First Edition: Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Officials Show Little Proof That New Tech Will Help Medicaid Enrollees Meet Work Rules 
This summer, the state of Louisiana texted just over 13,000 people enrolled in its Medicaid program with a link to a website where they could confirm their incomes. The texts were part of a pilot run to test technology the Trump administration says will make it easier for some Medicaid enrollees to prove they meet new requirements — working, studying, job training, or volunteering at least 80 hours a month — set to take effect in just over a year. But only 894 people completed the quarterly wage check, or just under 7% of enrollees who got the text, according to Drew Maranto, undersecretary for the Louisiana Department of Health. (Bichell and Whitehead, 10/23)

KFF Health News: When A Hearing Aid Isn’t Enough
Kitty Grutzmacher had contended with poor hearing for a decade, but the problem had worsened over the past year. Even with her hearing aids, “there was little or no sound,” she said. “I was avoiding going out in groups. I stopped playing cards, stopped going to Bible study, even going to church.” Her audiologist was unable to offer Grutzmacher, a retired nurse in Elgin, Illinois, a solution. But she found her way to the cochlear implant program at Northwestern University. (Span, 10/23)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Politico: At Least 25 States Plan To Cut Off Food Aid Benefits In November 
Millions of low-income Americans will lose access to food aid on Nov. 1, when half of states plan to cut off benefits due to the government shutdown. Twenty-five states told POLITICO that they are issuing notices informing participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative — that they won’t receive checks next month. Those states include California, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi and New Jersey. Others didn’t respond to requests for comment in time for publication. (Yarrow, 10/23)

NBC News: Oz Says Trump Has A Plan To Replace Obamacare
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump has a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act — but provided no specifics about the proposal. “I fully believe the president has a plan,” Oz told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “We’ve been talking about it quite a bit. There’s all kinds of ideas.” (Lovelace Jr., 10/22)

The Hill: Trump Pollster: ObamaCare Subsidy Extension Key For GOP Ahead Of Midterms
New findings from a Trump-aligned pollster released Wednesday show a majority of voters want Congress to extend enhanced ObamaCare tax credits and would be less likely to vote for a candidate who lets those tax credits expire. The poll from John McLaughlin, commissioned by the conservative group Americans for a Balanced Budget, highlights the political importance of the tax credits ahead of the midterm elections and the peril facing Republicans who oppose an extension. (Weixel, 10/22)

AP: Sen. Jeff Merkley Stages Marathon Speech To Protest Trump
Led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrats seized the Senate floor on Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s presidency amid the government shutdown and push for Republicans to negotiate with them on expiring health subsidies. Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. Tuesday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday — pausing for lengthy questions from other Democratic senators. His speech was one of the longest in Senate history, just short of a similar speech in April by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. (Jalonick, 10/22)

The Hill: John Fetterman Says John Thune 'Sincere' About Finding Solutions On ObamaCare
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Wednesday he thinks Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) would engage in “sincere” talks about extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits once the government reopens. Fetterman — who came out on Tuesday in favor of the GOP “nuking” the Senate filibuster to pass a bill to reopen the government — said it’s important for senators simultaneously to prioritize funding the government while pushing for the health care subsidies at the center of the ongoing shutdown standoff. (Fortinsky, 10/22)

The Boston Globe: Mass Notifications Announce ACA Exchange Insurance Rate Hikes
Massachusetts has begun notifying people who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s exchange how much their premiums would increase without the federal subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year. The state is among the first in the nation to provide specifics on how much more expensive insurance could become for the roughly 24 million people nationwide who rely on the exchanges for affordable health insurance. (Laughlin, 10/22)

The CT Mirror: CT Tells Residents: Hold Off On ACA Enrollment Amid Shutdown
State officials are striking a different tone this year in their advice to Connecticut residents looking to enroll in health plans through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange. “If you could, wait a little bit longer,” Access Health CT CEO James Michel told residents during a press conference on Tuesday. “Instead of enrolling on November 1, give it more time, because I know there’s conversations going on right now to try to get the subsidies resolved.” (Golvala, 10/22)

Military.com: Tricare Open Season Is On Time Despite Shutdown. Here’s What’s Affected
Open enrollment for 2026 Tricare coverage will take place on time despite the government shutdown, officials told Military.com, while some Tricare services under existing plans are already suspended or likely delayed. The monthlong open enrollment period is scheduled for Nov. 10-Dec. 9. During open enrollment, or open season, beneficiaries may make changes to their Tricare coverage for the upcoming year. Tricare users who want to keep the same coverage don’t need to do anything during open enrollment. (Miller, 10/22)

The Texas Tribune: Feds Cut Program To Help Texans Find Insurance
About this time of year, Foundation Communities would be getting its latest group of specially trained staff members ready to help more than 6,800 Central Texans sign up for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage. For years, the Austin-based housing nonprofit has, through its Prosper Health Coverage program, used about $2.4 million in federal grant funding each year to hire a team of “navigators,” who help enroll Texans who either don’t have health insurance through their workplace or do not qualify for Medicaid and would like coverage in the federal health insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. (Langford, 10/22)

AP: USDA Reopens County Offices To Support Farmers Despite The Ongoing Government Shutdown
The Agriculture Department will reopen about 2,100 county offices all across the country Thursday despite the ongoing government shutdown to help farmers and ranchers get access to $3 billion of aid from existing programs. The USDA said each Farm Service Agency office will have two workers who will be paid even though the government remains shutdown. These offices help farmers apply for farm loans, crop insurance, disaster aid and other programs. Thousands of other federal employees like air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown. (Funk, 10/22)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

The New York Times: Bird Flu Is Back
Bird flu is back. After a quiet summer, the virus has hit dozens of poultry flocks, resulting in the deaths of nearly seven million farmed birds in the United States since the beginning of September. Among them: about 1.3 million turkeys, putting pressure on the nation’s turkey supply in the run-up to Thanksgiving. Reports of infected wild birds have also surged this fall, and three states — Idaho, Nebraska and Texas — have identified outbreaks in dairy cows. (Anthes and Mandavilli, 10/22)

CIDRAP: US Measles Cases Top 1,600 As South Carolina Outbreak Grows
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today the country has seen 1,618 confirmed measles cases so far in 2025, 22 more than last week. And in South Carolina, a measles outbreak linked to two schools with low student vaccination rates has grown by 4 cases. The total represents the most US infections since 1992, when the CDC reported 2,237 measles cases. (Soucheray, 10/22)

NBC News: Measles Spreading Beyond The Center Of The Utah-Arizona Outbreak
The nation's second-largest measles outbreak this year is spreading beyond its epicenter along the Utah-Arizona border. Most of the known measles cases — 123 as of Wednesday — are linked to a tight-knit community of twin towns: Colorado City, in Mohave County, Arizona, and Hildale, which is in Washington County, Utah. Within the past few weeks, there have been three cases in nearby, larger towns, such as Hurricane and St. George, Utah. Those exposures occurred in hospital and urgent care settings, according to the Southwest Utah Public Health Department. (Edwards, 10/22)

MedPage Today: 'Alternative' To CDC's Flagship Journal In The Works
A public health group and a top-tier journal will partner to publish an alternative to the CDC's flagship weekly publication that has been diminished under the Trump administration. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, and NEJM Evidence, will establish a field notes-style publication, CIDRAP director Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, announced at the IDWeek conference in Atlanta. (Fiore, 10/22)

CNN: As Respiratory Virus Season Begins, Federal Shutdown Leaves Critical Gap In Surveillance 
The federal government shutdown has brought respiratory virus surveillance to a halt at the national level, leaving local governments, health systems and the general public with critical blind spots as the season starts to ramp up. Key federal reports on flu, Covid-19 and RSV haven’t been updated in nearly a month, even as virus activity picks up. (McPhillips, 10/22)

Stat: Moderna's Key Study Of CMV Vaccine, Expected To Be Next Big Win, Failed
Moderna said Wednesday afternoon that its experimental vaccine for cytomegalovirus, a cause of disability in newborns, failed in a Phase 3 trial, a significant setback for a company already facing pressure from Wall Street and the federal government. (Mast and Herper, 10/22)

IMMIGRATION CRISIS

AP: Pregnant Women In US Detention Report Inadequate Care Under Trump
Women taken into custody by U.S. immigration agents while pregnant say they received inadequate care in a letter Wednesday that calls on the Trump administration to stop holding expectant mothers in federal detention facilities. The letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is part of a broader campaign in recent months by Democrats and immigrant rights groups to draw attention to what they say is the mistreatment of pregnant detainees. (Cline and Gonzalez, 10/23)

AP: ICE Uses Full-Body Restraints On Deportees Despite Safety Concerns
The Nigerian man described being roused with other detainees in September in the middle of the night. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers clasped shackles on their hands and feet, he said, and told them they were being sent to Ghana, even though none of them was from there. When they asked to speak to their attorney, he said, the officers refused and straitjacketed the already-shackled men in full-body restraint suits called the WRAP, then loaded them onto a plane for the 16-hour-flight to West Africa. (Dearen, Mustian and Pineda, 10/22)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Modern Healthcare: What The Section 232 Investigation Into Medical Devices Means
The Trump administration is targeting medical devices and supplies in its latest push to review imports for national security risks. If the investigation finds a threat, tariffs or import limits could be imposed. Any trade restrictions could affect patient care by limiting providers’ access to essential tools and challenging medtech companies that rely on complex global supply chains. (Dubinsky, 10/22)

Roll Call: Trump’s Approach To Lowering Drug Costs Is Raising Questions 
The Trump administration is turning to an unconventional approach to lowering drug prices in the United States: striking deals directly with Big Pharma companies in an attempt to bring U.S. prices in line with what other countries pay. Trump and the nation’s health care officials have touted these “most-favored nation” deals as the most effective means to getting pharmaceutical prices down, beyond even the power of the Medicare drug price negotiations already in place. The key issue, health experts say, is that the public has had little visibility into these deals. (DeGroot, 10/22)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Newsweek: Tenet Health Nurses Announce Strike At Six California Hospitals
Tenet Health nurses in California will hold a one-day strike later this month to protest the hospital's “refusal to address nurses’ deep concerns about patient care and safe staffing.” The California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses United (NNU) announced Wednesday that more than 3,000 nurses have been under contract negotiations with Tenet since February, “with little to no movement on key issues.” (Giella, 10/22)

Modern Healthcare: MultiCare, Samaritan To Combine
MultiCare Health System and Samaritan Health Services look to combine the two nonprofit health systems, they announced Wednesday. The boards of the organizations approved a membership-substitution agreement that would make Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare the parent company of Corvallis, Oregon-based Samaritan. MultiCare operates 13 hospitals and more than 300 primary, urgent, pediatric and specialty care facilities, while Samaritan operates five hospitals, more than 80 clinics and multiple health plans. (Kacik, 10/22)

Modern Healthcare: Scan Health Plan, BCBS Of Wyoming Aim To Grow Medicare Advantage
While top Medicare Advantage insurers such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna are zigging, some competitors are zagging. Insurers such as AmeriHealth Caritas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming and Scan Health Plan are expanding where they sell policies during this annual enrollment period. Humana, second to UnitedHealthcare in market share, and others are enhancing supplemental benefits to attract new members. Some, such as Devoted Health, are promising to pay full commissions to agents and brokers who direct new members to their plans. (Tepper, 10/22)

Minnesota Public Radio: Blue Earth Hospital Offers Hope Amid Nationwide Rural Maternity Ward Closures 
When Nikki Johnson heard Mayo Clinic Health System was closing its labor and delivery unit in Fairmont last year, she was shocked. She was 33 weeks pregnant. Instead of giving birth right nearby in town, she was suddenly faced with having to drive to Mayo’s Mankato clinic about an hour away when she went into labor. (Work, 10/23) 

PHARMA AND TECH

ProPublica: The FDA Is Hiding The Names Of Drugs Made In Contaminated Factories
They were the sort of disturbing discoveries that anyone taking generic medication would want to know. At one Indian factory manufacturing drugs for the United States, pigeons infested a storage room and defecated on boxes of sterilized equipment. At another, pathogens contaminated purified water used to produce drugs. At a third, stagnant urine pooled on a bathroom floor not far from where injectable medication was made. (Cenziper and Rose, 10/23)

Stat: CVS Caremark Tells AIDS Activists Gilead Needs To Lower The Price Of Its New HIV Drug To Get On Formularies 
For the past few months, CVS Caremark has resisted adding a new Gilead Sciences HIV prevention drug to its formularies, repeatedly explaining there are “clinical, financial, and regulatory considerations” that must be reviewed before it will take that step. Not surprisingly, though, what the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S. simply wants is a much lower price, according to an email sent this week by a company executive to an AIDS patient advocacy group. (Silverman, 10/22)

Axios: Anti-Obesity Drug Prescribing Shows Signs Of Leveling Off
The anti-obesity drug boom may be cooling, as overall prescribing of GLP-1 medicines remained relatively flat for the three months ending in September, according to a new analysis of electronic health records. (Bettelheim, 10/23)

The Guardian: Weight-Loss Drug Cuts Heart Attack Risk Regardless Of Kilograms Shed, Study Finds
The weight-loss drug semaglutide cuts the risk of heart attack or stroke regardless of how many kilograms people lose, the largest study of its kind has found. However, shrinking waist size – a sign of less belly fat – was linked to better heart outcomes, according to the research. (Gregory, 10/22)

MedPage Today: Novel T-Cell Therapy Promising In Tough-To-Treat Eye Cancer
A single infusion of the investigational PRAME-directed T-cell receptor T-cell therapy anzutresgene autoleucel (anzu-cel) showed encouraging antitumor activity in patients with previously treated advanced or metastatic uveal melanoma in a small phase I trial. (Bassett, 10/22)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

MedPage Today: Ob/Gyns Urged To Fight Contraception Misinformation
In updated clinical guidance, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) urged physicians to speak out in support of access to contraception. The group's statement on access to contraception was updated to reflect the patchwork contraceptive landscape in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that ended the federal right to abortion, as well as the proliferation of mis- and disinformation about contraception. (Robertson, 10/22)

STATE WATCH

San Francisco Chronicle: Tiburon Tobacco Ban Would Outlaw All Nicotine Sales
The Marin County town of Tiburon is poised to become the first jurisdiction in Northern California — and just the third statewide — to ban the sale of all tobacco and nicotine products. In an effort to address youth nicotine addiction, the Tiburon town council last week passed an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine products, including vapes or e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and oral nicotine pouches such as Zyn. The only exception to the ban would be FDA-approved smoking cessation products. (Ho, 10/22)

North Carolina Health News: NC Counties Rethink Overdose Response
When an overdose is reported in coastal Carteret County, 911 dispatchers send emergency responders racing to the scene carrying naloxone — the opioid reversal medication that can bring someone back from the brink of death. At the same time, the county’s six-member post-overdose response team — composed of a team manager and five peer support specialists — gets an alert. Their aim is to respond in real time, 365 days a year, offering immediate and continued support after the overdose. They’re able to meet people where they are, physically and emotionally. (Crumpler, 10/23)

Mountain State Spotlight: West Virginia Has Collected $34 Million From Its Medical Cannabis Program. It Hasn’t Spent A Penny
Since the state’s first dispensary opened in 2021, West Virginia’s medical cannabis program has collected roughly $34 million in taxes, licensing fees and interest. State law requires the money be used to create a medical cannabis research program, provide resources to residents with substance use disorder and fund law enforcement training. But almost four years later, the money sits unspent. (Blevins, 10/22)

New Hampshire Public Radio: 'I Have A Lot Of Dreams To Achieve': Inside One Effort To Address NH's Nursing Shortage
Growing up in El Salvador, Ana Ascencio remembers visiting hospitals and jails with her grandmother when she was a child. “That’s where I come from — since I was very small, we always took time to visit the sick,” she said in Spanish. Ascencio lives in Manchester now and is training to become a Licensed Nursing Assistant. As she’s learning, she hopes to be patient and take time to help others like her grandmother Lucía did. (Guzman, 10/21)

The Baltimore Sun: Drug Takeback Day Promotes Safe Prescription Disposal
It’s time to clean out your medicine cabinet. This Saturday’s National Prescription Drug Takeback Day offers a chance to safely dispose of old prescription medications — without the risk of abuse or environmental contamination. (Hille, 10/22)

PUBLIC HEALTH

CBS News: Gum Disease Could Be Linked To An Increased Risk Of Stroke And Brain Damage, Studies Find
Keeping your mouth healthy may help keep your heart and brain healthy too, according to new research. In a study published Wednesday in Neurology Open Access, researchers found adults with gum disease may be more likely to have signs of damage to the brain's white matter than people without gum disease. (Moniuszko and Hill, 10/22)

Medical Xpress: Early Life Sugar Restriction Linked To Lasting Heart Benefits In Adulthood
Restricted sugar intake during early life is linked to lower risks of several heart conditions in adulthood, including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ using data from the end of UK sugar rationing in 1953. The greatest protection against the risk of developing heart problems—and the longest delay in disease onset—was seen in people whose sugar intake was restricted from conception (in utero) to around 2 years of age. (10/22)

AP: Youngest Kids At School Have The Most Germs, Study Finds
Forget colorful leaves. Any caregiver knows that the real signs of fall are kids with coughs, sneezes and sniffles. Autumn marks the start of respiratory virus season, when colds, flu and other bugs start circulating — especially among the very young. A recent study confirmed what many families intuitively know: The littlest students harbor the most germs. Children in pre-kindergarten and elementary school showed highest rates of virus detection compared with older students and staff, according to research published in the journal Pediatrics. (Aleccia, 10/22)

CIDRAP: Survey Exposes Gaps In What People Know About The Risks Of Lyme Disease
A survey conducted in 28 US states found that, despite awareness of Lyme disease and a high prevalence of outdoor activities that raise the risk of exposure to the ticks that carry Lyme bacteria, less than half of respondents took measures to prevent infection, researchers reported yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 10/22)

GLOBAL WATCH

The Washington Post: A Parkinson’s Patient Plays Clarinet During Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery
The doctors prepared to carry out the brain surgery, their medical tools laid out. Their patient, wide awake on the operating table, was given an instrument of her own: her clarinet, which she began to play. Denise Bacon, 65, blew into the mouthpiece as doctors stood behind her, piercing holes into her skull to implant electrodes that would deliver electrical pulses to the brain in a bid to improve her motor skills. The electrodes were connected to a pulse generator — a device likened to a pacemaker — which sent continuous pulses to modify the brain, helping her manage her symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, for which there is no cure. (Hassan, 10/22)

CIDRAP: Fiji Eliminates Trachoma—World's Leading Cause Of Blindness—As A Public Health Problem
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced earlier this week that Fiji has become the latest country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. Caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomitis and spread through personal contact and interaction with contaminated surfaces and flies, trachoma is the world's leading cause of blindness. It's the first neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in the island nation, where it was once a significant public health problem. (Dall, 10/22)

Stat: European Cancer Researchers Release Guidelines On AI Use In Oncology
The leading professional organization for European oncologists has rolled out its first set of guidance on how its members should use large language models, a type of artificial intelligence, in cancer medicine. (MacPhail and Trang, 10/22)

The Washington Post: Iceland Spots Its First Mosquitoes Amid Concerns Over Warming Climate
Iceland, one of the last places on Earth believed to be free of mosquitoes, has now detected the bloodsucking insects in its territory. Scientists at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland confirmed this week three recent mosquito sightings. The institute shared photos of the insects, saying that a male and two females were found near a garden rope that had been soaked in red wine to attract butterflies in Kjós municipality, north of the capital of Reykjavík. (Cho, 10/23)