A group of former BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee employees allegedly fired after declining to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons are nearing a settlement with the insurance provider, a federal status report shows. The complaint was filed by three former employees who claimed they were fired in 2021 after their respective religious accommodation requests were denied.
At HHS, 10,000 jobs are gone. Billions of dollars in research sent to scientists and universities was shut off. Public meetings to discuss flu shots and other vaccines have been canceled. Fluoride in drinking water may be the next to go, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has done a blitz of his "Make America Healthy Again" campaign at day cares, schools and health centers around the country where he has promised to work with Trump's other agency leaders to prohibit soda from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, limit dyes in the food supply and call for fluoride to be removed from drinking water.
President Donald Trump said he would not sign legislation that calls for cuts to Social Security or federal health coverage for older and low-income Americans. Trump's comments put hard limits on congressional lawmakers as they return to Washington next week to debate the specifics of a tax-and-spending package they plan to pass in the coming months. The legislation, which will likely pass on GOP votes alone, will look to renew Trump's first-term tax cuts, but also calls for budget reductions.
Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Prosecutors formally declared their intent to seek the death penalty, and the judge warned Justice Department officials to refrain from making public comments that could spoil his right to a fair trial.
House Republicans are facing the difficult task of slashing $1.5 trillion — with hundreds of billions likely in Medicaid spending — to help offset the cost of President Trump's tax cuts. House leadership has denied that Medicaid will be gutted. But it's unclear how Republicans plan to reach the level of spending cuts laid out in the budget resolution that Congress adopted earlier this month without drastically trimming the program.
The $10 million that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration diverted to a state-created charity last year consisted of Medicaid dollars owed to state and federal taxpayers, contrary to what the governor and other officials have publicly asserted.