First Edition: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025

KFF Health News: Covered California Hits Record Enrollment, But Key Subsidies In Jeopardy
Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, has hit a record 1.8 million enrollees and the number could climb higher ahead of a Jan. 31 open enrollment deadline, due in large part to enhanced subsidies that have made plans more affordable. But the state’s progress in extending health coverage to all residents could come to an abrupt halt as the second Trump administration takes power alongside a Republican Congress whose leadership has long been hostile to the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 federal law also known as Obamacare. (Boyd-Barrett, 1/23)

KFF Health News: Trump’s Early Health Moves Signal Intent To Erase Biden’s Legacy. What’s Next Is Unclear
President Donald Trump’s early actions on health care signal his likely intention to wipe away some Biden-era programs to lower drug costs and expand coverage under public insurance programs. The orders he issued soon after reentering the White House have policymakers, health care executives, and patient advocates trying to read the tea leaves to determine what’s to come. The directives, while less expansive than orders he issued at the beginning of his first term, provide a possible road map that health researchers say could increase the number of uninsured Americans and weaken safety net protections for low-income people. (Appleby and Armour, 1/23)

KFF Health News: As States Diverge On Immigration, Hospitals Say They Won’t Turn Patients Away
California is advising health care providers not to write down patients’ immigration status on bills and medical records and telling them they don’t have to assist federal agents in arrests. Some Massachusetts hospitals and clinics are posting privacy rights in emergency and waiting rooms in Spanish and other languages. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are requiring health care facilities to ask the immigration status of patients and tally the cost to taxpayers of providing care to immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization. (Sánchez and Chang, 1/23)

KFF Health News: What To Know About Trump’s Executive Orders On US Health Care
From rolling back drug pricing policies to limiting gender-affirming care, President Donald Trump signed several health-related executive orders in the first hours of his second presidency. Here’s a roundup of the changes and what they mean. This slide presentation first appeared on KFF Health News’ Instagram account. If you enjoyed this story from the KFF Health News social team, follow us on Instagram @kffhealthnews. (Lofton, 1/22)

Stat: Trump Administration Abruptly Cancels Scientific Meetings, Panels 
A flurry of scientific gatherings and panels across federal science agencies were canceled on Wednesday, at a time of heightened sensitivity about how the Trump administration will shift the agencies’ policies and day-to-day affairs. (Oza, 1/22)

NBC News: HHS Official Halts CDC Reports And Health Communications For Trump Team Review
Late Wednesday, the NIH responded in a statement: “HHS has issued a pause on mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health. “This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization.” The pause took effect immediately and will last through Feb. 1. (Edwards and Lovelace Jr., 1/22)

CBS News: Who Is In Charge Of The CDC Right Now? Nobody Knows For Sure
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating without an acting director, multiple health officials confirm to CBS News, leaving the agency responsible for defending the U.S. against emerging pandemics and responding to health emergencies without a clear chain of command. A leadership vacuum atop the CDC is unprecedented. Under previous administrations, including the first term of President Trump, officials made sure either to immediately appoint their pick for the position or decide during the transition on whom would assume the top post in an acting capacity. (Tin, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Order Seeks To Stop Virus Research That Critics Have Linked To Covid
The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would halt federal funding, at least temporarily, for a risky and controversial kind of research into viruses that makes the pathogens more dangerous or contagious. The goal of the order would be to stop scientists with U.S. funding from conducting “gain-of-function” research on viruses that could endanger human health, people familiar with the plans said. (Subbaraman and Whyte, 1/22)

Politico: Federal DEI Websites Go Dark After Trump Order And Threat Of ‘Consequences’ 
Federal government websites devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion went offline Wednesday as the White House threatened “adverse consequences” for agencies that fail to report DEI-related information within 10 days. One of the instructions was to remove “all outward facing media” related to DEI work. ... For example, an archived version of the page for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency understands and supports “the value of diversity in improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness.” The National Institutes of Health page outlined a strategic plan for DEI and a framework to apply it to the agency’s mission, according to an archived version preserved by the Internet Archive. (King and Leonard, 1/22)

The New York Times: Federal Workers Ordered To Report On Colleagues Over D.E.I. Crackdown
The Trump administration on Wednesday threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they fail to report on colleagues who defy orders to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agencies. Tens of thousands of workers were put on notice that officials would not tolerate any efforts to “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.” (Green and Aleaziz, 1/22)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Cancels Flights For Refugees Already Approved For Travel 
The State Department abruptly canceled travel for thousands of refugees already approved to fly to the United States, days before a deadline that President Trump had set for suspending the resettlement program that provides safe haven for people fleeing persecution. The cancellation of the flights comes on the heels of an executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Monday that indefinitely paused the refugee resettlement. The order effectively grinds to a halt the process of bringing refugees into the country, which involves multiple federal agencies, as well as nonprofits that receive the newcomers. (Jordan and Aleaziz, 1/22)

Military.com: 'Friends Begging For Help': Afghan Allies Stranded After Trump Suspends Refugee Program 
Afghans who have been approved to come to the U.S. as refugees, including allies during the war and a couple of hundred family members of American troops, are now stranded after the Trump administration suspended refugee flights, advocates are warning. One in the cascade of executive actions President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office Monday ordered a suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. (Kheel and Lawrence, 1/22)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago's Schools, Hospitals Vow To Protect Undocumented Immigrants
Elizabeth, a Chicagoan in the U.S. without legal permission and mother of three, is used to being involved in her community on the Northwest Side through volunteering at her children’s school and helping students. But after this week, she no longer feels safe even going near the school doors. (Stein, Salzman and Presa, 1/22)

CBS News: Which Industries Are Most Vulnerable To Trump's Immigration Crackdown?
Undocumented immigrants account for about 20% of the agriculture industry's overall workforce, although that figure can rise to roughly half for some speciality farms, according to Capital Economics, which advises large investors. ... "The inflationary impact could affect food overall, but particularly fresher fruits, rather than the ingredients in more processed foods," (Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist with Capital Economics) said. (Cerullo, 1/23)

NBC News: Federal Regulations Paused, Halting FDA's Proposed Ban On Formaldehyde In Hair Products
A proposal to ban formaldehyde in hair straightening products is now in limbo after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing all federal regulations. The Food and Drug Administration announced it would decide by April 2024 whether chemical hair straightening products sold in the U.S. would be banned from using formaldehyde or ingredients that can release formaldehyde when heated. (Garcia and Lovelace Jr., 1/22)

Stat: Trump Executive Order On Only Two Sexes Refuted By Scientists 
During his inauguration speech Monday, President Trump promised to make America binary again. “It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said. Within hours, he had signed an executive order to that effect, asserting a new legal definition of sex that strips federal recognition of the gender identity of some 1.6 million trans and nonbinary Americans. (Molteni, 1/23) 

Stat: Senate Democrats Preview Vaccine Arguments For RFK Jr. Hearings
When Senate Democrats huddled with prominent public health experts on Wednesday to discuss the benefits of vaccines, it felt like they were preparing for battle. The senators peppered the experts with questions about ideas espoused by vaccine critics, the powers of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the best strategies to highlight the benefits of vaccines in a session that was broadcast publicly. (Zhang, 1/22)

Politico: Anti-Vaccine No More? RFK Jr. Is Remaking His Image To Serve Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a message that seems to be resonating in the Senate: He’s changed his mind. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is assuring the Republican senators who will decide whether he gets the job that he’s “all for” polio inoculations and that he won’t take away anyone’s vaccines. He has also told them he merely wants to make safety and efficacy data more readily available, lawmakers who’ve talked with Kennedy tell POLITICO. (Payne and Cirruzzo, 1/22)

AP: RFK Jr. Says He's Resigned From Anti-Vaccine Nonprofit As He Seeks Nation's Top Health Official Job
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is distancing himself from his anti-vaccine work as he seeks to become the leader of the nation’s top health agency under President Donald Trump, according to government ethics documents released Wednesday. Kennedy has pulled in roughly $10 million in income from his work over the past year, which includes speaking fees, leading an anti-vaccine nonprofit and legal fees, government ethics forms filed for his nomination show. ... If confirmed, he has promised to stop collecting fees on some of his vaccine lawsuits involving the U.S. government. (Seitz, 1/23)

Stat: RFK Jr., Investor In CRISPR Biotech, Voiced Concerns About The Technology
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s disclosure on Wednesday that he invested in a gene-editing biotech belies a yearslong track record of voicing concerns about a technology he would be in position to regulate if confirmed to lead the federal health department. (Wosen, 1/22)

The New York Times: Key Trump Nominee Hints At Push For Work Requirements In Medicaid
Russell T. Vought, President Trump’s nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, told Senate lawmakers in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he supported work requirements for low-income Americans receiving publicly subsidized health insurance, a policy that Mr. Trump pursued in his first term but that the Biden administration mostly reversed. The comments suggested that the Trump administration was likely to seek a broad overhaul of how the federal government administers Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for more than 70 million people. (Weiland, 1/22)

Politico: Trump's EPA Pick Worked For Qatari-Led Firm Tied To Menendez Corruption Case
Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, received consulting payments from a Qatari investor involved in the felony corruption case against former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Zeldin’s financial disclosure records showed. Zeldin was paid at least $5,000 since January 2023 for his work with Heritage Advisors, a London-based venture capital fund run by Qatari royal family member Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, according to documents filed with the Senate’s environment panel. (Colman, 1/22)

The New York Times: Two Industry Executives Join E.P.A. To Help Oversee Chemical Rules
A former chemical-industry executive who fought against stronger regulations under the first Trump administration is returning to take a critical role at the Environmental Protection Agency, raising concerns of corporate influence on chemical safety regulations. Nancy B. Beck, a toxicologist and former executive at the American Chemistry Council, the industry’s main trade group, has been named a senior adviser to the E.P.A.’s Office of Chemical Safety, a role similar to the one she held from 2017 to 2021 helping to oversee chemical policy, according to an email sent to agency staff. (Tabuchi, 1/22)

The 19th: Trump's Reelection And Cabinet Picks Could Change #MeToo And Misconduct
President Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary reached a confidential settlement with a woman who accused him of rape. His choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department has admitted to many “skeletons” in his closet, including in his dealings with women. His education secretary nominee — who also served in his first administration — is being sued over allegations that the organization she once led turned a blind eye to sexual abuse. (Panetta, 1/22)

Chicago Tribune: Planned Parenthood Of Illinois Closes Four Clinics Across State
Citing a “financial shortfall,” Planned Parenthood of Illinois announced Wednesday — on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade — that it will be closing four clinics across the state, including one on Chicago’s South Side. The health center shutdowns come as Illinois is already grappling with a surge in patients traveling here from other states for abortion care after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending federal abortion rights. (Lourgos, 1/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Largest Planned Parenthood Health Center In U.S. Opens In Oakland
The largest Planned Parenthood health center in the U.S. has opened in downtown Oakland, officials said. The building, located at 1400 Broadway, is officially named the Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Barbara Lee Oakland Health Center, officials said. It opened on Dec. 17 and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for the center on Feb. 1. (Parker, 1/22)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Block GOP’s ‘Born-Alive’ Abortion Bill
Senate Republicans failed on Wednesday to invoke cloture on a bill legislating care for infants “born alive” during attempted abortions, with the motion largely serving to get Democrats on the record as voting against a bill being framed as anti-infanticide. Republicans sought cloture on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill that requires health care practitioners to provide the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” for a child born alive during an attempted abortion, as they would during normal childbirth. (Choi, 1/22)

The Hill: Gretchen Whitmer Signs Reproductive Health Legislation Allowing Birth Control Prescriptions
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed two bills into law earlier this week that will allow pharmacists in the state to prescribe hormonal birth control. House Bill 5436 gives Michigan pharmacists the ability to write prescriptions for hormonal contraceptives like birth control pills, emergency contraceptive pills, patches and vaginal rings. Whitmer also signed a second piece of legislation, House Bill 5435, which requires insurance companies to cover the cost of pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraception in the state. (O’Connell-Domenech, 1/22)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Bill Requiring Ultrasounds Before Medical Abortions Progresses
State legislators are considering a bill that would force pregnant Wyomingites to get an ultrasound at least 48 hours before being prescribed medication for an abortion. HB 64, sponsored by House Speaker Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett), passed out of the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Wednesday. (Clements, 1/22)

WLBT News: Mississippi Politician Files ‘Contraception Begins At Erection Act’
A state senator in Mississippi has filed a bill entitled the “Contraception Begins at Erection Act.” As written by Sen. Bradford Blackmon, the bill would make it “unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo.” There are also fines involved, the third strike resulting in the loss of $10,000 from the perpetrator. (1/22)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Appeals UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage Ratings Win
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has appealed a federal judge's order to recalculate UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage Star Ratings. Regulators submitted their notice to appeal to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday. CMS' notice did not state the grounds for its appeal. (Tepper, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Claims Denials See More Barriers From Insurers: Providers
Healthcare providers say insurance companies are innovating new ways to make it harder to get paid. Physicians, hospitals and other providers have always complained of low rates, delayed payments and the usual red tape. But rules insurers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, UnitedHealthcare and Elevance Health have recently announced may be a new battleground in the age-old fight between the two camps. (Tepper, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Jefferson Health, Lehigh Valley Health Layoffs Hit 271 Workers
Jefferson Health and Lehigh Valley Health Network plan to lay off 271 workers. Two separate rounds of layoffs are not tied to the merger that closed in August, representatives from Jefferson and Lehigh Valley said. The combined system includes 32 hospitals and more than 700 locations. The layoffs amount to roughly 0.4% of the combined workforce of 65,000. (Kacik, 1/22)

The Boston Globe: Proposed Nashoba Valley Emergency Room Would Replace Shuttered Steward Hospital
Four months after Steward Health Care shuttered its hospital in the Nashoba Valley area as part of its bankruptcy process, health care officials are considering opening a new, stand-alone emergency room in the region, officials said Wednesday. UMass Memorial Health said it plans to build and operate the emergency department, which is also expected to offer certain imaging services. “We believe this solution can fill the community’s critical needs and address their primary areas of concern,” the hospital group said in a statement. (Fonseca, 1/22)

CBS News: Sharon Regional Medical Center To Reopen After Court Settlement
More than two weeks after Sharon Regional Medical Center closed down, the Mercer County hospital will soon start serving patients again. It's unclear exactly when the hospital is expected to reopen. A spokesperson for Medical Properties Trust, the company that owns the building, tells KDKA-TV that "[they] look forward to seeing operations resume successfully in the coming days." (Linder, 1/22)

Stat: Overreaction To SCOTUS Ban On Race Fueling Diversity Loss At Medical Schools
Medical schools are being told by their lawyers to stop using strategies to diversify classes that are still legally permitted, despite a Supreme Court ruling against the use of affirmative action in admissions. Experts said this response to the court decision, which some called “overzealous,” helped fuel the double-digit decline seen this year in the enrollment of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students — and may be a form of discrimination in itself. (McFarling, 1/23)

AP: Nancy Leftenant-Colon, Who Was The First Black Woman In Army Nurse Corps, Has Died
The first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s has died. She was 104. Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who retired as a major and died earlier this month at a New York nursing home, was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career. (Casey, 1/22)

The Guardian: Indiana Bill Seeks To End Tax Breaks For Non-Profit Hospitals That Overcharge Patients
Indiana lawmakers are pushing to slash hospital prices after a Guardian investigation chronicled how one of the state’s largest non-profit hospital chains bought up its competition and used its market power to stick patients with some of the highest bills in the country. A new bill introduced last week in the Indiana general assembly would strip non-profit hospitals of their tax-free status if they continue to charge commercially insured patients more than 200% of what the federal government pays for the same services under Medicare. (Joseph, 1/22)

The Colorado Sun: The Number Of Babies Born With Syphilis In Colorado Is Slowing
Nine months after Colorado issued an extraordinary public health order to fight an explosion of syphilis in newborn babies, cases have slowed. (Ingold, 1/23)

CBS News: Bird Flu Detected On Long Island Farm. Health Officials Say Risk To Public Remains Minimal
A major bird flu outbreak has hit a Suffolk County poultry farm. Dozens of state and federal agricultural workers dressed in biohazard suits, sanitized boots and gloves were assisting Wednesday in the euthanizing of an entire flock of 100,000 ducks at Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, officials said. Crescent, Long Island's last remaining duck farm, is now in quarantine and survival mode. (Anderson and McLogan, 1/22)

CBS News: Philadelphia Reports First Suspected Case Of Bird Flu In Sick Wild Goose
Public health officials in Philadelphia reported the first suspected case of bird flu in the city on Wednesday after a sick goose found in a West Philadelphia neighborhood was positive for the disease in preliminary tests. The snow goose was found Saturday, Jan. 11 on the 1200 block of North 59th Street, along the west side of Carroll Park. It's the first sick bird to be found in Philadelphia as part of the nationwide outbreak — which has led to several poultry flocks being depopulated and sharply increased the price of eggs at grocery stores and suppliers to local businesses. (Brandt and Stahl, 1/22)

Newsweek: Bird Flu: Vaccines May Drive Virus Evolution
Vaccinating birds against bird flu reduces the spread of the disease, but may have unintended consequences. This is the warning of a new paper in the journal Science Advances, which concluded that vaccinating against the highly pathogenic H5 subtype of avian influenza virus (AIV) may drive viral evolution. (Thomson, 1/22)

The New York Times: People With A.D.H.D. Are Likely To Die Significantly Earlier Than Their Peers, Study Finds
A study of more than 30,000 British adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., found that, on average, they were dying earlier than their counterparts in the general population — around seven years earlier for men, and around nine for women. The study, which was published Thursday in The British Journal of Psychiatry, is believed to be the first to use all-cause mortality data to estimate life expectancy in people with A.D.H.D. (Barry, 1/23)

CIDRAP: Studies Note Higher Risk Of Long COVID In Women, Differences Among Minority Kids
Health (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER)–Adult study find women substantially more likely to develop long COVID after infection than are men. And a second study published yesterday in Nature Communications shows racial and ethnic differences in long COVID-symptoms and conditions among pediatric patients. (Soucheray, 1/22)

CNN: 1 In 12 Children Are Victims Of Online Sexual Abuse, Study Says
Researchers are calling for global action after finding that 1 in 12 kids are being exposed to sexual exploitation and abuse online, according to a new study. (Holcombe, 1/21)