Trending News Today: Legislators Urge Congress to Maintain Medicaid Expansion

The Trump administration has chosen to keep Francis Collins at the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for now, according to The Washington Post. While few details were released regarding this decision, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has requested that 50 current officials remain in their positions, at least temporarily. If Collins is not asked to be the permanent director, he plans to return to working as a geneticist in the NIH lab.

Republican governors are now urging Congress to maintain funding for low-income Americans who are insured under Medicaid. Governor John Kasich (R-OH) told GOP lawmakers that those covered under expanded Medicaid programs should be given subsidies or tax credits to purchase private health insurance to prevent these individuals from losing coverage, according to The New York Times. If Medicaid expansion is repealed under the Affordable Care Act, more than 10 million Americans would lose health coverage, which is a dangerous side effect of repealing the health law.

A former EpiPen competitor, Auvi-Q, will be reintroduced into the market for a significantly lower price than the better-known auto-injector. Auvi-Q includes voice instructions about how to use the product, which may be helpful in an emergency situation. The auto-injector will be available to more than 200 million Americans with commercial insurance, and those with an income of less than $100,000 without out-of-pocket costs, according to USA Today.