Trump administration to end Medicare Part D subsidy program in 2027
Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein-Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is ending a key health insurance subsidy program that aimed to keep premiums for seniors’ prescription drug plans in check, claiming that it benefits corporate insurance companies, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
Medicare Part D — the government health insurance program’s prescription drug benefit — is used by tens of millions of older or disabled beneficiaries.
The program’s subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, the administration announced Tuesday.
That move will likely result in higher prescription costs and increase premiums for about half of recipients, according to an administration official.
The changes are anticipated to happen in 2027 and enrollees will find out the new monthly cost later this fall, administration officials said.
Currently the government pays billions of dollars to insurance companies as a subsidy to keep prescription drug insurance at an average of $36 per person per month, according to KFF, a health policy nonprofit.
Ending the subsidies may increase premiums for some by as much as $20 a month, according to KFF.
The move comes as Affordable Care Act subsidies have expired and health care costs remain a top issue for voters ahead of the midterm elections. The ACA subsidies helped lower the out-of-pocket costs for monthly premiums for people who purchased health care through the health insurance marketplace.
Trump administration officials decried the Biden administration for signing the Inflation Reduction Act, which they allege bailed out major insurance companies and resulted in increased premiums for Americans. Trump officials also claim that billions of dollars were funneled to the companies through Biden’s signature legislation
At the time, Biden officials touted the Inflation Reduction Act for allowing the government to negotiate with drug companies about the pricing for some of their most expensive medicines.
“We are stabilizing the market so this bailout is no longer needed,” Oz wrote in a post on X. “Premiums will go up by less than $10 for most Medicare recipients, with many even seeing LOWER premiums.”
“Every Medicare beneficiary still has access to low-cost plans, and we will continue to lower prescription drug prices for every American patient, from more MFN deals to our policy giving seniors access to GLP-1s for $50 a month,” he added, referring to “most favored nation” deals under which pharmaceutical companies charge U.S. patients the same rate as they charge in other countries.
The news about the Medicare Part D subsidies ending was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
About half of enrollees will either see a premium increase of less than $10 or a premium decrease and most will have plans available at $10 or less, according to a Trump administration official.
In this photo illustration, a laboratory test tubes containing blood to be analyzed for the Hantavirus “Orthohantavirus” outbreak, held by a nurse. (Vincenzo Izzo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo.) — Colorado public health officials are investigating the death of an adult resident as a result of hantavirus.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Douglas County Health Department said the death is not linked to the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which led to 11 confirmed and probable cases, including two confirmed deaths and one suspected death.
The individual lived in Douglas County — located just south of Denver — but information about the patient’s name, age and sex were not immediately available.
Health officials said the individual was infected by the Sin Nombre hantavirus, which is the most common cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in North America.
HPS symptoms typically appear from one to eight weeks after contact with the virus, with early signs including fever, fatigue and muscle aches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half of HPS patients will experience headaches, chills, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.’
Between four and 10 days after the initial phase of illness, symptoms including coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest can emerge, the CDC said, adding that a patient’s lungs can fill with fluid.
“Hantavirus infections caused by the Sin Nombre hantavirus occur regularly in Colorado, usually in the spring and summer, and can cause a severe and sometimes deadly respiratory disease,” according to public health officials. “In Colorado, the deer mouse is the rodent species that most commonly exposes people to the virus. Avoiding exposure to rodents and their urine, feces, saliva, and nesting materials is the best way to prevent infection.”
According to the CDC, there were six cases of Hantavirus in Colorado from 2020 to 2023.
Adi, 38, has been struggling to access health services for her daughter Camila, 10, who was injured a few months ago, due to the high cost and limited services. (Mauro Jose Medina Garcia/The International Rescue Committee)
(NEW YORK) — As Venezuela continues to recover from powerful twin earthquakes that rocked the north-central part of the country in late June, humanitarian organizations are warning of a “dire” situation on the ground.
The earthquakes, which officials say killed more than 4,400 people and injured more than 16,000, have displaced thousands of Venezuelans.
Aid workers told ABC News that countless people are in need of psychosocial support, in addition to those recovering from earthquake injuries.
Many Venezuelans are also suffering from chronic conditions — such as diabetes and hypertension — and are struggling to get care in the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Additionally, there has been a rise in reports of skin conditions and gastrointestinal diseases due to a lack of clean water and poor sanitation conditions, the workers said.
“The situation on the ground is pretty dire in terms of humanitarian needs,” Aisha Majid, a media manager at the international NGO Save the Children who is currently based in Caracas, told ABC News. “I’ve been here for a week, and there are thousands of families who are displaced on the streets.”
Mobile clinics treating wide range of conditions
Aid workers told ABC News that hospitals in Venezuela are currently overwhelmed treating people injured by the earthquakes, adding that some of the backlog predates the earthquakes.
“There are thousands of patients seeking help, and there aren’t enough doctors or hospitals or primary healthcare facilities,” Claudia Manresa, a regional compliance legal manager for the humanitarian organization Project HOPE in Latin America who is based in Venezuela, told ABC News. “There also aren’t enough medications, so this crisis joins a system that was already overwhelmed.”
Mobile clinics have been helping to fill some of the gaps. Manresa said Project HOPE has two mobile medical units running every day and, as of July 9, they have treated about 2,000 patients.
Save the Children is running a mobile clinic treating both patients with earthquake-related injuries, as well as other health needs including infections and chronic conditions. Majid said the organization is hoping to set up several mobile clinics across the capital of Caracas and the city of La Guaira, which was hit hard by the earthquakes.
Majid recalled that she visited a mobile clinic earlier in the month that Save the Children ran on the northeastern outskirts of Caracas through a local partner, which treated about 150 patients in around four hours.
“The second the clinic opened, there was a queue of people waiting to receive services, which just tells you how much in need people are, and the doctors in the clinic were working nonstop all day, just seeing patient after patient,” she said.
Everardo Esquivel, associate director for communications for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), told ABC News that many healthcare facilities were damaged in the earthquakes. As a result, he said people lost access to primary care and follow-up care.
Thirty-eight hospitals were damaged by the earthquakes, with the main referral hospital in La Guaira exceeding capacity within one day, according to the IRC.
The IRC’s mobile medical unit has been trying to help manage the increase in patient care, providing medicine for those with chronic conditions, including hypertension and diabetes, as well as antibiotics for certain conditions, he said.
Esquivel explained that there’s been a rise in skin conditions and diarrheal diseases due to the lack of clean water in the aftermath of the earthquake. Many shelters have virtually no access to toilets or showers, he said.
“People don’t have access to clean water and to properly clean wounds every day, so they get infections,” he said. “So, it’s two cases [at the mobile clinics]: it’s people with chronic diseases or in need of regular treatment and people who got new diseases related to the situation after the earthquakes.”
Need for psychosocial support
Humanitarian workers told ABC News there are also mental health issues that may arise after the earthquakes.
The World Health Organization said almost all people affected by emergencies experience psychological distress, which generally improves over time, but a fraction of people will go on to develop mental health conditions.
Manresa said Project HOPE is providing what aid workers refer to as psychological first aid, with a psychologist team deployed in La Guaira, offering different activities for kids and for adults.
She said the organization also has several phone lines that people can contact if they need help.
Children are particularly vulnerable. After a disaster, they may develop mental health symptoms including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A 2017 review of eight studies of children following natural disasters found that 4% to 23% experienced chronic symptoms, with persistently elevated PTSD over time.
Majid, with Save the Children, said she’s met several children who are experiencing trauma after the earthquake.
Majid recalled meeting an 11-year-old boy who told her he’s scared when he sees cracks in the ground because he thinks it means the Earth will open again. She noted that another boy told her he’s scared to use the bathroom nearby because there is a crack in it.
“What we’re seeing is that there is a huge need for psychological support for children, and this is something that we provide through safe spaces that we run in affected areas,” Majid said. “And this is a place where children can come, they can play for a while.”
She noted that the organization has psychologists and specialists in mental health working with the young people there.
“It’s so important that children not only have a place where they can play but a place where they can also safely express their emotions and find a way to connect with the trauma and the grief that so many of them have been through,” she said.
Cyclospora cayetanensis is a unicellular parasite that causes an intestinal infection called cyclosporiasis. (CDC)
(NEW YORK) — Multiple states are reporting an increase in cyclosporiasis cases, an intestinal infection caused by a parasite.
Health officials in Michigan have reported more than 1,200 cases and, in neighboring Ohio, cases have topped 170.
Here’s what you need to know about the infection, including how it spreads, how it’s diagnosed and how to treat it.
What is Cyclosporiasis?
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, also known as Cyclospora, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The infection affects the small intestine and can cause watery diarrhea with sometimes “explosive” bowel movements, according to the federal health agency.
Other symptoms can include cramping, bloating, low-grade fever, nausea and vomiting.
The agency further said it takes about one week from the time of infection to become symptomatic, but that time can range from two days to two weeks.
How it spreads
The parasite usually spreads through food or water contaminated with feces, according to the CDC.
Foodborne outbreaks of cyclosporiasis have been linked to various types of imported fresh produce, such as raspberries, basil, snow peas, mesclun lettuce and cilantro, according to the CDC.
How the infection is diagnosed
A healthcare provider will diagnose cyclosporiasis by testing stool samples, according to the CDC.
Patients may have to submit several stool samples on different days to detect the parasite because laboratory tests may have a hard time detecting Cyclospora.
The CDC says a patient’s healthcare provider will need to specifically request testing for the parasite.
How cyclosporiasis is treated
Cyclosporiasis is treated with the oral antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), commonly sold as Bactrim, Septra and Cotrim, and taken for 10 days, according to the CDC.
The CDC says most people with healthy immune systems will eventually recover without treatment, but if left untreated, patients may be sick for a few days to a month or longer.
How to prevent infection
It’s unclear exactly how Cyclospora contaminates food and water, according to the CDC.
The agency says people can prevent infection by thoroughly washing produce, cutting away bruised or damaged parts of fruits and vegetables, and refrigerating pre-prepared or pre-cut produce.
Additionally, the CDC recommends washing hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling or preparing raw fruits and vegetables.
