On Wednesday, Optum and Summit Health union workers held a virtual town hall to discuss the “corporate takeover” of local facilities.

The virtual town hall, conducted by the 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East union, centered on negative employee and patient experiences since Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group, and Summit Health acquired local facilities in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Local New York politicians, including Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan and Democratic Senator Shelley Mayer, joined the call to pledge their support for the union, with some also sharing their own experiences with both health systems.

Attendees talked about their personal struggles with high deductibles, low cost-of-living pay increases, chronic supply shortages, and long wait times for care. Words like “frustrated” and “outraged” peppered the 90-minute call of about 250 nurses, radiologists, and other medical staff.

Keep reading here.—NO

Following the inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed a slate of executive orders that took aim at areas of health policy, from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to artificial intelligence (AI) to drug cost cuts.

The changes could impact the healthcare industry, as the president has put his focus on a major international healthcare organization, stopped pilot programs, and potentially put millions of ACA members at risk of losing health coverage.

Michael Abrams, managing partner at health consulting firm Numerof & Associates, told Healthcare Brew that while Trump has rescinded these orders, it doesn’t mean he won’t make his own policies related to the ACA, drug pricing, or AI.

“A lot of these [executive orders] that were signed on that first and second day and so on, are about clearing the decks,” he said. “There are things that Trump wiped away with those executive orders, not because necessarily they’re unimportant to him, but because he feels the need to start fresh.”

Keep reading here.—CM

Federal health agencies are canceled—well, their meetings are at least.

In the days following his inauguration, President Donald Trump’s administration asked officials within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which has a $1.7 trillion budget and includes the FDA, the CDC, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—to stop all external communication, according to an internal memo. This means no new health advisories, social media posts, or website posts.

“As the new administration considers its plan for managing the federal policy and public communications processes, it is important that the president’s appointees and designees have the opportunity to review and approve any regulations, guidance documents, and other public documents and communications (including social media),” the memo read.

The pause began on Jan. 21, and according to the memo, will remain in effect until Feb. 1. 

Keep reading here.—CM