The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) advocacy team monitors healthcare related legislation, rule changes, and legislative updates for Ohio’s family physicians.
To access the OAFP Bill Tracker, visit the OAFP Public Policy webpage and click on the Bill Tracker icon.
Read on for this week’s updates and contact Advocacy Coordinator Kaela Springhetti with questions or for ways to get involved.
Trump Signs Executive Order with Plan to Reduce Number of Recommended Childhood Vaccines
Source: The Guardian
Donald Trump has signed an executive order with plans for sweeping changes to the childhood vaccination schedule that would require that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to be broken into three separate shots, once it becomes available in the United States.
The order recommends that all shots be given at separate medical visits, a frequent point President Trump has made despite the safety, ease, and lower costs of giving vaccines together.
The move is an attempt to reinstate the changes made earlier this year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination recommendations, which were halted by a federal judge. The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, announced in January unilateral changes to the CDC childhood vaccine recommendations. In March, these and other changes to vaccines instituted under Kennedy were halted by a federal judge for violating federal law. By issuing the executive order, President Trump is bypassing the CDC, which is the federal agency tasked with recommending vaccines, not the White House.
Read the full article in The Guardian.
Federal Officials Urge More State Oversight of Medicaid Autism Therapy
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Federal officials recently advised states to place new restrictions on autism therapy providers to curb a sharp increase in Medicaid spending for a treatment that has raised concerns of waste and fraud (Source: Medicaid Urges States to Increase Autism Therapy Oversight, New York Times, August 4).
Thousands of autism clinics have sprung up across the country in recent years, an expansion that has played out with little regulatory oversight, an investigation by The New York Times found.
Recently, the federal Medicaid office rolled out a “toolkit” of best practices and policy guidelines for regulating autism clinics. The 173-page document advises states to set limits for how much autism therapy a provider can bill before giving a child a break, require prior authorization for high numbers of hours and better track clinic outcomes.
FDA Approves Four Flavored Nicotine Pouches
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing authorization to four new flavored nicotine pouches as part of the agency’s tobacco review pilot program launched last year (Source: FDA authorizes 4 flavored nicotine pouches, The Hill, August 4).
The authorizations announced by the FDA are part of the agency’s pilot program launched in September 2025 meant to “streamline the review process for premarket tobacco product applications.”
Since returning to office, President Trump’s administration has pushed regulatory actions favorable towards the tobacco industry, with a particular focus on non-combustible tobacco products. In June, the FDA allowed Zyn nicotine pouches, owned by Philip Morris International, to be marketed as less harmful than cigarettes.
Lung health advocates blasted the FDA announcement.
“Over 90% of young people who use nicotine pouches use flavored products, and nicotine pouches are already the second most commonly used tobacco product among youth,” Ranjana Caple, director of federal advocacy at the American Lung Association, said in a statement. “These products are attracting kids who otherwise may never have used a tobacco product. The FDA should be protecting kids—not authorizing more flavored products. Kids deserve better.”