First Edition: Friday, Nov. 14, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Conflicting Advice On Covid Shots Likely To Ding Already Low Vaccine Rates, Experts Warn
More than three-quarters of American adults didn’t get a covid shot last season, a figure that health care experts warn could rise this year amid new U.S. government recommendations. The covid vaccine was initially popular. About 75% of Americans had received at least one dose of the first versions of the vaccine by early 2022, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. But only about 23% of American adults got a covid shot during the 2024-25 virus season, well below the 47% of American adults who got a flu shot. The vaccination rates for flu, measles, and tetanus are also going down. (Reese, 11/14)

KFF Health News: Listen: New Federal Guidelines Could Weaken Consumer Protections Against Medical Debt
More than 100 million Americans are estimated to have health care debt. In response, more than a dozen states have instituted laws to keep these unpaid bills off consumer credit reports. The Trump administration has been chipping away at these protections. (Levey, 11/14)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Government Is Open
The longest federal government shutdown in history is over, after a handful of House and Senate Democrats joined most Republicans in approving legislation that funds the government through January. Despite Democrats’ demands, the package did not include an extension of the expanded tax credits that help most Affordable Care Act enrollees afford their plans — meaning most people with ACA plans are slated to pay much more toward their premiums next year. (Huetteman, 11/13)

ON CAPITOL HILL

Modern Healthcare: Stopgap Funding Bill Averts Medicare Cuts Triggered By Tax Law
Medicare providers won’t endure about $500 billion in cuts because of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” after all. On Wednesday, the Republican-led Congress broke through a six-week standoff with Democrats to approve legislation that ends the government shutdown and finances federal operations through Jan. 30. The bill includes provisions to waive budget rules that would have required the White House to offset the tax law’s $3.4 trillion in deficit spending over 10 years, including by cutting around half a trillion dollars from Medicare. (McAuliff, 11/13)

AP: Democrats Skeptical Of Health Care Talks Now That Shutdown Is Over
Now that the government shutdown is over, House and Senate Republicans say they will negotiate with Democrats on whether to extend COVID-era tax credits that help tens of millions of Americans afford their health care premiums. But finding bipartisan agreement could be difficult, if not impossible, before the subsidies expire at the end of the year. The shutdown ended this week after a small group of Democrats made a deal with Republican senators who promised a vote by mid-December on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies. But there is no guaranteed outcome, and many Republicans have made clear they want the credits to expire. (Jalonick, 11/14)

Fierce Healthcare: Healthcare Orgs Press Lawmakers To Act Swiftly On ACA Subsidies
Now that the longest government shutdown in U.S. history has come to an end, healthcare organizations are urging lawmakers to act quickly to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. Charlene MacDonald, executive vice president for public affairs at the Federation of American Hospitals, said in a statement that extending the tax credits is "the only mechanism to immediately cut costs for hardworking families already struggling to make ends meet." (Minemyer, 11/13)

NBC News: ACA Subsidies: What The Government Shutdown's End Means For Health Insurance Premiums
The government shutdown has ended, but Senate Democrats didn’t get a key provision they were fighting for: extending the Obamacare tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. ... Open enrollment for 2026 coverage is well underway, and people who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act have seen how much their costs will rise without the subsidies — many could see their monthly premiums double or even triple. Some may delay signing up, hoping lawmakers intervene before year’s end, while others could forgo coverage altogether. (Lovelace Jr. and Kapur, 11/13)

Politico: The White House Knows It Needs To Act On Health Care Affordability. Here’s What’s On The Table
President Donald Trump’s Domestic Policy Council and senior health officials have been meeting privately for preliminary conversations on how to address the expiration of health insurance tax credits, according to a White House official and another person familiar with the talks. Conversations about a White House alternative to Affordable Care Act subsidies, which will expire at year’s end, are in the “early ideation phase,” said a third person familiar with the talks. (Haslett, Messerly and Ward, 11/13)

NBC News: John Fetterman Hospitalized With 'Minor Injuries' After Fall Related To Heart Issue
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was hospitalized Thursday after falling near his Pennsylvania home and sustaining “minor injuries” to his face, the senator’s spokesperson said. Medical personnel determined that the incident, which included “feeling light-headed,” involved a flare-up of a cardiac issue known as ventricular fibrillation, the spokesperson said in a statement on X. (Shabad, 11/13)

The New York Times: The Shutdown Is Over. For Many SNAP Recipients, The Scars Remain. 
When a little more than half of her monthly food stamp benefit came through on Tuesday, Deana Pearson headed to the grocery store and spent all $172 of it. She bought eggs, cheese, meat, sugar and produce. For two weeks, Ms. Pearson, 61, of Chouteau, Okla., had been forced to scrimp. Her balance through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps about 42 million low-income people buy groceries every month, had shrunk to $1.17, she said. That led Ms. Pearson to visit a local food bank. Some of the food there was moldy, she said, but at least it was free. (Fortin, Adelson, Keenan, Morales and Rao, 11/14)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Prepares To Fire Worker For TV Interview About SNAP
The Agriculture Department is preparing to fire an employee in the division that handles food benefits after she publicly warned that the shutdown could have negative impacts on the millions of Americans who rely on the federal government to put food on the table, according to documentation reviewed by The Washington Post. (Alfaro and Natanson, 11/13)

The New York Times: Trump Officials Prepare Tariff Exemptions, Seeking To Lower Food Prices 
The Trump administration is preparing broad exemptions to certain tariffs in an effort to ease elevated food prices that have provoked anxiety for American consumers, according to three people briefed on the actions. The change would apply to certain reciprocal tariffs the president announced in April, including on products coming from countries that have not struck trade deals with the administration, the people said, discussing a pending announcement on the condition of anonymity. (Swanson, Haberman and Pager, 11/13)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The Hill: Vaccine Advisory Panel Considers Hepatitis B Delay
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s panel of federal vaccine advisors is set to discuss and potentially vote on changing the hepatitis B vaccine schedule for infants when they next meet on Dec. 4. According to a Federal Register notice, the agenda for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will include “discussions on vaccine safety, the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, and hepatitis B vaccines.” Recommendation votes may be scheduled for hepatitis B vaccines, the notice stated. (Weixel, 11/13)

Bloomberg: Trump Administration Considers Bringing Back The Food Pyramid
President Donald Trump’s administration is considering bringing back the food pyramid when it updates the nation’s dietary guidelines later this year, according to people familiar with the discussions. The new graphic’s exact form is still being discussed, according to the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about ongoing discussions. The visual is expected to emphasize protein, the people said, as well as whole foods, according to one of them. (Peterson, 11/13)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Resume Hospital At Home As Government Reopens
Some health systems are relaunching hospital at home after Medicare reimbursement for the care model was restored with the deal to reopen the federal government. More than half of hospital-at-home programs temporarily or permanently closed following the Oct. 1 government shutdown, when the CMS waiver to provide acute hospital care at home expired. Another 23% pivoted to ambulatory care at home, according to the Hospital at Home Users Group. Daily admissions dropped by 67%. (Bruce, 11/13)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Marketing Targeted By State Commissioners
State insurance regulators are pressuring Medicare Advantage insurers to reverse decisions to cut back on compensation to brokers and other third-party marketers. Struggles in Medicare Advantage have caused carriers such as UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare and Humana to shift strategy in recent years to emphasize profit margins over growth as spending rises and federal dollars are harder to come by. Insurers have trimmed or eliminated commissions to agents and brokers and restricted access to online applications to avoid signing up new customers who could prove costly. (Tong, 11/13)

CNBC: Cheaper Medicines, Free Beach Trips: U.S. Health Plans Tap Prescriptions That Feds Say Are Illegal
Every step is a struggle for Bruce Zimmerman, whose health has been deteriorating since he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight years ago. In 2019, Zimmerman said, his then-employer offered him an opportunity that sounded irresistible: He and his wife, Becky, could take all-expense-paid trips to the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas to retrieve the medication he needed, Avonex, a drug made by Biogen that currently retails in the U.S. for $2,159 per weekly dose. Through Florida-based PriceMDs, which paid for the couple’s travel, Zimmerman’s Avonex would be free of charge. (Zamost, Tortorelli and Lee, 11/13)

WUSF: South Florida Hospitals, Leapfrog Group Seek Court Ruling Over Safety Grades 
Five South Florida hospitals and the Leapfrog Group are separately asking a Palm Beach County judge to resolve a legal dispute over the nonprofit’s hospital safety grades without a trial. Over the past three weeks, each side has filed motions for summary judgment, presenting arguments to convince the court to rule in its favor. (Mayer, 11/13)

Newsweek: Short Staffing Pushed Nurses To Launch Strike At Maine Hospital
Nurses at Maine’s Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) will go on strike next week to protest the hospital’s failure to address staffing and patient care concerns. There are 55 nurses at HRH represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC). (Giella, 11/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County Woman To Serve 38 Months For Impersonating Nurse
A Baltimore County woman was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison Tuesday after prosecutors say she impersonated a nurse at more than 40 health care facilities across Maryland. (Parker, 11/13)

PHARMA AND TECH

AP: Few Object To Settlement With Purdue Pharma, Sackler Family Members
Lawyers representing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, branches of the Sackler family that own it, cities, states, counties, Native American tribes, people with addiction and others across the U.S. are expected to deliver a nearly unanimous message for a bankruptcy court judge Friday: Approve a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against the company. If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane abides, it will close a long chapter — and maybe the entire book — on a legal odyssey over efforts to hold the company to account for its role in an opioid crisis connected to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, including deaths from heroin and illicit fentanyl. (Mulvihill, 11/14)

ABC News: 'Huge Step Forward': Scientists Discover Immune Reaction Behind Pig Kidney Rejection In Transplant Patients
Transplanting gene-edited pig kidneys into humans has been hailed as a pioneering procedure and a way to help ease the shortage of organs available for those on transplant waiting lists. Scientists, however, have been struggling to understand why these animal organs have been rejected not long after surgery. Now, they may have an answer. In the first of two studies published Thursday in the journal Nature, researchers at NYU Langone Health have discovered immune reactions that may explain why these organs get rejected. (Kekatos, 11/13)

The Guardian: New AI Tool Could Cut Wasted Efforts To Transplant Organs By 60%
Doctors have developed an AI tool that could reduce wasted efforts to transplant organs by 60%. Thousands of patients worldwide are waiting for a potentially life-saving donor, and more candidates are stuck on waiting lists than there are available organs. (Gregory, 11/13)

CANCER RESEARCH

NBC News: Ultra-Processed Foods Linked To Increased Risk Of Precancerous Polyps, Study Finds
Eating more ultra-processed foods is tied to an increased risk of precancerous colorectal growths in women under 50, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology. These growths, called adenomas or polyps, can later turn into cancer and are a good indicator of a person’s cancer risk, experts say. (Sullivan, 11/13)

MedPage Today: Key HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Therapy Gets Its First Biosimilar
The FDA approved pertuzumab-dpzb (Poherdy) as the first biosimilar for its reference product Perjeta, a monoclonal antibody commonly used in standard regimens for HER2-positive breast cancer. FDA granted the targeted agent an interchangeable status as well, allowing for pharmacy-level substitutions. (Bassett, 11/13)

REPRODUCTIVE AND INFANT HEALTH

The New York Times: Infant Formula Company Tied To Botulism Outbreak Had Known Problems
ByHeart, the company linked to a botulism outbreak in infants, shut down one of its manufacturing plants this year after federal investigators found a series of safety violations, including a leaking roof and hundreds of dead bugs where infant formula was produced. Inspection reports by the Food and Drug Administration detailed significant problems at the company’s site in Reading, Pa. Although the reports did not involve the plants that made the formula recalled in the botulism outbreak, food experts say the findings raise concerns about the company’s safety record. (Jewett and Creswell, 11/13)

MedPage Today: Dads' Valproate Use May Raise Red Flags For Kids' Neurodevelopment
Children whose dads took valproate up to 3 months before conception were more likely to have neurodevelopmental disorders, data from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden showed. Compared with children whose fathers took lamotrigine or levetiracetam, kids with fathers exposed to valproate had a higher risk of a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis up to age 12 years ... reported Sandrine Colas, MPH, PhD, of Sanofi in Gentilly, France, and co-authors. (George, 11/13)

Katie Couric Media: Menopause Newsflash: There’s a New Non-Hormonal Hot Flash Medication
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes. Lynkuet is a daily pill that relieves this common menopause symptom by manipulating the body’s internal thermostat. The medication, which is known generically as elinzanetant, is produced by Bayer, and is the second drug of its kind to be greenlit by the FDA. It was cleared after three randomized clinical trials showed it significantly reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes, which about 75 percent of women experience during the menopausal transition. (11/12)

The Wall Street Journal: A Couple Wagers Time, Hope And $300,000 On A Quest For Children
Lisa Cast wondered if it was time to abandon her dream of giving birth. She and her spouse, Michelle Cast, had exhausted their fertility healthcare benefits and gone into debt for fertility treatments they say surpassed $300,000. Finances weighed on the couple, and, at age 42, Lisa faced long odds that worsened as time passed. (Dockser Marcus, 11/13)

The New York Times: Sharon Camp, Mother Of The ‘Plan B’ Contraceptive Pill, Dies At 81
Sharon Camp, a public policy expert and advocate for women’s reproductive health who was known as the mother of Plan B, the emergency contraceptive pill, and who founded what was surely one of the world’s smallest pharmaceutical companies to bring it to market, died on Oct. 25 in La Plata, Md. She was 81. Talcott Camp, a cousin, confirmed the death, in a rehabilitation facility, but did not specify a cause. (Green, 11/14)

STATE WATCH

North Carolina Health News: Parents Win Pause On NC Medicaid Cuts 
The parents of more than 20 children with autism notched a recent victory in a lawsuit that accused the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services of discrimination after it slashed Medicaid reimbursement rates for certain behavioral health providers. (Baxley, 11/14)

Modern Healthcare: State Medicaid Programs Predict 2026 Enrollment, Funding Trends
As state Medicaid agencies brace for major enrollment changes and funding cuts in the coming years, spending growth is expected to slow and enrollment to stagnate in 2026. Impending financial constraints from the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” and rising care costs are putting considerable pressure on state Medicaid agencies, according to an annual report from the health policy research and news institution KFF and the consulting firm Health Management Associates. While many of the impacts won’t occur until 2027, states are already making budget changes. (Early, 11/13)

AP: Oklahoma Ammonia Gas Leak Sends Dozens To Hospitals And Forces Evacuations
A leaking tanker truck spewed dangerous ammonia gas outside a hotel overnight, filling its hallways with fumes and forcing hundreds of nearby residents of a small Oklahoma city to evacuate, authorities said Thursday. Several dozen people were treated at hospitals. Officials lifted a shelter-in-place order Thursday morning, hours after firefighters wearing gas masks went door to door in Weatherford, waking people up and telling them to leave because of the anhydrous ammonia leak. (Brunt, McCormack and Brumfield, 11/14)

Bloomberg: Nike Ends Perk That Gave Employees A Week Off For Wellness
Nike Inc. has ended an initiative that gave employees an extra week off each year to promote mental health and wellness. Nike’s annual “Wellness Week,” which started in 2021, had been held each August, with the world’s largest sportswear company powering down its corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, to give staff more time to unwind. (Bhasin, 11/13)

AP: Ailing Civil Rights Icon Jesse Jackson Hospitalized For Rare Neurological Disorder
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has been receiving around-the-clock care at home, has been hospitalized with a rare neurological disorder, according to his Chicago-based organization. The civil rights leader was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about a decade ago. But his Rainbow/PUSH organization said Thursday that the 84-year-old remained under observation at a Chicago hospital for progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP, a neurodegenerative disorder he has been “managing for more than a decade” and received a diagnosis for in April. He was reported in stable condition. (Tareen, 11/14)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

CIDRAP: New Jersey Man's Death First One To Be Tied To Tick-Related Meat Allergy
A previously healthy New Jersey man has been identified by an allergist at the University of Virginia (UVA) and his coauthors as suffering the first documented fatality from alpha-gal syndrome, a meat allergy triggered by tick bites. The case study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Practice yesterday. The allergy is caused by the bite of the lone star tick, which can sensitize people to alpha-gal, a sugar found in mammalian meat, including beef, lamb, and pork. (Soucheray, 11/13)

AP: Washington State Reports First Human Bird Flu Case Since February
Health officials in Washington state say they have identified the nation’s first human case of bird flu since February, pending confirmatory testing. A Grays Harbor County, Washington, resident preliminarily tested positive for the infection, the Washington State Department of Health said Thursday. Health officials say they’re still investigating the source of the infection, including contact with wild or domestic birds. The patient is an older adult with underlying health conditions, state health officials said. (Shastri, 11/13)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

Fox News: Researchers Develop New Tool To Predict Alzheimer's Risk Before Symptoms Arise
A team of Mayo Clinic scientists have created a way to estimate a person’s risk of developing memory and thinking problems long before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease begin, potentially changing how the disease is detected and treated in the future. The research, published in The Lancet Neurology, draws on decades of data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, a long-running effort that tracks thousands of residents over time, according to a press release. (Quill, 11/13)

The Washington Post: Listening To Music Is Linked To Lower Dementia Risk, Study Suggests 
Regularly listening to music is linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study. In the study, published in October, researchers looked at data spanning a decade and involving more than 10,000 relatively healthy people, aged 70 and older, in Australia. People who listened to music most days slashed their risk of developing dementia by 39 percent compared with those who did not regularly listen to music, the study found. (Penman, 11/13)

WUSF: Gout Is More Related To Genetics Than Lifestyle, Study Shows 
Forget what you think you know about gout. Gout is a common form of arthritis that can cause sudden bouts of pain, strong enough to wake someone from a deep sleep. It causes inflammation, redness and tenderness in one or more joints and is caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood. (Levesque, 11/14)

GLOBAL WATCH