The top candidates for CDC director

The Trump administration is expected to nominate a CDC director in the coming days as NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya's temporary position as acting director of the agency expires on March 26, with three people emerging as top candidates.

Bhattacharya assumed the role as interim director on Feb. 18 following several months of leadership changes. In August 2025, Susan Monarez was fired as CDC director just weeks after her confirmation. Following Monarez's firing, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill served as acting director of CDC until he left HHS in February, leading Bhattacharya to take his place.

According to reports from Bloomberg and the Washington Post citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, three candidates are emerging as favorites for the CDC director position:

• Ernie Fletcher, a family physician and former governor of Kentucky who cofounded and serves as CMO for a nonprofit focused on addiction and homelessness
• Joseph Marine, vice director of operations for the cardiology division at Johns Hopkins Medicine and section chief of cardiology for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
• Daniel Edney, state health officer for Mississippi's health department who is trained in internal medicine

(Twenter, Becker's Clinical Leadership, 3/23)

Vaccine adviser leaves ACIP

Robert Malone, vice chair of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), resigned from his position on Tuesday. His decision follows a ruling by a federal judge earlier this month that blocked HHS from implementing recent vaccine policy changes and reversed all decisions made by the panel.

Malone is a physician and researcher who gained fame among the anti-vaccine world and critics of the COVID-19 pandemic response through various appearances on podcasts, including an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast in late 2021 where he questioned the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Malone was appointed to ACIP in June 2025 after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel.

Malone posted on social media that the ruling from earlier this month will not be appealed, which was contradicted by HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon. HHS has indicated that it will appeal the ruling but has not said when that appeal will take place.

"After Andrew trashing me with the press, I am done with the CDC and ACIP," Malone said in a text message to Roll Call. "That was the last straw."

"Suffice to say I do not like drama, and have better things to do," he added.

Malone also indicated that he would not rejoin ACIP if the ruling were overturned or if Kennedy announced a new set of advisers.

"If offered the opportunity to participate in a relaunched ACIP, I would respectfully decline," he said, adding that this "was not an impulsive decision."

(Cohen, Roll Call, 3/24; Mandavilli, New York Times, 3/24)

CMS issues rule ending use of fax machines

CMS on Friday issued a final rule ending the use of fax machines for all entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, including health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcare providers that conduct electronic transactions.

The rule will also adopt standards for electronic signatures to ensure secure, authenticated transmission of healthcare information.

The Administrative Simplification; Adoption of Standards for Health Care Claims Attachments Transactions and Electronic Signatures Final Rule takes effect May 26, and covered entities have until May 26, 2028, to comply.

"The 1980s called, and they want their fax machines back," CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a press release announcing the rule. "The futuristic medical breakthroughs we've achieved, like augmented reality glasses that give surgeons x-ray vision, shouldn't have to coexist with administrative systems that often lag decades behind. This new rule will modernize American healthcare by standardizing electronic claims attachments and enabling secure electronic signatures. Because every minute providers save on paperwork is another minute they can spend caring for patients."

According to CMS, the rule is projected to save the healthcare industry around $781 million each year by establishing national standards for the electronic exchange of clinical documentation used for healthcare claims.

(Frieden, MedPage Today, 3/23; Morse, Healthcare Finance, 3/23)

Medicare director says automatic MA enrollment is under consideration

Chris Klomp, director of Medicare, said CMS is considering a policy that would automatically enroll Medicare beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans or accountable care organizations (ACOs), such as those participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Individuals would still be able to opt into a different insurance arrangement if they wanted.

Currently, people who don't make a coverage choice are automatically enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare.

"Would either of those, in my view, be superior to a default enrollment into a fee-for-service arrangement, where there's not this long-term, secular relationship between the beneficiary, the patient, and their provider? Yes," Klomp said during an interview with STAT.

Klomp noted that there aren't any definitive plans and that his team is still analyzing the mechanics of such an arrangement, "but it is something that we're thinking through."

Ultimately, Klomp said that getting all Medicare beneficiaries into accountable arrangements is the best way to keep them healthy.

"Accountable relationships lead to higher-quality measures, a better clinical experience, better clinical performance," he said. "It's healthier beneficiaries, healthier patients."

Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, associate director of KFF's Program on Medicare Policy, said that automatic MA enrollment "would increase spending, increase costs to taxpayers, and the premiums that beneficiaries pay."

She added that, in some ways, default enrollment into ACOs already happens because if people receive care from an ACO-aligned provider, they are then aligned with that ACO.

"It's unclear how this would be different from what's done now," Fulesten Biniek said.

(Bannow, STAT+ [subscription required], 3/20)

3 new drugs added to TrumpRx

The White House earlier this month said it's adding three drugs for diabetes and lung disease to TrumpRx, a website for consumers to find discounts on brand-name drugs if they pay cash rather than use their health insurance.

The new drugs are Jentadueto and Jentadueto XR for Type 2 diabetes and the COPD drug Striverdi Respimat, both made by Boehringer Ingelheim.

According to the White House, the diabetes drugs list for around $525 but start around $55 on TrumpRx, while the COPD drug lists for around $276 but starts at around $35 on the site.

"Those are pretty significant discounts," said Ben Link, a contributor at 46brooklyn, a nonprofit that tracks prescription drug prices. Even for Jentadueto, patients usually pay around $25 to $35 at the pharmacy for the generic version, meaning the price on TrumpRx is competitive, Link added.

(Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 3/20)