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Countdown to Government Shutdown - KFF Health News
With less than three weeks before the deadline to pass legislation to keep the federal government running, lawmakers are still far apart on a strategy. Democrats hope Republicans will agree to extend expanded tax credits for the Affordable Care Act as part of a compromise, but so far Republicans are not negotiating. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” report, with few specific action items. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A Surgical Team Was About To Harvest This Man’s Organs — Until His Doctor Intervened - KFF Health News
A 22-year-old was shot in the head in St. Louis. As a surgical team prepared him for organ harvesting, his neurosurgeon raced to the operating room to stop it, saying that his patient had a chance at life. Today, the man is alive, sharing his story.
Affirmative Action Critics Refuse To Back Down in Fight Over Medical Bias Training - KFF Health News
A nonprofit fighting affirmative action in medicine and a Los Angeles ophthalmologist have launched a long-shot legal appeal aimed at ending California’s requirement that every continuing medical education class include training to recognize and address unconscious bias.
Climate Activists Cite Health Hazards in Bid To Stop Trump From ‘Unleashing’ Fossil Fuels - KFF Health News
Buoyed by a Montana court ruling upholding state residents’ right to a “clean and healthful environment,” nearly two dozen people ages 7 to 24 hope to block the Trump administration’s executive orders on energy.
Lice Pose No Health Threat, Yet Some Parents Push Back on Rules To Allow Affected Kids in Class - KFF Health News
Public health officials see lice as a nuisance, not a health threat, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended for years that students with live lice be allowed to remain in class. But as “no-nit” policies have been dropped in favor of “nonexclusion” rules, some school districts have seen parents and teachers push back.
Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Were Aimed at ‘Able-Bodied Adults.’ Hospitals Say Kids Will Be Hurt. - KFF Health News
The GOP said its overhaul of Medicaid was aimed at reducing fraud and getting more adult beneficiaries to work. Among the likely side effects: fewer services and doctors for treating sick children.
In the Fallout From Trump’s Health Funding Cuts, States Face Tough Budget Decisions - KFF Health News
The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.
On Capitol Hill, RFK Defends Firings at CDC - KFF Health News
Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, defended that action and others before a sometimes skeptical Senate Finance Committee. Criticism of Kennedy’s increasingly anti-vaccine actions came not just from Democrats on […]
He Built Michigan's Medicaid Work Requirement System. Now He's Warning Other States. - KFF Health News
Michigan’s former top health official spent a year and $30 million building a system to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The difficulties he encountered have him worried about 40 states and Washington, D.C., having to launch such systems by 2027.
Trump Administration Investigates Medicaid Spending on Immigrants in Blue States - KFF Health News
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is hunting for Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse in at least six Democratic-led states that expanded coverage to low-income and disabled immigrants without legal status, according to records obtained by KFF Health News and The Associated Press.
As Insurers Struggle With GLP-1 Drug Costs, Some Seek To Wean Patients Off - KFF Health News
Conventional wisdom says GLP-1 drugs must be taken indefinitely to maintain weight loss. But a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are challenging that consensus and exploring whether — and how — to taper patients off expensive GLP-1 drugs.
Listen: Limiting Benefits and Adding Restrictions, ‘MAHA’ Reshapes Food Aid - KFF Health News
The White House and congressional Republicans have made historic changes to the federal anti-hunger program SNAP. They say the changes will boost healthy eating for low-income Americans. Some nutrition experts aren’t so sure.
At CDC, Worries Mount That Agency Has Taken Anti-Science Turn - KFF Health News
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. It marks a major offensive by Kennedy to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-science agenda, public health leaders say.
Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News
The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to politicos, NIH workers say.
Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make a Profit? There’s Not Much Money in It - KFF Health News
Four pediatricians said evidence-based science and medicine and a desire to keep kids healthy drive doctors’ childhood vaccination recommendations. And while pediatric practices might make money immunizing privately insured children, most practices likely break even or lose money from providing the shots.
Senior CDC Officials Resign After Monarez's Ouster, Citing Concerns Over Scientific Independence - KFF Health News
Four senior officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced their resignations in recent days, citing what they described as growing political interference in the agency's scientific work, particularly regarding vaccines.
Social Security Praises Its New Chatbot. Ex-Officials Say It Was Tested But Shelved Under Biden. - KFF Health News
Social Security, under the leadership of a tech enthusiast, rolled out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to answer calls. But as beneficiaries complain about glitches, lawmakers and former officials ask whether it’s a preview of a less human agency at which rushed-out AI takes the place of pushed-out government workers.
Listen: As Kids Head Back to School, Parents Sort Out Confusion Over Vaccine Access - KFF Health News
Confusion over federal immunization policy could have major implications for how families with private insurance and Medicaid pay for routine vaccinations. Some doctors are encouraging parents not to wait and get their children shots as soon as they are eligible.
When Hospitals and Insurers Fight, Patients Get Caught in the Middle - KFF Health News
About 90,000 people spent months in limbo as central Missouri’s major, and often only, provider fought over insurance contracts. Patients getting caught in the crossfire of disputes has become a familiar complication, as about 8% of hospitals have left an insurer network since 2021. Trump administration policies could accelerate the trend.