Plus, testing your microbiome and rising measles cases
| | | | | | | | | | | | | In this edition: Trump's healthcare cuts, the rise of measles cases and testing your microbiome. | | | | | | | |  | | Healthcare workers last month protested the Medicaid cuts proposed in the bill that President Trump signed on July 4. PHOTO: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES | | | | | | President Trump's healthcare cuts. The passage of the "big, beautiful bill" has left some hospitals, doctors and patient-advocacy groups issuing strong warnings: Millions of people will lose health-insurance coverage and hospitals' uncompensated work will increase. | | | Measles cases skyrocket. Cases in the U.S. have hit a three-decade high, reaching the highest yearly total since 1992 in less than seven months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. | | | It's a tick summer. They're some of the most unwelcome guests and they are lurking all over hiking trails, golf courses and even backyards. Tick numbers are about 30% to 40% higher than last year this time, according to Thomas Daniels, director of Fordham University's Louis Calder Center. | | | | | | MEMBER MESSAGE: BUY SIDE FROM WSJ |  | | Prime Day Is Here | | Discover the best deals across tech, home, and essentials—hand-picked by editors and updated in real time. Shop top-rated products at can't-miss prices, only during Amazon's biggest summer sale, now through July 11. SHOP | ![]() | | | | | | |  | | ILLUSTRATION: DAISY KORPICS/WSJ,iStock | | | | | | | | | | How abortion bans affect where women live and work. Early data show that states with the most restrictive laws are seeing some residents leave. In one recent paper, researchers estimated that 13 states collectively saw about 146,000 residents leave due to abortion bans in the year after Roe v. Wade fell. | | | | | |  | | PHOTO: PATRICK SISON/AP | | | | | | UnitedHealth's Medicare practices. Justice Department prosecutors recently interviewed former employees about the company's Medicare billing practices, as well as how it deployed doctors and nurses to gather diagnoses that bolstered its payments, people familiar with the matter said. | | | Pressure mounts on health insurers. Molina Healthcare became the latest insurer to warn that higher medical costs will hit earnings this year, adding to Wall Street's worries about an industry that is already facing the loss of millions of customers because of the recently passed megabill. | | | Merck's $10 billion deal. The company struck the deal to buy Verona Pharma, bolstering its lineup with a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment as it braces for the 2028 loss of patent exclusivity for the blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda. | | | | | This newsletter was compiled by the WSJ's Health & Science team. Follow us on X @WSJHealth and @WSJScience. Email us by replying to this newsletter. | | | | | | | | | |
