First Edition: Friday, June 20, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Trump Team’s Reworking Delays Billions In Broadband Build-Out 
Millions of Americans who have waited decades for fast internet connections will keep waiting after the Trump administration threw a $42 billion high-speed internet program into disarray. The Commerce Department, which runs the massive Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, announced new rules in early June requiring states — some of which were ready to begin construction later this year — to solicit new bids from internet service providers. The delay leaves millions of rural Americans stranded in places where health care is hard to access and telehealth is out of reach. (Tribble, 6/20)

KFF Health News: With Property Seized And Federal Funding Uncertain, Montana Asbestos Clinic Fights For Its Life 
Dozens of feet of tubing connect Gayla Benefield to her oxygen machine so she can walk from room to room inside her home on the picturesque Kootenai River, surrounded by the Cabinet Mountains. Like many people who live in this remote town about 80 miles from the U.S.-Canada border, the 81-year-old Benefield has asbestosis, or scarring of the lungs from asbestos exposure. (Bolton, 6/20)

KFF Health News: Q&A: What Does The Budget Bill Mean For Your Health?  
Health programs including Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies, and food assistance are facing cuts in the budget reconciliation bill making its way through Congress. If passed as written, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could dramatically reduce health care access for millions of Americans. And even those who don’t rely on these programs could see local hospitals close.  KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on June 18 to answer listeners’ questions and break down how the bill could reshape U.S. health care. (Rovner, 6/20)

HIV/AIDS

NPR: HIV Prevention Drug Hailed As A 'Breakthrough' Gets FDA Approval
A drug with the potential to drastically curb the HIV epidemic just cleared its first regulatory hurdle. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved lenacapavir for the prevention of HIV. Clinical trial data from last year suggest just two injections a year provide near-complete protection against an HIV infection. (Lambert, 6/18)

Newsweek: HIV: Supercharged Vaccine Could Protect Well With Just One Dose
A supercharged HIV vaccine could offer strong protection with just one injection, a study in mice has indicated. Developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Scripps Research Center, the vaccine includes two "adjuvants"—materials that help stimulate the immune system response. In the experiments, the dual-adjuvant vaccine was found to produce a wider diversity of antibodies to protect against an HIV protein than with either single adjuvant or none at all. (Randall, 6/19)

LGBTQ+ HEALTH CARE

NPR: Trump Administration Ends 988 Suicide Prevention Service For LGBTQ+ Youth
The Trump administration is ending specialized suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. While anyone in a mental health crisis can call or text 988 and be connected to a trained counselor, the line has specially trained counselors, often with similar life experiences, for high risk groups like veterans and LGBTQ+ youth. (Chatterjee and Simmons-Duffin, 6/18)

ABC7 San Francisco: The Trevor Project Starts Petition To Reverse Trump's Planned Cuts To 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Crisis Services 
The Trevor Project has started a petition to reverse the planned cuts. "This lifeline has had more than 1.3 million people use it in less than three years," The Trevor Project interim vice president of advocacy and public affairs Mark Henson said. "And the concept of it being shutdown abruptly with short-notice is devastating." The State of California is investing $4.7 billion towards what's known as "A Master Plan for Kids' Mental Health," which includes continuing a partnership with the Trevor Project to keep support lines open. (Dorsey, 6/19)

AP: A Look At The Impacts Of Supreme Court Ruling On Transgender Care 
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming surgery for transgender youth in a ruling that’s likely to reverberate across the country. Most Republican-controlled states already have similar bans. In his majority opinion Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Tennessee’s ban does not violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which requires the government to treat similarly situated people the same. Since President Donald Trump returned to office this year, the federal government has been trying to restrict access. Here are some things to know about gender-affirming care and the court’s ruling. (Mulvihill, 6/18)

MSNBC: Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Stance Could Further Weaken Transgender Rights
When the Supreme Court upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for minors Wednesday, it didn’t resolve a broader question of whether transgender people are entitled to certain legal protections that would help them press constitutional challenges. But Justice Amy Coney Barrett went out of her way to explain why she thinks transgender people don’t deserve such protection. And though the Trump appointee’s concurrence was only joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, if her reasoning is adopted by a majority of the court in the future, it could further weaken transgender rights. (Rubin, 6/18)

AP: Judge Says Government Can't Limit Passport Sex Markers For Many Transgender, Nonbinary People
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from limiting passport sex markers for many transgender and nonbinary Americans. Tuesday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick means that transgender or nonbinary people who are without a passport or need to apply for a new one can request a male, female or “X” identification marker rather than being limited to the marker that matches the gender assigned at birth. (Casey, 6/18)

NBC News: Transgender Troops Forced To Leave Or Be Discharged Under Trump Ban: ‘This Is Coercion’
Earlier this month, the Defense Department told transgender service members that they had to choose whether they would voluntarily or involuntarily separate from the military. Four trans service members who are now in the process of separating said nothing about their decisions feels voluntary at all. (Yurcaba, 6/19)

VACCINES AND 'MAHA'

Stat: Vaccine Advisers To Consider MMRV Vaccines, ‘Thimerosal Containing’ Flu Shots In Pared-Down Meeting
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked panel of vaccines advisers will weigh in on two long-approved shots at its first meeting next week, an agenda posted on Wednesday shows. The panel will vote next week on recommendations related to “thimerosal containing” flu vaccines, and also reconsider recommendations related to the use of the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine for children under 5. (Cirruzzo, 6/18)

Medscape: Senator, Medical Groups Request Inquiry Into ACIP Firings
Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for a congressional inquiry into the mass firing of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The Independent from Vermont issued his demand in a letter to Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican colleague and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), which confirmed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, as Health and Human Services secretary. (Ault, 6/19)

CIDRAP: Vaccine RCT Spreadsheet Aims To Show The Data, Dispel Myths About Vaccines 
Since late April, an infectious diseases specialist at Stanford University and his colleagues have been volunteering their time on a project they hope will help educate the public, and combat misinformation, about the safety and efficacy vaccines. The project, led by Jake Scott, MD, is a spreadsheet of all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have ever been conducted for licensed vaccines. The idea, hatched on the social media site X, was prompted by responses to an old video of current Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in which he claims that none of vaccines mandated for US children has ever been tested in preclinical studies against a placebo. In one of the responses, infectious disease physician Brad Spellberg, MD, suggested a crowd-sourced effort to identify and post all of the RCTs in which vaccines have been tested against a placebo. (Dall, 6/18)

Newsweek: US To Drop Guidance On Alcohol Limits: Report
The United States is set to drop its current guidance on alcohol consumption, according to a report from Reuters. The report, which Newsweek has not yet independently confirmed, states that the Department of Health and Human Services will revise the current guidance, which currently recommends having two or fewer drinks a day. The new guidelines on consumption are expected to be more general and less specific than the current guidelines. (Clark, 6/18)

Stat: Whole Milk In Schools: Will MAHA Overturn A 40-Year Ban?
At a Brooklyn coffeeshop one recent rainy afternoon, the barista explained that lattes came just one of two ways: with whole milk or almond. It didn’t make sense to stock skim or reduced-fat milk when requests for those varieties are few and far between, she said — though a few months ago, she did notice a curious surge of customers asking for raw milk. “Do you know what was up with that?” (Todd, 6/20)

MEDICAID AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Fierce Healthcare: AHIP 2025: Insurer Coalition Vows To Fight Trump Budget Bill To Final Hour
At AHIP's annual conference, the trade group told reporters they oppose the reconciliation bill moving through Congress because of the impacts it would have on Medicaid and the individual market. AHIP executives said they will continue to work with other prominent healthcare organizations to convince lawmakers to protect federal health programs and help Americans remain insured—both by avoiding the harshest cuts and changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. (Tong, 6/18)

The Washington Post: Social Security Fund Could Run Dry Ahead Of Earlier Forecast, Trustees Say
The trust funds for Social Security and Medicare will run out of money in less than a decade, according to a report released Wednesday, as the programs’ trustees warned that the funds’ depletion date is significantly closer than predicted a year ago. If Congress does not overhaul the programs’ financing, automatic cuts will slash Social Security benefits by 23 percent and Medicare hospital benefits by 11 percent in 2033, the report said. (Weil, 6/18)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

The New York Times: Trump Travel Restrictions Bar Residents Needed At U.S. Hospitals 
Travel and visa restrictions imposed by the Trump administration threaten patient care at hundreds of hospitals that depend on medical residents recruited from overseas. Foreign medical residents often serve as the frontline caregivers at busy safety-net hospitals in low-income communities. Normally the residents begin work on July 1. Orientation programs for some of them already started this week. Now some of those hospitals are racing to prevent staffing shortages. (Rabin, 6/19)

Modern Healthcare: Medtech Venture Capital And Private Equity Deals On The Rise
Medtech venture capital funding rose to $4.1 billion in the year’s first three months, the best quarterly performance in two years. There were at least 216 transactions during the first quarter, and 11 of them were for $100 million or more, according to a report Friday from PitchBook, a financial and data company that tracks public and private investments. There were 237 transactions in 2024’s first quarter. (Dubinsky, 6/20)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Bad Debt Rises As Patients Must Cover More Costs 
Bad debt is rising among some hospitals, largely driven by an increased burden on patients to cover the costs of care. Hospitals and health systems are working to mitigate the financial impact of bad debt by shoring up revenue cycle processes and payment collection procedures, but obstacles such as claim denials are creating more challenges. (Hudson, 6/19)

PHARMACEUTICALS

The Wall Street Journal: Sanofi, Regeneron Get FDA Approval For Dupixent To Treat Rare Skin Disease
Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said they got Food and Drug Administration approval for anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent as a treatment for a rare skin disease, adding an eighth indication in the U.S. for their blockbuster medicine. France’s Sanofi and Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Regeneron said Friday that the FDA gave the green light for Dupixent as a treatment of adult patients with bullous pemphigoid, a skin disease that mainly affects elderly people and is characterized by itch, blisters and lesions, as well as a reddening of the skin. (Calatayud, 6/20)

Fox News: Real-World GLP-1 Results Fall Short Of Clinical Trials Compared To Surgery
Weight-loss surgery was shown to be five times more effective than weekly injections of popular GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide (such as Ozempic) and tirzepatide (such as Mounjaro). The finding comes from a recent study presented this week at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington. (Rudy, 6/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: 194 Drugs Currently In Shortage: FDA
Nationwide, hospitals and pharmacies are seeing ongoing shortages of medications including some anesthetics, antibiotics, opioids and chronic disease treatments, FDA data shows. As of June 19, 194 drugs were in shortage, according to the agency’s database of current and resolved drug shortages, which is updated daily. The current figure reflects an increase from earlier this year, with 114 listed in shortage in January 2022. (Murphy, 6/19)

STATE WATCH

Los Angeles Times: AGs In California And Other States Lead Campaign To Defend Reproductive Rights
Democratic state attorneys general led by those from California, New York and Massachusetts are pressuring medical professional groups to defend reproductive rights, including medication abortion, emergency abortions and travel between states for healthcare in response to recent increases in the number of abortion bans. The American Medical Assn. adopted a formal position June 9 recommending that medical certification exams be moved out of states with restrictive abortion policies or made virtual, after 20 attorneys general petitioned to protect physicians who fear legal repercussions because of their work. (Sciacca, 6/19)

The CT Mirror: Amid Prospect Medical Bankruptcy, CT Private Equity Reform Fails
After Prospect Medical Holdings, the formerly private equity-backed owner of three Connecticut hospitals, declared bankruptcy in January, Gov. Ned Lamont and state officials from both sides of the aisle proposed measures aimed at reining in private equity in the state’s health care system. But when the 2025 legislative session drew to a close in the first week of June, Connecticut had failed, for the second year in a row, to pass any legislation related to private equity ownership of health care facilities. (Golvala, 6/20)

North Carolina Health News: Dentists Press Lawmakers On Private Equity Rules, Medicaid Reimbursement Rates, Self-Governance 
A legislative proposal put forward by the state Senate that would open the door for hedge funds and private equity firms to acquire, open and operate dental practices not run by licensed dentists in North Carolina has hit a hurdle in the state House of Representatives. (Blythe, 6/20)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri May Offer Alternative Health Plans For Farmers 
It’s hard for Megan Richner to know what her health care will look like in a year. “Every year we go back to the drawing board to figure out a policy or a plan that would be right for our family,” Richner said. That’s largely an occupational hazard. Richner and her husband raise cattle in El Dorado Springs, Missouri, about 75 miles northwest of Springfield. (Schleis, 6/20)

The Texas Tribune: Meals On Wheels Texas Wait Lists Grow As Funding Cuts Loom 
Each month, Meals on Wheels Central Texas CEO Henry Van de Putte faces a growing number of seniors looking to get on the food delivery schedule offered by his organization. Last month, the nonprofit group brought on 121 more Austin-area seniors to join the more than 4,000 clients his group serves. And as of this week, there’s another 171 who are waiting to be added. (Langford, 6/20)

The New York Times: How Florida’s Attempt To Let Teens Sleep Longer Fell Apart 
After lawmakers required high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., school administrators complained that it was unworkable. Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a repeal. (Alcorn and Mazzei, 6/18)

CNN: Two Years After Train Derailment, NIH To Commission Longer-Term Health Studies Of East Palestine Residents 
The National Institutes of Health said Thursday that it will fund longer-term health studies of the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, after a 2023 train derailment that sent more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil, water and air. (Goodman, 6/19)

AP: The US Plans To Open A Fly Factory In Texas As Part Of Its Fight Against A Flesh-Eating Parasite
The U.S. government plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year, announcing its intent Wednesday to breed millions of the insects in Texas near the border with Mexico as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said sterile male New World screwworm flies bred at the $8.5 million facility would be released into the wild to mate with females and prevent them from laying the eggs in wounds that become flesh-eating larva. It would be only the second facility for breeding such flies in the Western Hemisphere, joining one in Panama that had largely kept the flies from migrating further north until last year. (Hanna, 6/18)

PUBLIC HEALTH

The Washington Post: 3 Killed In Listeria Outbreak Linked To Pasta Sold At Walmart, Kroger 
Three people have died and more than a dozen others were hospitalized following an outbreak of listeria that has been linked to premade chicken fettuccine alfredo meals sold nationwide at Kroger and Walmart, federal health officials said Wednesday. FreshRealm, the Texas-based food manufacturer that makes the packaged products, issued a voluntary recall on Tuesday of chicken fettuccine alfredo meals made before June 17 “out of an abundance of caution,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. (Raji, 6/19)

CIDRAP: States With Links To West Texas Measles Outbreak Announce More Cases 
In a large measles outbreak centered in West Texas, Texas and other states with linked cases—Kansas and Oklahoma — have reported a few more infections, according to the latest updates from health departments. In Texas, cases continue a downward trend. Yesterday the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) reported 6 more cases since its last update on June 10, lifting the outbreak total to 750 across 35 counties. However, the number of counties with ongoing transmission has declined to three, including the original epicenter Gaines, along with Lamar and Lubbock. Of the 750 cases, 707 people were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, 22 had received one dose, and 21 had gotten two or more doses. (Schnirring, 6/18)

The New York Times: Marijuana’s Links To Heart Attack And Stroke Are Becoming Clearer 
While most Americans consider marijuana safe, new research published this week found that use of the drug is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack, including among younger adults. The analysis, which examined data from 24 studies and was published in the journal Heart, also found that marijuana use was associated with a twofold increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. While this data only shows a correlation and cannot prove that marijuana caused these effects, it is well-established that the drug can raise blood pressure and heart rate and alter the heart’s rhythm, said Dr. Ersilia DeFilippis, a cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. (Bajaj, 6/19)

The Washington Post: A Heat Dome Is About To Bring Extreme Heat And Humidity To Over 200 Million People
The first heat wave of summer, starting Friday in central states, will bring days of extreme conditions to many cities across the United States, with humidity levels reaching far beyond what is normal for this time of year. Unusually high humidity and temperatures will cause widespread, dangerous heat indexes. (Noll, 6/19)

MENTAL HEALTH

The Guardian: Mental Health And Poverty Remain A Struggle For Maui Wildfire Survivors, New Study Says
Mental health problems and economic hardship remain widespread among survivors of the Maui wildfire, as access to food, stable housing, work and healthcare remains a struggle for many, according to a study tracking 2,000 survivors. Two in every five (41%) adults report declining overall health since the August 2023 fire, with the burden falling heaviest on those still exposed to ash, smoke and debris, according to the latest findings of the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study (MauiWES), a pioneering longitudinal research initiative by the University of Hawaii (UH) and local community groups. (Lakhani, 6/18)

NPR: Screen Addiction And Suicidal Behaviors Are Linked For Teens, A Study Shows
A new study finds that addiction to social media, mobile phones and video games is linked to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The study, published in JAMA on Wednesday, looked at data on more than 4,000 kids from an ongoing longitudinal study following them for years, starting at ages 9 to 10. It found that by age 14, about a third of the kids had become increasingly addicted to social media, about a quarter had become increasingly addicted to their mobile phone and more than 40% showed signs of addiction to video games. (Chatterjee, 6/18)