| The House is preparing to vote next week on legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent, reviving a long-running fight over whether Americans should ever have to reset their clocks again. The legislation, called the Sunshine Protection Act, would end the seasonal clock switch and keep the country on daylight saving time year-round. It sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee with near-unanimous bipartisan approval. The effort is supported by President Donald Trump, who said on social media that “it’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production.” Politico reported last month that Trump is personally lobbying Republicans on the issue. Why it matters: Researchers have pointed to short-term spikes in health risks after the spring clock change, including increases in heart attacks, strokes and workplace injuries associated with sleep loss and circadian disruption. One study published in 2024 found that these negative side effects have an impact of about $672 million. But there’s debate about whether making the time change permanent will help alleviate these problems or simply lead to another set of issues. Similar legislation — championed by then-Sen. Marco Rubio — passed the Senate in 2022, but languished in the House. This past fall, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) said that making daylight saving time permanent would “make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans.” “By moving the clock back an hour in winter, permanent daylight savings time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being,” Cotton said during a floor speech about the bill. “... Three months out of the year, kids in towns like Bentonville, Fayetteville and Fort Smith would start school ahead of the sun.” → The current Senate companion to the House’s Sunshine Protection Act has bipartisan support from 19 senators, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida). And because there’s always an election angle: In a Truth Social post, Trump framed the policy as a win for Republicans. “Take it!” he wrote. “We are going with the far more popular alternative, Saving Daylight, which gives you a longer, brighter Day — And who can be against that — This is an easy one!” A Medicare model that rewards groups of doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthier and reducing costs saved the program nearly $1 billion in 2024, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. An accountable care organization (ACO) is a group of providers that share responsibility for coordinating patients’ care and can earn bonuses for reducing Medicare spending while meeting quality targets. ACO Reach is an experimental Medicare model that puts providers at more financial risk for the cost and quality of care they deliver. The 115 ACOs participating in Reach generated $2.5 billion in gross savings in 2024, up more than 53 percent from the previous year. After accounting for benchmark discounts and shared savings payments, the model produced $988 million in net savings for Medicare, up from nearly $695 million in 2023. Eighty-three percent of participating ACOs earned net savings, while quality scores improved across the model. What’s next: ACO Reach is scheduled to sunset at the end of this year, as CMS transitions to its successor, ACO Lead. A microscopic parasite tied to contaminated fresh produce has sickened more than 2,000 Americans this summer, causing prolonged bouts of diarrhea and other symptoms, with more than half of those cases coming from Michigan alone. Investigators have not yet pinpointed a grower, supplier or specific produce item behind the outbreak, my Washington Post colleague Lena H. Sun reports. But with cases reported in more than 30 states, this season’s surge has drawn attention from public health officials. | 
