May 5, 2026
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Washington Correspondent, D.C. Diagnosis Writer

Brain Reid, who writes a newsletter on drug pricing policies, wrote “health care [sic]” in his Friday edition. I feel like a huge dork for laughing at that “sic” notation. Share your thoughts on the AP’s new compound noun dictum here, and send news tips to John.Wilkerson@statnews.com or John_Wilkerson.07 on Signal.

politics

CPT codes are the new front in fraud allegations

House oversight committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is taking aim at the American Medical Association, linking the biggest doctor lobby’s billing codes to potential fraud, waste, and abuse.

Criticism of Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT, codes goes back decades. The AMA owns the coding system, which is used to bill Medicare and Medicaid, and the AMA relies heavily on royalties from the codes for its funding.

That makes the codes a prime target whenever Republicans dislike the AMA’s position on policies. The codes came under scrutiny when the AMA supported Obamacare, and last fall Senate health committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) connected his investigation into the billing code system to the AMA’s support of transgender care.

Comer’s attack adds a new twist. By saying that CPT codes may lead to fraud, waste, and abuse, he’s using a line of attack that Republicans used to withhold Medicaid funding for Minnesota and to downplay the more than $1 trillion in health care cuts in the tax bill they passed last summer.

Read more.

lobbying

PAHA anyone?

First there was MAGA. Then came MAHA. There’s even a GAHA.

Now there seems to be a PAHA, Daniel Payne reports.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week launched a lobbying initiative to "Protect America's Health Advantage"

At its health summit, the Chamber announced its new Health Policy Center, which will look to add private-sector voices on key health issues, including employer-sponsored health, consumer-focused care, and new innovation in the sector.

That summit was shot through with talk of Protecting America’s Health Advantage.

Despite the riff on MAHA, business leaders have at times argued the goal of PAHA is at odds with a primary goal of the Trump administration: drug price controls through most-favored nation legislation.

It’s the latest example of the health industry looking to respond — and offer an alternative — to the MAHA movement’s skepticism of big institutions.

medical research

Brain drain

New data suggests that U.S. immigration policies are causing foreign researchers to leave the country or not come here in the first place, Andrew Joseph reports.

Andrew features a budding scientist who decided against doing a postdoctoral fellowship in America. She already had the fellowship lined up, but her visa was not renewed due to new visa requirements. Instead of undergoing more visa entanglements, she decided she will return to India to start a job at a biotech company after earning her Ph.D.

Her story is not a one-off. Heightened immigration scrutiny and cuts to U.S. research programs are making many foreign researchers go elsewhere. Read more.

vaccines

Senators demand administration fund international vaccine group

A bipartisan group of Senate appropriators led by Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) is calling for the Trump administration to restore funding of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which helps provide a wide range of immunizations to the world’s poorest countries.

The U.S. has traditionally been one of the biggest backers of the organization. Congress appropriated $600 million to Gavi between 2025 and this year. But the administration hasn’t spent any of it.

The senators say Gavi plays a critical role in averting the spread of preventable diseases globally, including in the U.S., by stopping outbreaks before they reach our borders.

“GAVI also supports U.S. industry and jobs, purchasing more than $12.5 billion in U.S.-manufactured goods and vaccines,” the senators state in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

abortion policy

The latest on mifepristone’s status

On Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone may not distributed through the mail. Monday morning, the Supreme Court blocked that ruling, allowing women to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor.

But the fight is far from over. The Supreme Court order will remain in effect for one week while both sides respond and the court more fully considers the issue.

In an opinion piece, Grace Colón, the president and CEO of OmniPulse Biosciences, writes that if the courts are allowed to place additional restrictions on mifepristone, it jeopardizes the development of all drugs.

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What we’re reading

  • French regulator fines Novo and Lilly over weight loss ad campaigns, STAT
  • Doctors from countries under travel ban now allowed to stay in U.S., The New York Times
  • Opinion: China’s strict new supply chain regulations could create massive problems for Western biopharma companies, STAT
  • How Vaccine Skepticism Tanked a MAHA Hero’s Ambitions, The Wall Street Journal

Thanks for reading! More next time,