Lawmakers said the owner of Weiss Memorial Hospital filed to appeal Medicaid funding cuts that led to the hospital’s closure last month.

The investigations come as the White House and a Republican-controlled Congress slashed taxpayer spending on immigrant health care through cuts in President Donald Trump’s spending-and-tax law passed this summer.

The group’s new COVID-19 recommendations come amid a tumultuous year for public health, as vaccine skeptics have come into power in the Trump administration and government guidance has become increasingly confusing.

Former agency officials worry the meetings are skirting federal rules on conflicts of interests and transparency, while promoting fringe viewpoints that align with those of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs terminated union contracts for most bargaining-unit employees, stripping labor protections for about 400,000 workers. Friday’s rally was part of a national day of action called “Stand for Veterans, Stand for Unions.”

Texas Democrats gathered with Planned Parenthood affiliate leaders Wednesday in Chicago to highlight Illinois’ role in providing reproductive care for Texas patients and to warn how the dismantling of sexual and reproductive care in Texas threatens access in other states.

Federal funding cuts and allegations of mismanagement prompted the closures of most operations at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown, while Oak Park’s West Suburban Medical Center is facing a similar fate.

Health care leaders across Illinois are sounding the alarm over a new federal law slashing Medicaid, warning it could force hospital closures and gut care for vulnerable residents. They’re now racing to protect services and preserve access in the face of deep funding cuts.

Two of the most closely followed measures aim to protect the drinking water of a wide swath of central Illinois and boost the pension benefits for first responders in Chicago.

Gender-affirming care includes a range of medical and mental health services to support a person’s gender identity. It includes counseling and treatment with medications that block puberty, and hormone therapy to produce physical changes, as well as surgery, which is rare for minors.

Some Chicago hospitals that have been on the forefront of providing gender-affirming care to patients under the age of 19 have pulled back on those services.

If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would affect working conditions at constructions sites and in mines, and limit the government’s ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or killed while engaging in inherently risky activities such as movie stunts or animal training.

Sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies are particularly common for college-aged people. A 2023 report from the CDC found that nearly half of all reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were among people aged 15 to 24.

At least two dozen bills have been introduced across 15 states this year. Most of the legislation is related to insurance coverage for menopause care, awareness and education, clinician training or menopause in the workplace.

For nearly a decade, national guidelines have recommended introducing safe forms of peanut-containing foods to infants to help reduce allergy risk; however, a new study by Northwestern Medicine found that many families aren’t receiving that guidance from their pediatrician.

With funding at risk, hospitals are warning they might have to close — and leave communities without badly needed access to care.