IHA Comments on Fed. Investigation of Imported Medical Devices and Equipment, Tariffs
On Oct. 17, IHA
responded to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security Investigation of imports of personal protective equipment, medical consumables, and medical equipment, including devices. While sharing the administration’s goal of securing a more resilient healthcare supply chain, IHA expressed concerns regarding quickly executed, blanket tariff policies on medical supplies that would disrupt the current supply chain, provide financial challenges to providers, and potentially negatively impact access to healthcare for Americans.
IHA urged the Dept. of Commerce to conduct a thorough study on the impacts of tariffs on the healthcare supply chain to identify any unintended consequences of such a policy, and to ensure that tariff policies are strategically crafted to meet the end goal of ensuring a resilient healthcare supply chain. We also asked for a slow glidepath to any tariff implementation to ensure providers and manufacturers have enough time to respond to such shocks, and for consideration that any increased costs not be passed on to providers.
IHA’s full comments are
here.
Nearly 1,600 U.S. Measles Cases Reported in 2025
As of Oct. 14, there have been 1,596 confirmed U.S. measles cases in 2025, according to the
latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To date, cases have been reported by 42 states and jurisdictions, including Illinois, and 12% of cases have been hospitalized. Nationally, there have been 44 reported outbreaks, with 86% of confirmed cases being outbreak-associated. The vaccination status of 92% of all confirmed cases is classified as “unvaccinated or unknown.”
There have been 12 measles cases in Illinois in 2025, according to the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH). In April and May there were eight measles cases in Southern Illinois, all linked to one another, that constituted an outbreak; however, the Department
declared that outbreak over in mid-July. The other four cases have been reported in Cook County, and did not constitute an outbreak.
Click here to view recent exposure locations. Last year, Illinois reported 67 measles cases.
White House Announces Plan to Lower Costs, Expand Access to IVF
Yesterday, President Donald Trump
announced a new plan aimed at reducing the high cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and expanding access to fertility care for American families. The initiative includes a new “most-favored-nation” pricing agreement with fertility drugmaker EMD Serono that will align U.S. prices with the lowest paid in other developed nations, offering significant discounts through TrumpRx.gov and additional savings for low- and middle-income women. The agreement also calls for U.S.-based manufacturing of IVF drugs and extends discounted pricing to state Medicaid programs.
The plan further directs the FDA to fast-track approval of a lower-cost fertility drug to increase market competition and reduce prices. In addition, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury announced that employers may now offer stand-alone fertility benefit packages—similar to dental or vision coverage—to help employees afford IVF and related treatments.
New Obesity Definition Would Dramatically Increase Obesity Prevalence
A new definition of obesity that takes into account additional measures of body fat index in addition to body mass index (BMI) could significantly increase the number of Americans considered obese, according to research published in
JAMA Network Open. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight, but BMI doesn’t differentiate weight from fat and weight from muscle. However, other measures—such as waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, or waist-to-hip ratio—may further account for fat distribution and aid in differentiation between muscle and fat mass.
Under the new definition, a person is classified as obese if they have a high BMI plus an elevated reading using one of the newer measures of body fat. A person can also be considered obese if they have a normal BMI but at least two elevated results from the newer measures. Using these criteria, study authors found the new definition drove obesity prevalence from 43% to almost 69% among more than 300,000 participants in the long-term study.
Importantly, the study found that those with anthropometric-only obesity – who would not have been classified as having obesity by the traditional definition – had a higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality than people without obesity.
Illinois Respiratory Disease Surveillance Data
