August 20, 2026

PatientRightsAdvocate.org sued the American Medical Association seeking to make CPT medical billing codes freely accessible, arguing that the codes are effectively required by law and should not be privately restricted or sold. The lawsuit comes amid growing scrutiny from Congress and CMS over the AMA’s control of CPT and its influence on healthcare reimbursement and billing.

Providence Health Plan is shutting down entirely after negotiations with a national insurer to continue its Medicare Advantage business fell through, affecting more than 64,000 members. The closure follows Providence’s planned exit from its commercial, Medicaid, individual, and employer markets, amid high medical costs, regulatory pressures, and competition from national insurers.

Overton brings strong public health credentials to the nomination, including board certification in public health and general preventive medicine and a Ph.D. in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins. Still, pharmaceutical industry leaders and investors appear to be looking for stability and predictability at the FDA. RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams noted that Overton’s nomination may come with questions, particularly given her limited drug regulatory experience and relatively sparse public commentary on core industry issues.

Under the policy finalized by the Trump administration, insurers could have continued covering gender-affirming care voluntarily as a non-essential health benefit, and states could still mandate coverage. However, patient spending on those services would not have been required to count toward deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums, potentially exposing patients to higher costs. The ruling keeps ACA financial protections in place for gender-affirming care where it is covered, but it does not resolve several operational questions for insurers and regulators, including whether benefit documents must be revised, cost sharing recalculated or previously processed claims revisited under the now-vacated policy.

The new research shows that many Medicare beneficiaries overestimate their understanding of the program, highlighting a gap between confidence and actual knowledge. It explores how this misunderstanding can affect coverage decisions and underscores the need for clearer beneficiary education and support.