First Edition: Wednesday, May 14, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Flawed Federal Programs Maroon Rural Americans In Telehealth Blackouts
Ada Carol Adkins lives with her two dogs in a trailer tucked into the timbers off Upper Mud River Road. “I’m comfortable here, but I’m having health issues,” said the 68-year-old, who retired from her job as a school cook several years ago after having a stroke. “Things are failing me.” (Tribble and Hacker, 5/14)

KFF Health News: Trump’s Fast-Tracked Deal For A Copper Mine Heightens Existential Fight For Apache
Carrying eagle feathers and chanting prayers, Western Apache runners hit the road on a roughly 80-mile journey this month to try to save their sacred land from being fast-tracked by President Donald Trump into a copper mine. This nationally watched battle, which hinges on religious freedom, awaits the U.S. Supreme Court. The prayer run aimed to defend a 6-square-mile piece of land in rural Arizona outside of Phoenix called Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, where tribes have held ceremonies for centuries. (Bailey, 5/14)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Jackie Fortiér reads this week’s news: CPR and defibrillator training can give people the skills to help others survive cardiac arrest, and doctors are using telehealth to help thousands of patients each month access abortion care in states where it’s banned. Katheryn Houghton delivers the week’s news: A new survey finds that more Americans are hearing false claims about measles and the vaccine that prevents it, and changes to federal health funding have advocates worried the White House is deprioritizing fighting addiction. (5/13)

'FOREVER CHEMICALS'

The Washington Post: EPA Plans To Roll Back Biden PFAS Drinking Water Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to rescind and reconsider limits on four different “forever chemicals” under a landmark drinking water standard implemented last year by President Joe Biden, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The drinking water rules were adopted as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to limit public exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), hazardous chemicals linked to range of serious illnesses. The original rule covered six common PFAS contaminants, including PFOA, a known human carcinogen, and PFOS, a likely carcinogen. (Ajasa, 5/13)

AP: New Jersey Says Chemical Maker 3M Agrees To 'Forever Chemical' Settlement Worth Up To $450M
New Jersey’s attorney general said Tuesday chemical manufacturer 3M agreed to pay up $450 million to resolve lawsuits over natural resource contamination stemming from PFAS — commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.” The settlement is subject to court approval and a public comment period, Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office said. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M is expected to pay $285 million this year, with additional amounts payable over the next 25 years. The total amount could reach $450 million, Platkin’s office said. (5/13)

The Washington Post: The Most Promising Ways To Destroy ‘Forever Chemicals’ 
Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin recently announced somewhat vague actions to combat contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which have been found in drinking water, food packaging and soil. The agency on Monday asked for more time to consider whether it would defend a drinking water rule introduced by the Biden administration. In the meantime, researchers are seeking a breakthrough in technologies to tackle PFAS contamination. Some methods that appear promising involve heating and pressurizing water. Other approaches in development include experiments with ultraviolet light, plasma and sound waves. (Chiu, 5/13)

FLUORIDE

NPR: FDA Moves To Ban Fluoride Supplements For Kids, Removing A Key Tool For Dentists
Under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration is seeking to remove prescription fluoride supplements for kids from the market. These are fluoride tablets, drops or lozenges that are recommended for kids who don't get fluoridated water to help prevent cavities. (Huang, 5/13)

MORE FROM HHS AND RFK JR.

Fierce Healthcare: RFK Jr Pushes Forward On Deregulation At HHS With RFI, Rescindments
The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is moving forward with President Donald Trump’s 10:1 deregulation agenda with a call for public input and the immediate rescindment of four guidance documents. On Tuesday morning, Kennedy’s department and the Food and Drug Administration launched a 60-day Request for Information (RFI). The department and its subagency are interested in hearing about “outdated or unnecessary regulations” that the secretary said are hampering competition and restricting the practice of healthcare. (Muoio, 5/13)

Stat: Mental Health Care May Be Harder To Obtain After HHS Rule Reversal 
For a recent therapy session, Andria Donaghy’s insurance plan paid her psychiatric nurse practitioner only $11 on a $125 service. “To even put that on paper is insulting,” she said. “These people give their lives [to help others] and that’s what you pay them?” (Broderick, 5/13)

Politico: Why The 1 Senator Who Can Rein In RFK Jr. Isn’t Calling Him Out
Sen. Bill Cassidy has a big decision to make about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. When Kennedy makes his first public appearance before the Senate health committee Wednesday since his February confirmation, public health officials and advocates hope the GOP senator from Louisiana — a doctor — will again challenge Kennedy’s long-held view that vaccines cause autism, as he did during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, and also question actions Kennedy has taken as secretary. (Paun and Cancryn, 5/13)

FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS AND FUNDING FREEZE

AP: Judge Orders Restoration Of Jobs In Health Program For West Virginia Coal Miners
A judge on Tuesday ordered the restoration of a health monitoring program for coal miners in West Virginia and rescinded layoffs the federal government implemented in a unit of a small U.S. health agency. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by a coal miner who was diagnosed with a respiratory ailment commonly known as black lung disease. (Raby, 5/14)

CBS News: Head Of Worker Safety Agency NIOSH Restored, Ahead Of RFK Jr. Hearing
The head of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and a handful of teams at the agency had their layoff notices rescinded Tuesday, multiple officials say, and several worker safety programs that had been eliminated by layoffs last month are being restored. Letters reversing the layoffs arrived in the inboxes of some NIOSH staff a day ahead of House and Senate hearings Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. where he was expected to face questions about the layoffs. (Tin, 5/13)

AP: 20 Democratic Attorneys General Sue Trump Administration Over Conditions Placed On Federal Funds
A coalition of 20 state Democratic attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits on Tuesday, claiming that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to certain immigration enforcement actions. According to the complaints, both Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have threatened to cut off funding to states that refuse to comply with President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. (Kruesi, 5/14)

The Hill: House Democrats: HHS Funding Cuts To LGBTQ Suicide Hotline Will Have ‘Lethal Consequences’ 
More than 100 House Democrats urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to spare a crisis service for LGBTQ youth from federal funding cuts, calling the plan, part of a leaked budget proposal, “ill-advised” and dangerous in a letter addressed Tuesday to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. An internal budget document first reported last month by The Washington Post would eliminate specialized services for LGBTQ youth who contact 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as part of a broader Trump administration effort to slash funding and programs it says are bloating the federal government. (Migdon, 5/13)

CNN: Trump Administration Cut $2.7 Billion In NIH Research Funding Through March, Senate Committee Minority Report Says
A Senate committee report by minority staff, and obtained by CNN, slams the Trump administration for terminating some funding for research, firing thousands of federal workers and removing certain scientific data from government websites. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s minority staff report, released Tuesday and authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, says that in the first three months of this year, the Trump administration cut $2.7 billion in National Institutes of Health funding for research. (Howard, 5/13)

MEDICAID

The Hill: Capitol Police Arrest 25 During Medicaid Protest
Police arrested more than two dozen people after activists protesting cuts to Medicaid interrupted the House Energy and Commerce Committee as it began consideration of legislation to change the program. Minutes into the markup, activists — including several in wheelchairs — chanted “no cuts to Medicaid,” persisting despite a warning from Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) that those making outbursts could be arrested. Capitol Police escorted the demonstrators out, telling The Hill that 26 people were arrested. (Brooks, 5/13)

The Hill: CBO: GOP Medicaid Plan Would Make 7.6 Million People Uninsured
The Medicaid portion of the House GOP’s massive domestic policy bill would result in 10.3 million people losing Medicaid coverage by 2034 and 7.6 million people going uninsured, according to a partial (CBO) Congressional Budget Office estimate. Republicans released the estimates just ahead of the start of Tuesday’s markup of the Energy and Commerce portion of the party-line legislation, which is key to enacting President Trump’s agenda. The uninsured numbers include 1.4 million people without verified citizenship who would be removed from the program and 4.8 million people who would lose coverage because of work requirements, the committee said. (Weixel, 5/13)

Stat: Wonky Piece Of GOP Medicaid Cuts Bill Has Mixed Impact On Hospitals
House Republicans plan to slash $715 billion from state Medicaid programs over the next decade, but their proposal spares special Medicaid payments hospitals increasingly use to pad their bottom lines. (Bannow and Herman, 5/13)

NBC News: Proposed Medicaid Cuts By Republicans Leave Patients And Doctors Fearing The Worst
Melannie Bachman, 39, of Charleston, South Carolina, is among the patients closely watching the sweeping Republican bill to overhaul Medicaid that’s been brought to the House. She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer — an aggressive and difficult-to-treat form of the disease — in 2021. She said she had to apply for Medicaid multiple times and wasn’t approved until four months later, which meant she had to pay for multiple screenings while waiting. Bachman no longer qualifies for Medicaid because she's cancer-free. (Lovelace Jr. and Kapur, 5/14)

Stat: House Bill Would Override State AI Laws, Including In Health Care
A small but powerful nugget is buried in the text of the House budget reconciliation bill released this week: a clause that would ban state and local governments from enforcing any laws on AI, even ones that have already been put into effect. (Trang, 5/13)

MEDICARE

Modern Healthcare: AHA Submits Over 100 Healthcare Regulations It Wants CMS To Cut
The American Hospital Association recommends that the Health and Human Services Department eliminate or ease a slew of regulations on billing, quality reporting, the workforce and other areas in a letter sent to regulators. President Donald Trump has made deregulation a centerpiece of his expansive overhaul of the federal government, including at HHS. The AHA wrote the department Monday offering more than 100 suggestions for policies to scrap in response to an April solicitation from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which also generated responses from other healthcare interests. (Early, 5/13)

Modern Healthcare: CMMI Strategy To Revise Medicare Advantage Ratings Measurements
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is rolling out a broad new agenda for its innovation center that could lead to requirements that participants in value-based care programs to take on downside risk, the agency announced Tuesday. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation plan prioritizes shared risk and prospective payments, streamlined quality measurement, artificial intelligence and other technologies, and Medicare Advantage payment models, Director Abe Sutton said in an interview Friday. (Early, 5/13)

MedPage Today: Expect More Downside Risk In Medicare's Payment Models, CMS Official Says
Physicians should expect to see more Medicare alternative payment models that involve downside risk, Abe Sutton, JD, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), said Tuesday. "We've found at the innovation center that when we have 'upside-only' payment models, there's not necessarily an incentive ... for participants to change how they engage in care delivery," Sutton said at a conference in Washington sponsored by the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy. (Frieden, 5/13)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

AP: Judge Overturns Michigan's 24-Hour Waiting Period Before An Abortion
A judge on Tuesday struck down Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, saying it conflicts with a voter-approved amendment that locked abortion rights in the state constitution in 2022. “Michiganders have the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion care, and the state cannot deny, burden or infringe upon this freedom barring a compelling state interest to protect the health of the individual seeking care,” Judge Sima Patel said. The waiting period had been in place for years, though Patel temporarily blocked it earlier in litigation in 2024. (White, 5/13)

The Hill: Louisiana Investigating Another Case Against New York Doctor Over Mailing Abortion Pills
Louisiana’s attorney general is investigating a second case involving New York doctor Margaret Carpenter after she allegedly prescribed and mailed abortion medication to another woman in the state, this time located in the city of Shreveport. The Shreveport woman was 20 weeks pregnant when she took the abortion medication and subsequently went into labor, Attorney General Liz Murrill said during a testimony for an anti-abortion bill in the state’s House Civil Law and Procedure Committee on Monday. (O’Connell-Domenech, 5/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Seeks To Lower Prescription Prices, Protect Abortion Access
Seeking to lower prescription drug prices and safeguard abortion access, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday proposed new regulations on pharmaceutical middlemen and an expansion of state purchasing of abortion drugs. Newsom’s plan would require prescription drug intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers to be licensed and regulated by the state and would expand CalRx, his low-cost drug purchasing program, to include name-brand abortion drugs like mifepristone. (Bollag, 5/13)

WLRN Public Media: A Broward Maternity Center Opened A Year Ago Expecting 200 Patients. It's Up To 1,700
The Maternity Care Center in Broward County opened last May to fill a major void in services for pregnant women. A year later, the Lauderdale Lakes facility has served about 1,700 patients — a huge leap from the roughly 200 they expected to serve in that time, according to Melida Akiti, corporate transformation executive with Broward Health. (Cooper, 5/12)

CIDRAP: COVID Before Or During Pregnancy May Confer 2 To 3 Times The Risk Of Miscarriage
A study involving nearly 27,000 pregnancies suggests that women infected with COVID-19 before or during pregnancy are at two to three times the risk for miscarriage before 20 weeks' gestation. The University of Texas–led analysis used electronic health records to evaluate the relationship between COVID-19 and miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and preterm delivery from 2019 to 2023. Ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus, rendering it unviable. (Van Beusekom, 5/13)

ABC News: Extreme Heat Could Make Pregnancy Riskier For Millions Of Women: Report
As human-induced climate change continues warming the planet, pregnancy risks are increasing, according to a new analysis by Climate Central. Climate Central, a nonprofit science and communications organization, analyzed daily temperature data from 2020 to 2024 in 940 cities across 247 counties and territories. Researchers looked for "extreme heat days," which are defined by temperatures that go beyond what's normal in the area 95% of the time. (Glasser, 5/14)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

MedPage Today: Doctors, Other Healthcare Workers Strike In Washington State
Physicians and other healthcare workers at PeaceHealth facilities in Washington state are on strike this week, calling for better working conditions and wages, among other demands. The group includes about 40 physicians and 100 advanced practice clinicians, who are represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), as well as hundreds more healthcare workers -- such as certified nursing assistants, housekeeping workers, phlebotomists, and imaging technicians -- who are represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. (Henderson, 5/13)

North Carolina Health News and Charlotte Ledger: Atrium Health Executives Get Hefty Pay Raises Amid Record Revenues
The total compensation of Atrium Health’s top executives soared by an average of 41 percent last year, according to newly released data from the hospital system, but information about the salary of Eugene Woods, CEO of Atrium parent Advocate Health, was not included in the release. (Crouch, 5/14)

PHARMA AND TECH

Stat: Scientists Call For 10-Year Ban On CRISPR For Germline Gene Editing
Leading trade organizations representing the makers of cell and gene therapies are calling for a 10-year international moratorium on the use of CRISPR and other DNA-editing tools to create genetically modified children, according to a draft of the declaration provided to STAT. (Molteni, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: GSK Buys Liver-Disease Treatment From Boston Pharmaceuticals For Up To $2 Billion
GSK will acquire liver-disease treatment efimosfermin from Boston Pharmaceuticals for up to $2 billion to expand its portfolio. The British pharma giant said Wednesday that it will pay the U.S. biotech company $1.2 billion up-front, and that the deal includes potential success-based milestone payments of $800 million. (Smolak, 5/14)

CBS News: Weight Loss Drugs Have "No End Game" Amid Lack Of Data On Long-Term Use, Former FDA Commissioner Warns
Weight loss drugs have transformed how Americans lose weight, including former commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. David Kessler. But, Kessler warns there are unknowns about long-term use of the drugs and how to get people off them. "There is no end game," he said on "CBS Mornings Plus" Tuesday. "FDA allowed these medicines out without a long-term strategy." Kessler faced unexpected weight gain while serving in his role co-leading Operation Warp Speed, the coronavirus vaccination program at the height of the pandemic, which had him working extensive hours a day at his computer. (Moniuszko, 5/13)

STATE WATCH

Chicago Tribune: Bill Aims To Encourage Illinois Therapists To Take Private Insurance
Lawmakers are taking aim at a common problem for Illinois residents who seek mental health care — many therapists don’t take private insurance. In Illinois and across the country, a number of therapists have stopped accepting private insurance, saying health insurers don’t reimburse them enough money for their services and force them to jump through too many hoops to give patients the care they need. (Schencker, 5/13)

ProPublica, The Current: The Firm Running Georgia’s Struggling Medicaid Experiment Was Also Paid Millions To Sell It To The Public
When the state of Georgia handed Deloitte Consulting a $10.7 million marketing contract last July to promote the nation’s only Medicaid work requirement program, the initiative was in need of serious PR. At the time, a year after the program’s rollout, less than 2% of those eligible for Georgia Pathways to Coverage had enrolled, well short of state targets. (Coker, 5/13)

CIDRAP: Texas Announces More Measles Cases, Including First In Dallas Area
The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) today reported eight more measles cases since its last update on May 9, including the first two from Dallas that are linked to the large outbreak in West Texas. Also, the TDSHS said cases in the Dallas area now linked to the large outbreak centered in Gaines County are from Collin and Rockwall counties. Collin County is just northeast of Dallas and is home to Plano, and Rockwall County is about 32 miles northeast of Dallas. (Schnirring, 5/13)

PUBLIC HEALTH

CIDRAP: New Recommendations Seek Treatments For Post-Lyme Disease Condition
New recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are asking scientists to dive into available evidence in an effort to investigate treatments to ease the fatigue, pain, and "brain fog" that affect 10% to 20% of people long term after contracting Lyme disease. The recommendations for people living with Lyme infection–associated chronic illness (IACI) are published in a 252-page report. (Soucheray, 5/13)

CNN: Working Long Hours? It Could Be Altering The Structure Of Your Brain
Long working hours might not just be bad for you, they could also be altering the structure of your brain, a new study suggests. The research, published Tuesday, found “significant changes” in the brains of people who were overworking, which is a combination of physical and emotional overexertion, as well as a lack of rest. (Rahimi, 5/13)

MedPage Today: Sedentary Time Tied To Brain Volume, Worse Cognition In Older Adults
More time spent sitting or lying down was linked with neurodegeneration and worse cognitive scores in older adults, even among people who were physically active, a 7-year study showed. ... "Greater sedentary behavior was associated with smaller hippocampal volume and worse cognitive performance over a 7-year period despite taking into account the level of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each person engaged in," noted co-author Marissa Gogniat, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh. (George, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Women Are Drinking More Alcohol—And Doctors Are Worried
At bars and dinner tables across the U.S., women are throwing back more drinks—raising concerns about the health consequences of their alcohol consumption. Women in their 30s and 40s have increased their alcohol consumption in recent decades, as their lifestyles have changed. Women who turned 35 between 2018 and 2019 were nearly 60% more likely to report recent binge-drinking or alcohol use disorder symptoms than women who turned 35 between 1993 and 1997, according to a 2023 report published in the journal Addiction. (Abbott, 5/13)

GLOBAL WATCH

CIDRAP: CDC Issues Indian Ocean Travel Warning Over Chikungunya Outbreaks 
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people planning to travel to the Region of the Indian Ocean to practice enhanced precautions against chikungunya. The Level 2 travel notice comes in response to chikungunya outbreaks in Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion, Somalia, and Sri Lanka. It urges travelers visiting the area to use insect repellent and wear long sleeves and pants to protect against mosquitoes, which spread the virus, and recommends vaccination. The CDC says pregnant women should reconsider travel to the area. (Dall, 5/13)

AP: Food Grown With Fewer Chemicals? A Brazilian Scientist Wins $500,000 For Showing The Way
A Brazilian scientist who pushed back against chemical fertilizers and researched biologically based approaches to more robust food production has been honored with this year’s World Food Prize, the organization announced Tuesday. Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria’s research helped her country become an agricultural powerhouse, an accomplishment that has now won her $500,000 from the Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation. Hungria has been researching biological seed and soil treatments for 40 years, and has worked with Brazilian farmers to implement her findings. (McFetridge, 5/14)