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Trump admin secures pledge from 75% of health insurers in bid to improve patient care
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Roughly three-quarters of the nation’s health insurance providers signed a series of commitments this week in an effort to improve patient care by reducing bureaucratic hurdles caused by insurance companies’ prior-authorization requirements.
Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced the new voluntary pledge from a cadre of insurance providers, who cover roughly 75% of the population, during a press conference Monday. The new commitments are aimed at speeding up and reducing prior-authorization processes used by insurers, a process that has been long-maligned for unnecessarily delaying patient care and other bureaucratic hurdles negatively impacting patients.
«The pledge is not a mandate. It’s not a bill, a rule. This is not legislated. This is a opportunity for industry to show itself,» Oz said Monday. «But by the fact that three-quarters of the patients in the country are already covered by participants in this pledge, it’s a good start and the response has been overwhelming.»
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Health insurance companies representing roughly 75% of patients in the U.S. signed an industry-led pledge this week aimed at improving patient care through streamlining the long-maligned prior-authorization process used by insurance companies to ensure patients are receiving appropriate care. (Getty Images; AP; iStock)
Prior-authorization is a process that requires providers to obtain approval from a patient’s insurance provider before that provider can offer certain treatments or services. Essentially, the process seeks to ensure patients are getting the right solution for a particular problem.
However, according to Oz, the process has led to doctors being forced to spend enormous amounts of man-power to satisfy prior-authorization requirements from insurers. He noted during Monday’s press conference that, on average, physicians have to spend 12 hours a week dealing with these requirements, which they see about 40 of per week.
«It frustrates doctors. It sometimes results in care that is significantly delayed. It erodes public trust in the healthcare system. It’s something we can’t tolerate,» Oz insisted.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said during a press conference Monday announcing the new industry-led pledge, that the new commitments will significantly improve patient access to care. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The pledge has been adopted by some of the nation’s largest insurance providers, including United Healthcare, Cigna, Humana, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Aetna and many more. While the industry-led commitments aim to improve care for patients, it could potentially eat into their profits as well if patients start seeking care more often.
The commitments from insurers cemented this week include taking active steps to implement a common standardized process for electronic prior-authorization through the development of standardized submission requirements to support faster turnaround time. The goal is for the new framework to be operational by Jan. 1, 2027.
Another part of the pledge includes a commitment from individual insurance plans to implement certain reductions in its use of medical prior-authorization by Jan. 1, 2026. On that date, if patients switch insurance providers during the course of treatment, their new plan must honor their existing prior-authorization approvals for 90-days while the patient transitions.
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Prior-authorization is a long-criticized process that critics have argued blocks patients’ access to care. (iStock)
Transparency is also a key part of the new commitments from insurance providers. Health plans enjoined with the commitments will pledge to provide clear and easy-to-understand explanations of prior-authorization determinations, including guidance for appeals. The commitment also states that by 2027, 80% of electronic prior-authorization approvals from companies will be answered in real-time.
Oz, during the Monday press conference, compared the industry-led pledge to the Bible, saying, «The meek shall inherit the earth.»
«I always grew up thinking ‘meek’ meant weak, but that’s not what meek means. ‘Meek’ means you have a sharp sword, a sword that could do real damage to people around you, but you decide, electively, to sheathe that sword and put it away for a while, so you can do goods, so you can do important things where once in a while we have to get together, even if we’re competitors, and agree,» Oz said Monday.
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«That’s what these insurance companies and hospital systems have done,» he continued. «They have agreed to sheathe their swords to be meek for a while, to come up with a better solution to a problem that plagues us all.»
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as unlawful immigration raids across the Los Angeles area targeting migrants with «brown skin.»
The non-profit accuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of carrying out unconstitutional raids and then keeping migrants in inhumane conditions without beds and deprived of food and legal counsel. Homeland Security has denied all the claims in the lawsuit, saying that any accusations of racial profiling are «disgusting and categorically false.»
ICE has carried out sweeping raids since June 6, arresting around 1,500 immigrants, including Latino day laborers, car wash workers, farmworkers and vendors – all in a bid to meet certain arrest quotas, the habeas petition states.
Several dozen protesters staged a demonstration on the Sixth Street Bridge between downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights protesting ICE deportation operations in L.A. on July 1 in Los Angeles. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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«The raids in this district follow a common, systematic pattern. Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from,» the lawsuit reads.
«If they hesitate, attempt to leave, or do not answer the questions to the satisfaction of the agents, they are detained, sometimes tackled, handcuffed, and/or taken into custody. In these interactions, agents typically have no prior information about the individual and no warrant of any kind.»
The lawsuit accuses the federal government of keeping detainees at an overcrowded holding facility, referred to as «B-18,» inside windowless rooms that are extremely cramped.
«In these dungeon-like facilities, conditions are deplorable and unconstitutional,» the lawsuit reads.
A portion of the suit reads, «In these dungeon-like facilities, conditions are deplorabe and unconstitutional.» (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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As well as seeking to block the raids, the suit demands that ICE refrain from using the B-18 center, as it is supposed to be a short-term ICE processing site, and that the federal government be held legally accountable for systemic racial profiling and due process violations.
The defendants include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Attorney General Pam Bondi and multiple regional ICE, CBP, and FBI officials operating in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of individual immigrants and immigrant advocacy organizations, led by the ACLU and the non-profit Public Counsel as well as other legal partners.
Los Angeles has become a battleground in resisting President Donald Trump’s election promise of carrying out the largest deportation raids in U.S. history. Protests in the City of Angels last month descended into riots as masked agitators burned driverless cars, damaged other property and threw rocks at moving law enforcement vehicles.
The lawsuit comes as an estimated 150 to 200 anti-ICE protesters shut down the Sixth Street Bridge in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon. The bridge links downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights early.
The protesters carried signs with messages reading: «Sick of ICE!» and «Eviction moratorium now!» while others chanted «ICE out of L.A.»
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«This bridge has been the entry to Boyle Heights to kidnap community members and take them who knows where,» organizer Christian Alcaraz told Fox 11.
The protest was one of several rallies in the county on Tuesday as part of a day of action against immigration raids. In Koreatown, another rally was held.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin refuted the claims made in the lawsuit.
A rioter holds up a Mexican flag as burning cars line the street on June 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
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«Any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically false,» she told Fox 11 via a statement on Wednesday, adding that the lawsuit’s claims were «garbage.»
She also denied the claims about poor conditions at ICE facilities.
«Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false,» McLaughlin said. «In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.»
READ THE LAWSUIT BELOW: APP USERS CLICK HERE
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Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting most U.S. sanctions on Syria, in a move experts say reflects growing recognition inside the administration that Syria, long a battleground for Iranian influence and Islamist terror, may now offer the U.S. a rare opportunity to reclaim regional leverage, counter enemies, and support allies like Israel and Jordan.
At a White House press briefing Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, «This is another promise made and promise kept by this president,» she said, referring to Trump’s recent meeting with Syria’s new transitional leader Ahmed al-Sharaa during a trip to Saudi Arabia. «He’s committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors.»
«The sanctions did their job,» David Schenker, former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital. «They were crippling by and large. There’s zero economic life in the country. But Trump is giving Syria a chance to succeed.»
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President Donald Trump meets with members of the Juventus soccer club in the Oval Office of the White House, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Javed Ali, former senior official at the National Security Council and professor at the University of Michigan, told Fox News Digital, «It’s a strategic calculation. A Syria that no longer hosts Iranian proxies, cooperates on counterterrorism, and integrates with Arab neighbors serves U.S. interests on every front.»
According to Schenker, Syria has taken steps the U.S. has long demanded: allowing inspections by the IAEA and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, sharing intelligence on ISIS, and cooperating with American liaison officers on counterterrorism. «These groups have declared al-Sharaa an infidel. They themselves are being attacked by ISIS,» he noted.
President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in this photo released on May 14, 2025. (Saudi Press Agency/Handout via Reuters)
For the U.S., the stakes extend far beyond sanctions relief. Schenker said a stable Syria focused on education and social services, rather than military buildup, would be far less fertile ground for ISIS or Iranian influence.
Ali described the current moment as part of a broader Trump strategy: «Now with Assad gone, it’s another blow to the Islamic Republic of Iran. This creates an opportunity to coalesce the Sunni Arab states – either around the Abraham Accords or a growing anti-Iran coalition.»
The U.S. military still maintains a small but critical footprint in Syria – approximately 1,000 troops across three to four bases in the northeast – providing vital intelligence and rapid strike capability. «That footprint has been one of our most important counterterrorism outposts,» Ali said. «We’ve seen multiple targeted operations this year alone.»
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei greets Syrian President Bashar Assad in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)
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He said, however, that deeper U.S.-Syrian cooperation could bring new complications. «There’s always a risk that as ties deepen, either the U.S. could reduce its presence – or al-Sharaa might ask us to scale back,» Ali said. «That could impact our ability to monitor jihadist activity or manage the tens of thousands of ISIS detainees still in camps guarded by SDF forces.»
Meanwhile, the diplomatic implications of Trump’s move are drawing global attention. Syria’s new leadership has publicly distanced itself from Iran, reportedly blocked Hezbollah weapon shipments, and dismantled multiple Iranian military posts across the country.
«The president is genuinely focused on expanding the Abraham Accords,» said Schenker. «He sees Syria as the next possible candidate.»
NSC spokesman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. «President Trump is working towards lasting peace in the Middle East, which includes supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors. The President is empowering Syria’s success by lifting sanctions on export controls while maintaining sanctions on terrorists and all other potential threats to the United States. The President made a promise to give Syria a chance to rebuild and thrive by lifting sanctions, and this President keeps his promises.»
A masked Islamic State terrorist holds the ISIS flag in 2015. (Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Still, normalization with Israel remains politically fraught. Syria remains officially at war with the Jewish state, and while Sharaa has hinted at accepting the pre-1974 ceasefire lines, jihadist factions and Islamist groups within Syria remain staunchly opposed. «There have already been reported assassination attempts on Sharaa,» Schenker said. «It’s going to get harder if he moves from non-belligerency to full normalization.»
Charles Lister, director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital, «Syria has always been an open wound in the center of the region – an engine of instability… But if it stabilizes now, it unlocks a path for broader regional integration. It connects Israel and Jordan to a more secure arc and reduces the need for heavy U.S. military involvement.»
Syrians gather at Umayyad Square to celebrate the collapse of 61 years of Baath Party rule in Damascus on Dec. 9, 2024. (Murat Sengul/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Despite encouraging signs on the diplomatic track – such as reported back-channel talks and reduced rhetoric – Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory have continued, with hundreds launched this year alone. Syria’s new leadership has not responded militarily, but tensions remain high.
«The facts on the ground don’t yet reflect the progress being made behind closed doors,» Lister said. «We just have to hope that those two dynamics meet in the middle, and things calm down on the ground as well.»
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El general mayor Mikhail Gudkov, subcomandante en jefe de la Armada rusa, murió este miércoles en la región de Kursk durante operaciones de combate, confirmó el jueves el gobernador de Primorie, Oleg Kozhemyako, convirtiendo a Gudkov en uno de los oficiales militares rusos de más alto rango muertos por fuerzas ucranianas desde el inicio de la guerra en 2022.
Gudkov, de 45 años, falleció junto con otros diez militares rusos, incluyendo al oficial Nariman Shikhaliyev, en lo que canales militares no oficiales rusos y ucranianos describieron como un ataque ucraniano contra un puesto de mando en Korenevo, distrito fronterizo de la región de Kursk.
El Ministerio de Defensa ruso confirmó posteriormente la muerte del general, precisando que ocurrió mientras “realizaba operaciones de combate en una de las zonas fronterizas de la región de Kursk”. Sin embargo, ni las autoridades rusas ni las ucranianas han proporcionado detalles específicos sobre las circunstancias del ataque.
Según reportes de organizaciones militares rusas, las Fuerzas Armadas de Ucrania lanzaron un ataque con misiles contra el puesto de mando avanzado de la 155.ª Brigada de Infantería de Marina en Korenevo, donde cuatro misiles impactaron la instalación, causando la muerte de más de diez personas, entre ellas varios oficiales superiores.
Gudkov, originario del Donbás y graduado de la Escuela Superior de Mando Militar de Novosibirsk, había sido nombrado subcomandante en jefe de la Armada rusa apenas tres meses antes de su muerte, en marzo de 2025. El presidente Vladimir Putin anunció personalmente su ascenso durante una reunión con submarinistas del crucero submarino nuclear Arkhangelsk.
Antes de su promoción, Gudkov comandó la 155.ª Brigada de Infantería de Marina de la Guardia Separada de la Flota del Pacífico, unidad que había estado participando activamente en operaciones contra Ucrania desde el inicio de la invasión a gran escala en febrero de 2022.
“Era un guerrero de espíritu fuerte que no se imaginaba en ningún otro lugar que no fuera la marina”, declaró Kozhemyako en su canal de Telegram. “Incluso después de convertirse en subcomandante en jefe de la Armada, no dejó de visitar personalmente las posiciones de nuestros marines”.
La 155.ª Brigada bajo el comando de Gudkov fue reubicada a la región de Kursk después del inicio de la operación defensiva ucraniana en esa área en agosto de 2024, cuando las fuerzas ucranianas lanzaron una incursión transfronteriza sorpresa que marcó la primera invasión a gran escala de territorio ruso por tropas extranjeras desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
El gobernador Kozhemyako expresó sus condolencias a las familias de los fallecidos y destacó la dedicación de Gudkov al servicio militar. “Verdaderos marinos, verdaderos oficiales”, enfatizó refiriéndose a Gudkov y Shikhaliyev.
Gudkov había recibido múltiples condecoraciones por su participación en la guerra contra Ucrania, incluyendo la Estrella de Oro del Héroe de Rusia en otoño de 2023 “por su valentía, heroísmo y hábil mando de las unidades subordinadas”, cuando tenía el rango de coronel. También había sido distinguido como Héroe de Primorie.
Sin embargo, las autoridades ucranianas habían acusado a Gudkov de crímenes de guerra, señalando que la 155.ª Brigada bajo su comando había estado involucrada en acciones que Kiev consideraba violaciones del derecho internacional humanitario.
La muerte de Gudkov ocurre en el contexto de los combates continuos en la región de Kursk, donde las fuerzas ucranianas mantienen presencia desde su incursión de agosto de 2024. La operación ucraniana tenía como objetivo interrumpir una ofensiva rusa planificada contra la región de Sumy y aliviar la presión sobre el frente de Donetsk.
Según datos ucranianos, las fuerzas de Kiev han infligido 63.402 bajas a las tropas rusas en la región, incluyendo 25.625 muertos y 971 capturados, además de destruir o dañar más de 5.664 piezas de equipo militar ruso en el área.
Rusia recuperó la mayor parte del territorio perdido durante una nueva ofensiva en marzo de 2025, apoyada por tropas norcoreanas, aunque las fuerzas ucranianas mantienen algunas posiciones en la región.
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