Many have seen their monthly health insurance premiums increase in 2026. For people with Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans, prices have increased because enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which reduced the cost of insurance plans, expired on December 31st, 2025. People with health plans through their employer are also seeing monthly premiums increase by an average of 6.0%. Many factors, including an increase in prescription drug costs, are driving up prices.

On Friday January 16th, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from Bayer, the manufacturer of Roundup weedkiller. The appeal would block thousands of lawsuits alleging Bayer did not warn people that its weedkiller could cause cancer. The Supreme Court will consider if the EPA’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should protect Bayer from these lawsuits. The court will hear a case from Missouri where a jury awarded $1.25 million to a man who developed cancer after spraying Roundup on a St. Louis community garden.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is a respiratory virus that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms. While most people recover in 1-2 weeks, RSV can be serious especially for infants and older adults. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants. RSV rates typically peak in December and January each year, and the U.S. is seeing high rates right now. RSV vaccines are recommended during pregnancy, for some infants, for all adults 75 years of age or older, and for adults 60-74 who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease.

New work requirements for SNAP were signed into law in July 2025, but each state is implementing them on a different timeline. In Missouri, they went into effect November 1st, 2025. States have until January 1st, 2027, to adopt the changes which include a new requirement for people between the ages of 55 and 64 to work or volunteer 80 hours per month to stay on SNAP. Previously, anyone 55+ was exempt from these requirements. Exemptions based on veteran status or homelessness were also ended. Everyone is allowed three months within three years to remain on SNAP food assistance without meeting these requirements.

A review of existing research found that people who lose weight with GLP-1 drugs regain weight faster after stopping GLP-1s than people who stop behavioral weight-loss interventions like diet and exercise. The studies looked at weight regained over a two-year period and found that people who had been using GLP-1s regained about 0.7 lbs more each month than people who had lost weight through only diet and exercise. More research is needed to confirm these findings and to learn why they were observed.