First Edition: Wednesday, June 25, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: What RFK Jr. Isn’t Talking About: How To Make Vaccines Safer
Within an hour of receiving a covid vaccination in November 2020, Utah preschool teacher Brianne Dressen felt pins and needles through her arms and legs. In the medical odyssey that followed, she suffered double vision, chronic nausea, brain fog, and profound weakness. Once a rock climber, she became a couch potato. Although Dressen’s symptoms were rare in that season of hundreds of millions of covid vaccinations, they were common enough to draw the attention of a National Institutes of Health neuroscientist named Avindra Nath, who examined Dressen and more than 30 other people with a similar syndrome in 2021. (Allen, 6/25)

KFF Health News: California's Much-Touted IVF Law May Be Delayed Until 2026, Leaving Many In The Lurch
California lawmakers are poised to delay the state’s much-ballyhooed new law mandating in vitro fertilization insurance coverage for millions, set to take effect July 1. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to push the implementation date to January 2026, leaving patients, insurers, and employers in limbo. The law, SB 729, requires state-regulated health plans offered by large employers to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment, including IVF. (Kwon, 6/25)

KFF Health News: 5 Takeaways From Health Insurers’ New Pledge To Improve Prior Authorization
Nearly seven months after the fatal shooting of an insurance CEO in New York drew widespread attention to health insurers’ practice of denying or delaying doctor-ordered care, the largest U.S. insurers agreed Monday to streamline their often cumbersome preapproval system. Dozens of insurance companies, including Cigna, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare, agreed to several measures, which include making fewer medical procedures subject to prior authorization and speeding up the review process. (Sausser and Galewitz, 6/24)

RFK JR. AND VACCINES

The Hill: Kennedy Clashes With Democrats During House Hearing
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparred with Democrats throughout a House budget hearing Thursday, with members accusing Kennedy of lying about changes to vaccine oversight, and Kennedy accusing lawmakers of being influenced by campaign contributions from Big Pharma. Kennedy appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to discuss the Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal 2026. But much of the hearing saw Democrats question Kennedy about his tenure so far as HHS secretary, with several blasting his actions in office. (Choi, 6/24)

MedPage Today: 'You Lied': Physician Lawmaker Confronts RFK Jr. About ACIP Firings
Rep. Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.), tore into HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday, accusing him of lying and arguing that he broke a promise not to change the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). During an HHS budget hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, Schrier, a pediatrician, asked Kennedy if he had ever treated measles, bacterial meningitis, pertussis, or whooping cough (Kennedy said he had not). (Firth, 6/24)

The Hill: Republican Chair Asks Kennedy For Retraction Over Vaccine Claims
A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing came to a brief halt Tuesday as the Republican chair asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to retract his accusations that a Democratic member’s stance on vaccines was influenced by campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies. Kennedy appeared before the subcommittee to defend the Trump administration’s budget request, which includes steep cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (Choi, 6/24)

CNN: Presentation For CDC Advisers Appears To Cite Nonexistent Study To Support Claims About Risk Of Vaccine Preservative
A presentation slated to be shared at this week’s meeting of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that a study in animals suggested that use of the vaccine preservative thimerosal can have “long-term consequences in the brain.” But the study doesn’t appear to exist. (Tirrell, 6/24)

The New York Times: Kennedy’s Handpicked Vaccine Advisers Are Set To Meet For The First Time
A scientific meeting on vaccines, which will begin at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s campus in Atlanta on Wednesday, promises to be nothing like previous ones. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, fired all 17 members of the agency’s Advisory Council on Immunization Practices just two weeks ago. He replaced them with eight new members, at least half of whom have expressed some skepticism about vaccines. (Mandavilli, 6/25)

Stat: Global Progress On Childhood Vaccinations Is Slowing Down 
Childhood vaccination coverage has made leaps since 1980. But progress has significantly slowed in the last two decades. That is according to a study published in The Lancet Tuesday, which found stagnation and wide variation in childhood vaccination rates since 2010. (Paulus, 6/24)

CIDRAP: Gates Foundation Pledges $1.6 Billion To Bolster Gavi's Childhood Vaccine Efforts
Amid dramatic cuts in government support for global childhood immunization efforts, the Gates Foundation said today that it will commit $1.6 billion over the next 5 years to support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The announcement comes a day ahead of a summit in Belgium that aims to raise at least $9 billion in funding for Gavi, which helps provide and distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Since its launch in 2000, Gavi has vaccinated more than 1.1 billion children across 78 countries, preventing nearly 19 million deaths from diseases like measles and pneumonia. (Dall, 6/24)

MORE FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Bloomberg: States Step Up Fight With Trump Administration On Grant Cuts
Nearly two dozen US states sued the Trump administration to stop it from using what they say is a budget loophole to cut billions of dollars in federal grants that were already approved by Congress. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims the administration is illegally using an Office of Management and Budget spending clause as a “limitless authority to cut grant funds that support essential services throughout the country.” (Larson, 6/24)

Axios: Trump Admin Cuts Contracts With Scientific Publishing Giant
The Trump administration has terminated millions worth of funding for Springer Nature, a German-owned scientific publishing giant that has long received payments for subscriptions from National Institutes of Health and other agencies, Axios has learned. (Bettelheim and Reed, 6/25)

NBC News: Hundreds Of International Doctors Due To Start Medical Residencies Are In Visa Limbo
A week before they are due to start work at U.S. hospitals, hundreds of doctors from abroad are still waiting to obtain visas granting them temporary stays in the country. Many of them have been in limbo since late May, when the State Department suspended applications for J-1 visas, which allow people to come to the U.S. for exchange visitor programs. The visas are the most common way for international doctors to attend residencies in the U.S., which provide medical graduates with training in a given specialty. (Bendix, McLaughlin and Berk, 6/24)

OPIOID CRISIS

The New York Times: China Tightens Controls On Fentanyl But Calls It A U.S. Problem
China has strengthened controls on two chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl, its latest step in addressing an issue that has become tangled in its broader trade dispute with the United States. The Trump administration has accused Beijing of not doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, into the United States, where it kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. Earlier this year, the administration cited the issue as it imposed tariffs totaling 20 percent on Chinese goods. (Pierson and Bradsher, 6/25)

Colorado Public Radio: $3 Million From Colorado's Opioid Settlement Haul Will Be Used To Buy Overdose Reversal Kits As Federal Funding Dries Up 
Coloradans will continue to have access statewide to a key medication that reverses overdoses — thanks to a $3 million grant. Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday that money from Colorado’s opioid settlement haul will go into a statewide fund to buy naloxone, also called Narcan, in bulk. ... Nationally, the Trump administration chopped a massive sum, $11 billion, that was slated to go to states. Colorado was set to receive nearly $230 million of that. (Daley, 6/25)

MEDICAID AND THE GOP MEGABILL

The Hill: House GOP Moderates Tell Leadership They Won't Back Senate Tax Bill Over Medicaid Cuts
More than a dozen House Republicans warned they won’t support the Senate’s version of the tax and spending bill because the proposed Medicaid cuts are too steep. Led by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), 15 other vulnerable Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying they support the Medicaid reforms in the House version of the legislation, but the Senate Finance Committee proposal went too far. (Weixel, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Cuts In Tax Bill Would Lower Provider Pay: CBO
States would be forced to reduce provider reimbursements to cope with the Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concludes in an analysis issued Tuesday. The legislation, which passed the House last month and which President Donald Trump and Senate GOP leaders are hurrying to finish as soon as this week, would reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $800 billion over 10 years, in part by restricting provider taxes that states use to help cover their Medicaid expenses. (McAuliff, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Cuts In One Big Beautiful Bill Targeted By AFT
The American Federation of Teachers released a series of eight ads in eight states opposing the proposed tax cut bill, which includes more than $1 trillion in cuts to healthcare spending. The campaign, set to roll out across all major online platforms and streaming services over 10 days, cost at least $100,000, according to the union. The specific cost of the campaign was not disclosed. (DeSilva, 6/24)

The Hill: Medicaid Cuts In GOP Megabill Would Hurt COPD Patients
The deep cuts to Medicaid outlined in President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill would hurt Americans suffering from conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) said Tuesday at The Hill’s “Matters of Life and Breath: Championing COPD Care” event.  COPD is a progressive lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe. It is often caused by prolonged exposure to smoke or air pollution and is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association. (O’Connell-Domenech, 6/24)

Politico: White House Sends Dr. Oz To Calm Senate Nerves
The Senate Republican megabill is ailing. The White House thinks it has a doctor for that. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon best known for dispensing medical advice on television and now a top Trump health official, has emerged as the administration’s go-to salesman for the sweeping Medicaid overhaul at the center of the GOP’s legislative ambitions. (Cancryn, 6/24)

PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

Bloomberg: Oz Pushes Drug Middlemen To End Rebates Before Washington Acts
Prescription drug middlemen should end the complicated system of drug rebates before the government steps in to change it, Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz said Tuesday. The remarks signal the Trump administration may revive attempts to eliminate the payments drugmakers send to pharmacy benefit managers after prescriptions are filled. In his first term in 2019, President Donald Trump considered regulations that would have eliminated that system, but officials abandoned them before they went into effect. (Cohrs Zhang and Tozzi, 6/24)

AP: Louisiana Files Lawsuits Alleging Pharmaceutical Giant CVS Deceived Customers In Text Messages
Louisiana filed several lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical giant CVS of abusing customer information and using its dominant market position to drive up drug costs and unfairly undermine independent pharmacies, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday. Attorney General Liz Murrill began investigating CVS after the company sent out mass text messages to thousands of residents on June 11 to lobby against legislation that took aim at its business structure. The texts warned that medication costs could go up and all CVS pharmacies in the state would close. (Brook, 6/24)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Washington Post: Texans Were Most Likely To Cross State Lines For Abortions In 2024, Study Finds
More than 150,000 people traveled out of state to get an abortion last year — and nearly one-fifth came from Texas alone, a new report found. The data released Tuesday shows the home states of people who traveled across state lines for an abortion in 2024, who together made up about 15 percent of all abortion patients. Most came from the South, the region that most heavily restricts abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights and wrote the report. (Somasundaram, 6/24)

CNN: Man Charged With Supplying Chemicals In California Fertility Clinic Bombing Has Died In Custody, Officials Say 
Daniel Jongyon Park — a man federal authorities said provided chemicals to make explosives used to bomb a California fertility clinic in May — has died, according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. (Campbell and Watson, 6/24)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

MedPage Today: Health Groups Cautiously Optimistic On Prior Authorization Announcement
Healthcare groups are sounding cautiously optimistic about Monday's announcement from HHS that it had gotten voluntary agreement from major insurers to try to lessen the burdens of prior authorization on doctors and patients. The American Medical Association's (AMA) reaction seemed to typify that of many medical groups. "Despite widespread calls for meaningful reforms and the insurance industry's past promises, the prior authorization process remains costly, inefficient, opaque, and too often hazardous for patients," AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD, said in a statement Monday. (Frieden, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Prior Authorization Initiative With CMS Not Concerning Investors
The health insurance industry’s promise to cut red tape for providers and patients isn’t likely to cost them very much, financial analysts said. Wall Street, which has hammered companies such as UnitedHealth Group in recent months over lackluster earnings, reacted with a shrug. That suggests investors don’t expect the new practices insurers pledged to adopt will significantly increase spending on medical care, even if they help repair contentious relationships with providers and members. (Tepper, 6/24)

Chicago Tribune: Plan To Replace Advocate Trinity Hospital Gains Approval
Advocate Health Care may proceed with a plan to replace Advocate Trinity Hospital with a new, much smaller hospital on the South Side of Chicago, state regulators decided Tuesday, after more than a dozen community members and leaders spoke out in support of the project. (Schencker, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: UC San Diego Health Job Cuts Affect 230 Positions
The University of California San Diego Health eliminated an estimated 230 positions system-wide on Monday due to mounting financial pressure. The cuts affect an estimated 1.5% of UC San Diego Health’s more than 14,000 employees, the system said in a statement Tuesday. It did not specify what types of positions were affected, whether all eliminated positions were filled, or if affected employees would have the opportunity to work elsewhere within the organization. (DeSilva, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Ascension CEO Joseph Impicciche To Retire
Ascension CEO Joseph Impicciche will retire at the end of the year after six years at the helm, the health system said Tuesday. President Eduardo Conrado will become CEO Jan. 1, according to a news release. Impicciche will help with the six-month transition period leading to his retirement. (Hudson, 6/24)

Bloomberg: Best Buy Divests Home Care Unit Bought For $400 Million In 2021
Best Buy Co.’s health arm is offloading the Current Health business that it bought in 2021 for $400 million. Current Health, an at-home care technology company, was one of several acquisitions Best Buy Health made as it consolidated smaller operations in the space to build its home-care segment. It still owns the Lively and PERS+ businesses. (Meier, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Arine Gets $30M From Kaiser Permanente, Town Hall Ventures
Arine, an artificial intelligence-enabled medication management company, announced Tuesday that it has received $30 million in a Series C funding round. Town Hall Ventures, the venture capital firm led by former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Andy Slavitt, led the round. Kaiser Permanente Ventures also participated. (Perna, 6/24)

PHARMA AND TECH

Stat: Regeneron Tries To Revamp Relationship Between Pharma, Patient Charities
In a bid to rework the controversial relationship between drugmakers and patient charities, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has announced a new program in which it will match up to $200 million in donations this year to a leading foundation called Good Days. (Silverman, 6/24)

Bloomberg: Hims Won't Back Down On Selling Cheap Weight-Loss Shots, CEO Says
Hims & Hers Health Inc. won’t back down from selling cheap weight-loss shots, its chief executive officer said one day after Novo Nordisk A/S abruptly ended its distribution partnership. “We’re upset that Novo is feeling the pressure and not comfortable, but ultimately, I think us holding strong to fighting on behalf of customers is just who we are,” Hims CEO Andrew Dudum said Tuesday in his first interview since the news broke. “There’s just no way in hell we’re going to cave on that, no matter who the pharma company is or what the partnership looks like.” (Muller and Leonard, 6/24)

Stat: FDA Clears Sutureless Peripheral Nerve Repair Device 
A sutureless device for peripheral nerve repair could be available on the market in the coming months. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a polymer-based device developed by medical technology company Tissium. The authorization, announced Tuesday, will give physicians a new method for treating peripheral nerve injuries. (Paulus, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: FDA Issues Alert On Medtronic’s Recall For Bravo CF Capsule
The Food and Drug Administration issued an early alert Tuesday regarding Medtronic’s recall of its Bravo CF capsule delivery device. Due to adhesive being incorrectly applied during the manufacturing process, the capsule might not attach to the patient’s esophagus or detach from the delivery device, according to the agency. Medtronic reported there were 33 serious injuries and no deaths tied to the issue. This defect puts patients at risk of aspiration or inhalation, esophagus perforation or laceration, airway obstruction, bleeding, foreign bodies remaining inside them and delayed diagnoses. (Dubinsky, 6/24)

STATE WATCH

AP: In Line With Trump, North Carolina Legislature Takes Aim At Transgender Rights
Legislation much in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda on transgender rights squeezed through the North Carolina Senate this week, as state lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by the week’s end. A measure approved Tuesday — despite heightened tensions in the Senate — offers protections for women and minors in pornography but had various provisions related to transgender people tacked on in a Senate committee last week. In its original form, the bill passed unanimously through the House last month before the changes, which caused a stir among Democrats who have said the bill was hijacked. (Seminera, 6/24)

North Carolina Health News: NC Senate’s “Mini Budget” Would Fund Healthy Opportunities Pilot
North Carolina senators slipped the language for a “mini” state budget into a bill passed by the N.C. House of Representatives that was formerly about designating the state star. Completely revamped, House Bill 125 now funds certain state operations until lawmakers can agree on a full budget. (Vitaglione, 6/25)

The Texas Tribune: Texas To Create Its Own Licensing Test For Psychologists 
After leading a national pushback against a costly new national certification exam for psychologists, Texas has approved crafting its own cheaper test with hopes that other states will take it. (Simpson, 6/24)

AP: West Virginia Woman Sues For Religious Exemption From School Vaccines Mandate
A West Virginia woman filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking a religious exemption from required school vaccinations for her young child. Miranda Guzman alleges that the state’s vaccine mandate violates a 2023 West Virginia law that stipulates the government would not be able to “substantially burden” someone’s constitutional right to freedom of religion unless doing so “is essential to further a compelling governmental interest.” Guzman sued the state and local boards of education and the county schools superintendent in Raleigh County Circuit Court. (Raby, 6/24)

AP: Mississippi's Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Is Set To Be Executed
Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate is set to be executed Wednesday nearly five decades after he kidnapped and killed a bank loan officer’s wife in a violent ransom scheme. Richard Gerald Jordan, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He is one of several people on Mississippi’s death row suing the state over its three-drug execution protocol, which they claim is inhumane. (Bates, 6/25)

RACE AND HEALTH

The 19th: Evictions Hurt Physical And Mental Health Of Black Mothers, New Study Shows
Black mothers are more likely to face eviction and housing discrimination, which has lasting impacts on their mental and physical health — as well as that of their neighbors, a new report says. (Turner, 6/24)

PUBLIC HEALTH

Chicago Tribune: Public Health Confirms State's First Human West Nile Case Of The Year
The first human case of West Nile virus in Illinois has been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The state agency announced Tuesday evening that a southern Illinois resident tested positive for the virus after being hospitalized. This is the earliest in the year that a human case of West Nile has been observed in Illinois since 2016, officials said. (Weaver, 6/24)

CIDRAP: Washington, Michigan Confirm More Measles Cases
In the latest measles developments, health officials in Washington’s Whatcom County reported their first measles patients of the year, two family members in the same household, one of whom may have exposed others at an urgent care facility in Lynden on June 18. The county announced the first case on June 20, involving a patient who was isolating at home. Officials said investigation is under way, and so far it's not clear how the patients were exposed to the virus. (Schnirring, 6/24) 

CIDRAP: USDA Reports More H5N1 Detections In Mammals, Wild Birds
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed more H5N1 avian flu detections in mammals and wild birds, as confirmations remain low in poultry and dairy cattle. Of four new H5 detections in mammals, two had recent collections dates, including a desert cottontail rabbit from Arizona's Maricopa County, where the virus in May spurred large outbreaks at commercial egg-laying farms in mid-May through early June. The other is a red fox from Costilla County, Colorado, that was sampled on May 29. (Schnirring, 6/24)

CIDRAP: USDA Announces Funding For CWD Control, Prevention
The US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) late last week announced it will provide $12 million to state and tribal governments, research institutions, and universities to control and prevent chronic wasting disease (CWD). The money will boost surveillance, testing, management, and response activities for the fatal prion disease, which affects cervids such as deer, elk, and moose. (Dall, 6/24)

CLIMATE AND HEALTH

ABC News: How Extreme Heat Impacts People With Mental Illness
As triple-digit temperatures hit the East Coast, individuals with a mental illness -- specifically those who take prescribed medication -- are at risk for heat intolerance, with psychiatric hospitalizations peaking in the summer months, according to experts. During heat waves or especially warm days, there is often an uptick in the frequency of psychiatric hospitalizations, with one study finding that "higher temperatures may trigger bipolar disorder relapses that require hospital admission, and higher expositions to sunlight may increase the risk of manic episodes." (Forrester, 6/24)

AP: How To Manage Climate Anxiety And Build Resilience
Anxiety, grief, anger, fear, helplessness. The emotional toll of climate change is broad-ranging, especially for young people. Many worry about what the future holds, and a daily grind of climate anxiety and distress can lead to sleeplessness, an inability to focus and worse. Some young people wonder whether it’s moral to bring children into the world. Many people grieve for the natural world. Activists, climate psychologists and others in the fight against climate change have a range of ways to build resilience and help manage emotions. (Italie, 6/25)