS News: “Measles outbreaks are growing along the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina, where hundreds are in quarantine.”

“It’s official: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he won’t call a vote to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, effectively guaranteeing they will expire at the end of this month,” NBC News reports.

“That means higher insurance premiums will go into effect for millions of Americans who get coverage through Obamacare next year.”

Punchbowl News: “This week — the last of the legislative year — was designed to give House Republicans a way to push back on Democratic attacks that they’re indifferent to skyrocketing health care costs hitting millions of Americans.”

“Instead, the House GOP leadership has facilitated an untimely — and particularly nasty — intraparty brawl, pitting moderates against Republican Party leaders and further strengthening Democrats’ political hand as the Obamacare cliff looms.”

Meanwhile, Politico reports the White House is “contending with differing opinions over the political ramifications of the subsidies expiring, the question of whether President Donald Trump’s engagement might be unproductive on the Hill and the reality that Trump, behind the scenes, likely knows something must be done to prevent the premium spike some Americans would see.”