First Edition: Monday, March 3, 2025

KFF Health News: States Facing Doctor Shortages Ease Licensing Rules For Foreign-Trained Physicians
A growing number of states have made it easier for doctors who trained in other countries to get medical licenses, a shift supporters say could ease physician shortages in rural areas. The changes involve residency programs — the supervised, hands-on training experience that doctors must complete after graduating medical school. Until recently, every state required physicians who completed a residency or similar training abroad to repeat the process in the U.S. before obtaining a full medical license. (Zionts, 3/3)

KFF Health News: Home Improvements Can Help People Age Independently. But Medicare Seldom Picks Up The Bill
Chikao Tsubaki had been having a terrible time. In his mid-80s, he had a stroke. Then lymphoma. Then prostate cancer. He was fatigued, isolated, not all that steady on his feet. Then Tsubaki took part in an innovative care initiative that, over four months, sent an occupational therapist, a nurse, and a handy worker to his home to help figure out what he needed to stay safe. In addition to grab bars and rails, the handy worker built a bookshelf so neither Tsubaki nor the books he cherished would topple over when he reached for them. (Kenen, 3/3)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘On Air’: Journalists Discuss A Mysterious, Deadly Illness In Congo And Early Moves By Secretary RFK
KFF Health News editor-at-large for public health Céline Gounder discussed a mysterious illness in Congo that has claimed dozens of lives on CBS’ “CBS Mornings” on Feb. 26. ... KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed moves by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Feb. 25. (3/1)

Modern Healthcare: HHS To End Public Comment Requirements For Grants, Contracts 
The Health and Human Services Department is abandoning a Nixon-era practice that offered transparency into federal policymaking in a move that limits the public and the healthcare sector's ability to influence government actions. Instead, HHS intends to comply with the bare-minimum requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946, or APA, and only engage in the traditional notice-and-comment process as expressly dictated by that law, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a policy statement published Friday. HHS had followed the now-defunct guidelines for 54 years. (Early, 2/28)

Axios: RFK Jr. Move To Kill Public Comment Roils Providers
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s move to reduce public comments on certain federal health rules injects new uncertainty into the regulatory landscape and could help him make controversial policy decisions unchecked. The wonky policy statement he issued on Friday has a direct bearing on the dispute over the National Institutes of Health's research funding cap and could make it easier to impose Medicaid work rules. (Goldman, 3/3)

NPR: Dr. Francis Collins, Legendary Former NIH Director, Retires
Dr. Francis Collins, the legendary former director of the National Institutes of Health, has retired, NPR has learned. Collins, who notified the NIH on Friday of his decision, did not specify the reasons for his departure. Collins joined NIH in 1993 and led the agency under presidents of both parties from 2009 through 2021. He then stepped down as NIH director, but continued his research in his lab at the agency. (Stein, 3/1)

The Hill: Defense Health Agency Head Forced To Abruptly Retire: Report
The head of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), the health system for millions of service members and their dependents, was forced to abruptly retire Friday, Reuters reported. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, one of the most senior Black female officers in the Army who has served in her role since January 2023, “is beginning her retirement” as of Friday morning, according to a statement from Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. (Mitchell, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Senior USAID Official Ousted As He Details Problems Providing Lifesaving Aid 
A senior career official at the U.S. Agency for International Development was placed on leave Sunday on the same day he disseminated a detailed memo to staff describing the U.S. government’s “failure” to provide lifesaving assistance around the world because of actions by President Donald Trump’s political appointees. The memo, by Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health, contradicts claims by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a functioning system is in place for exempting lifesaving assistance from the aid freeze imposed by Trump on his first week in office. (Hudson, 3/3)

CBS News: USAID Freeze Hits American Manufacturer Of Product That Saves Babies' Lives
When Navyn Salem received a letter Wednesday terminating the federal government's contract with her Rhode Island company, Edesia, she halted its production line, which makes a life-saving paste for severely malnourished babies. A day later she received an email, just a few short sentences, rescinding the contract's termination. The reversal failed to put her mind at ease. (Kates and Ruetenik, 3/2)

AP: Judge Blocks Trump Order Threatening Funding For Trans Youth Care
President Donald Trump’s plan to pull federal funding from institutions that provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth will remain blocked on a long-term basis under a federal judge’s ruling in Seattle late Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King previously granted a two-week restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration — Colorado has since joined the case. (Johnson, 3/1)

The Hill: Donald Trump Presses Iowa To End Transgender Protections ASAP
President Trump wants Iowa to finalize already fast-tracked legislation that would eliminate protections for transgender people “AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.” “Iowa, a beautiful State that I have won BIG every time, has a Bill to remove Radical Gender Ideology from their Laws,” Trump posted to Truth Social late Thursday, just hours after hundreds of LGBTQ advocates demonstrated at the state Capitol in Des Moines. “Iowa should follow the lead of my Executive Order, saying there are only two genders, and pass this Bill – AS FAST AS POSSIBLE,” he added. “Thank you Iowa!” (Crisp, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Cuts Cannot Increase Hospital Rates, Employers Warn
Large employers want hospitals to know they will not pay up if President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans follow through with their plan to deeply slash Medicaid funding. The threat of a shrunken Medicaid program, leading to more uninsured people and more unpaid hospital bills, reignites a long-running debate about whether, or to what extent, providers raise prices on commercial insurers and employers to compensate for lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. (Tepper, 2/28)

Politico: Democrats Hit The Airwaves To Bash Republicans On Medicaid
Democrats are taking to the airwaves to attack Republicans on potential Medicaid cuts, with ads in at least four states featuring a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk. In the TV and digital ads, part of a seven-figure buy from House Majority PAC, the flagship Democratic super PAC, Democrats harp on President Donald Trump and Republicans’ campaign pitch in 2024, when “they claimed they’d lower costs.” (Schneider, 2/28)

Stat: CMS Job Cuts May Erode Trump's Promises On Medicare, Medicaid 
The federal agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and other major health care programs is facing employee firings, flagging morale, confusing messaging, and the specter of additional disruption — compromising its oversight and administration of key programs that finance care for half of Americans. (Herman, 3/1)

CNN: As Measles Outbreak Grows, HHS Secretary Says Vaccination Is A Personal Decision That Can Protect Individuals And Communities 
As a measles outbreak in Texas has grown to nearly 150 cases, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an opinion piece on Fox News on Sunday that parents should consult with health-care providers “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” for their children. Kennedy did not explicitly recommend the vaccine, but said the outbreak was a “call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health.” (Kounang, 3/2)

ABC News: Texas Measles Outbreak Grows To 146 Cases, Children And Teens Most Impacted
The number of measles cases associated with an outbreak in western Texas has grown to 146, according to new data released Friday. Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, with 79 unvaccinated and 62 of unknown status. At least 20 people have been hospitalized so far, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Just five cases have occurred in people vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. (Kekatos, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Amid Texas’s Measles Outbreak, Vaccine Resistance Hardens In Seminole
When the local hospital warned of a brewing measles outbreak, Kaleigh Brantner urged fellow residents of this rural West Texas community to beware of vaccinating their children. Two weeks later, her unvaccinated 7-year-old son came home from school with a fever. The telltale rash across his body followed. But his mild symptoms and swift recovery only hardened Brantner’s anti-vaccination convictions, even after an unvaccinated child died of measles at a hospital 80 miles away. (Nirappil and Gordon, 3/2)

NBC News: What To Know About Using Vitamin A To Support Measles Recovery As Texas Outbreak Spreads
More than one month into a major measles outbreak in western Texas that has sickened 146 people and killed one school-age child, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its first public statement and it highlighted a therapy that has raised some eyebrows among infectious disease experts. “Measles does not have a specific antiviral treatment,” read the statement, which was posted only on X on Thursday night. “Supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician, may be appropriate.” (Dunn, 2/28)

CIDRAP: WHO Advisers Swap Out H3N2 Strains For Next Northern Hemisphere Flu Vaccines
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced its advisory committee’s recommendations on strains to include for the Northern Hemisphere’s 2025-26 flu season, which swap out the H3N2 components but keep the current 2009 H1N1 and influenza B strains the same. The three strains recommended for the trivalent vaccine are also the same as those recommended for the Southern Hemisphere’s 2025 season vaccine, which the group weighed in on at its meetings in September 2024. (Schnirring, 2/28)

CBS News: FDA Allowed To Help WHO Update Flu Shots, Despite Trump Ban
The Food and Drug Administration was allowed to participate in the World Health Organization's meeting this week on updating influenza shots, officials for the U.N. agency said, despite an order by President Trump last month banning government employees from working with the WHO. The administration has granted some exemptions to the order. (Tin, 2/28)

CNN: US Flu Season May Have Reached Its Peak, CDC Says
The worst flu season the United States has had in more than a decade may have reached its peak, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data published by the agency on Friday shows that flu activity is still elevated but has decreased for two consecutive weeks. (McPhillips, 2/28)

The Washington Post: This Flu Season, Children Are Being Hospitalized At Higher Rates
For nearly two weeks, Rondi Bishop, 40, was quarantined with her husband in a room at Seattle Children’s Hospital as they watched the flu ravage their son’s body. It was a situation they never could have predicted. Their otherwise happy and healthy son, Elliot, who rarely missed a day of school, suddenly had to be airlifted to the hospital for treatment. As his condition worsened, doctors stepped in with treatments for sepsis, renal complications and severe breathing difficulties. (Malhi, 3/1)

Asheville Watchdog: Mission Hospital's Low Staffing Endangers Patients, Docs, RNs Say
The death of a patient in a bathroom at Mission Hospital earlier this month reflects a return to poor staffing conditions, especially in the hospital’s emergency department, similar to those that precipitated federal sanctions last year, healthcare advocates said at a news conference Friday. (Evans, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: Ascension, Prime Healthcare Close Deal For 8 Illinois Hospitals
Prime Healthcare completed its acquisition of eight Ascension Illinois hospitals. The transaction closed March 1 and involves more than half of Ascension's Illinois hospital network, along with several skilled nursing, home health and senior living facilities. Federal and state regulators signed off on the $375 million deal last year. (Kacik, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: Salesforce Targets Prior Authorization Burdens With AI Tool
Salesforce plans to add an artificial intelligence tool to help providers deal with administrative burdens such as prior authorization, the customer relationship management company said Friday. More tech companies are developing healthcare-specific AI agents, which are applications that use the technology to handle time intensive functions. Salesforce's set of AI agents, called Agentforce For Health, will focus on tasks related to patient access, public health and clinical research. (Turner, 2/28)

AP: Tennessee Gynecologist Charged With Performing Unnecessary Medical Procedures
A Tennessee gynecologist was arrested Friday and accused of performing unnecessary procedures on patients with re-used medical devices held under unsanitary conditions. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, 44, is charged with enticing four people to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, adulteration of medical devices, misbranding of medical devices and health care fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis said. (Sainz, 2/28)

Politico: Leader Of Prominent Health Care Union Pushes For A Cuomo Endorsement
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo already has the apparent support of 1199SEIU President George Gresham for his New York City mayoral bid, but the health care union’s other officers are pushing him to delay. Gresham told some of the union’s top officers last week that he wanted the large labor organization to endorse Cuomo, according to three people briefed on the discussion, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal deliberations. At the time, Cuomo had yet to enter the race to oust Mayor Eric Adams. (Kaufman, 3/1)

Bloomberg: Florida Asks Pharmacy Benefit Managers For Personal Data On Prescriptions
Florida insurance regulators have asked companies to hand over extensive amounts of data on people’s pharmacy claims, including personal information and prescription drug usage, an unusual move for a state regulator that’s raising privacy concerns. An eight-page request went out in recent weeks to pharmacy benefit managers seeking detailed information on pharmacy contracts, claims and payments, according to copies of the request viewed by Bloomberg News. Pharmacy benefit managers operate the prescription drug benefits part of insurance plans. (Tozzi, 2/28)

WUFT: Faulty Equipment Causes Florida Utilities To Stop Fluoridation
Data from the CDC shows 31 utilities in Florida had annual average fluoride levels that were approximately half the CDC’s recommended level or less for at least a year. (Pennello, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Babies Fed A Diverse Diet Had Fewer Food Allergies, Study Reports
A diverse diet that introduced 13 or 14 foods to 9-month-old babies was associated with a 45 percent lower risk of food allergy compared with the introduction of fewer foods at that age, according to a study in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. (McMahan, 3/3)