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Pentagon officials working on Defense Secretary Mark Esper's cost-cutting review of the department have proposed slashing military health care by $2.2 billion, a reduction that some defense officials say could effectively gut the Pentagon’s health care system during a nationwide pandemic. The proposed cut to the military health system over the next five years is part of a sweeping effort Esper initiated last year to eliminate inefficiencies within the Pentagon’s coffers. But two senior defense officials say the effort has been rushed and driven by an arbitrary cost-savings goal, and argue that the cuts to the system will imperil the health care of millions of military personnel and their families as the nation grapples with Covid-19. (Seligman and Diamond, 8/16)

Thousands of troops and family members may not have access to the mental health care they need through their military or approved civilian health providers, a new Pentagon report says. (Svan, 8/14)

A Maine congressman is working across the aisle with a Republican from Indiana on a proposal that would create mental health telemedicine services for veterans in rural parts of the country. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is working on the proposal with Rep. Jim Banks. Their bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to create programs at three VA facilities that use computerized cognitive behavioral therapy to treat veterans who suffer from conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. (8/16)

President Donald Trump has found a new doctor for his coronavirus task force — and this time there’s no daylight between them. Trump last week announced that Dr. Scott Atlas, a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, has joined the White House as a pandemic adviser. Atlas, the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, has no expertise in public health or infectious diseases. (Colvin, 8/16)

Trump’s top coronavirus adviser used a visit to Kansas to urge people to wear masks regardless of where they live. “What’s really important for every Kansan to understand is that this epidemic that we have been seeing this summer is both urban and rural,” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force said Saturday. “So we are really asking all communities, whether you are urban or rural communities, to really wear a mask inside, outside, every day.” (8/15)

Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci in a new interview Friday dismissed recent criticism from Fox News's Tucker Carlson, but said it could inspire more death threats against him. “I flip around the channels at night, which I probably shouldn’t. And I found this guy — you know this guy, Tucker Carlson? You heard of him?” The Washington Post's Geoff Edgers asked Fauci in an online interview that streamed live. “He’s the guy that really loves me, right?” Fauci replied sarcastically. (Seipel, 8/14)