Here are three updates on federal healthcare policy:
1. The Trump administration informed Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University that it will no longer provide research grants after federal agencies conducted a “comprehensive review” in late March of its nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts.
In a May 5 letter to the university, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote, “Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided.” She attributed the revocation of federal research grants to the university having “invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt” toward the U.S., and because the university has failed to abide by a Supreme Court ruling to end racial preferencing.
2. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, is pushing for major reforms to the Medicaid program, according to comments he made May 6 at the 2025 Milken Institute Global Conference.
Dr. Oz told Fox Business that there is a “generational opportunity” to reform Medicaid and save the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars.
“I believe we’re going to increase expenditures on Medicaid,” he said. “It may not increase as much as it would have normally increased, but I think we have a unique opportunity … because what the president wants to do is get everyone aligned.”
3. Ten states and the District of Columbia could face a $468 billion shortfall over the next decade if Congress reduces the amount it guarantees to states to run their Medicaid programs, according to a May 6 report from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The federal government pays for at least half of each state’s Medicaid costs, according to the report. If the 50% floor was lowered, 10 states and the district would be affected.
Researchers found that the proposed change would result in significant cuts in Medicaid support for people with disabilities ($189.5 billion), older adults ($161.1 billion) and children ($50.1 billion) across the affected states and the district.
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