First Edition: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: This HIV Expert Refused To Censor Data, Then Quit The CDC
John Weiser, a doctor and researcher, has treated people with HIV since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. He joined the CDC’s HIV prevention team in 2011 to help lead its Medical Monitoring Project, the only in-depth survey of HIV across the United States. The project has shaped the country’s response to the epidemic over two decades, but the Trump administration censored last year’s findings and stopped funding it. (Maxmen, 12/10)

KFF Health News: Plan-Switching, Sign-Up Impersonations: Obamacare Enrollment Fraud Persists 
Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. Now the 52-year-old is struggling with his health problems while facing large premium bills he says he shouldn’t owe. The third time, he sought help from an insurance agent, who got Jones on the phone with the federal healthcare.gov call center to sort things out. During that call, “literally, there was someone opening a new policy without my consent,” Jones said. (Appleby, 12/10)

KFF Health News: How Delays And Bankruptcy Let A Nursing Home Chain Avoid Paying Settlements For Injuries And Deaths
Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit. Hunt died five days later. Her death certificate said the foot injury was a “significant” factor. Genesis denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay $3.5 million in a settlement Hunt’s son signed in August 2024. (Rau, 12/9)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Zach Dyer reads the week’s news: Immigration enforcement personnel are showing up in hospitals, and road-safety advocates worry regulations aren’t keeping up with the popularity of e-bikes. (Cook, 12/9)

INFANT HEALTH

CIDRAP: Doctor Groups Form United Front Against RFK Jr’s Efforts To Limit Vaccine Access
Children will die if proposed changes to federal vaccine policy take effect, doctors warned today during a joint press conference with representatives from six leading health organizations. Experts were responding to a vote by members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—all handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—to limit the use of hepatitis B vaccines in newborns, in spite of evidence that the shots prevent cancer and save lives. (Szabo, 12/9)

NBC News: FDA Launches Safety Review Of Two RSV Drugs For Infants As RFK Jr. Scrutinizes Immunizations
The Food and Drug Administration has launched a safety review of two approved RSV drugs for infants, the latest immunizations to face scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. No safety issues have been reported with either of the respiratory syncytial virus drugs: Beyfortus, from Sanofi and AstraZeneca, and Enflonsia, from Merck. (Lovelace Jr., 12/9)

MedPage Today: Number Of Hospitals Equipped To Handle Pediatric Cases On The Decline
The number of U.S. hospitals equipped to handle pediatric cases fell over two decades, data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids' Inpatient Database showed. From 2003 to 2022, the proportion of hospitals with the broadest range of pediatric services (level 1) decreased by 38%, while the proportion of hospitals with the lowest pediatric capability (level 4) increased by 137%, reported Kenneth Michelson, MD, MPH, of the Ann & Robert Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, and colleagues in Pediatrics. (Henderson, 12/10)

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

AP: Dueling Partisan Votes On Health Care Are Both Likely To Fail
The Senate is heading toward dueling partisan votes on health care this week after Republicans said Tuesday that they had united around a plan, for now, that would allow COVID-era health care subsidies to expire. Both the Republican plan, which would replace the subsidies with new savings accounts, and a Democratic bill to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years lack the bipartisan support needed for passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Democratic legislation does not include enough reforms to curb fraud or limit high-income recipients. That legislation “will fail,” Thune said. (Jalonick and Swenson, 12/10)

Politico: GOP Moves To Let Obamacare Subsidies Expire As Trump Promises ‘Money To The People’
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are moving decisively away from extending key Obamacare tax credits that help more than 20 million Americans pay for health insurance — following direct cues from President Donald Trump while also stoking ire among many in the GOP who fear severe political repercussions. (Lee Hill and Guggenheim, 12/9)

Newsweek: IRS Issues Advice On Tax-Free Health Care Boost For Millions
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued new guidance on expanding Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility, delivering a tax-free means for millions more Americans to save and pay for health care costs. The update, prompted by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), marks a major shift for consumers who rely on high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), direct primary care arrangements, and, for the first time, those enrolled in Bronze and Catastrophic plans offered on or outside Insurance Exchanges. (Stevenson, 12/10)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Stat: Solicitor General Urges SCOTUS To Hear Case On Generic Drug Labels
In a closely watched case, the U.S. solicitor general has urged the Supreme Court to review a controversy over so-called skinny labels for medicines, arguing that an appeals court finding threatens the availability of lower-cost generic drugs. (Silverman, 12/9)

AP: EPA Alters Site To Erase Fossil Fuels As Climate Change Cause
The Environmental Protection Agency has removed any mention of fossil fuels — the main driver of global warming — from its popular online page explaining the causes of climate change. Now it only mentions natural phenomena, even though scientists calculate that nearly all of the warming is due to human activity. Sometime in the past few days or weeks, EPA altered some but not all of its climate change webpages, de-emphasizing and even deleting references to the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, which scientists say is the overwhelming cause of climate change. (Borenstein, 12/9)

The Washington Post: Justice Dept. Kills Long-Time Tool Used To Prove Racial Discrimination
After years of conservative complaints, the Justice Department moved Tuesday to kill a decades-old provision of civil rights law that allows statistical disparities to be used as proof of racial discrimination. The new regulations reinterpret a key plank of the Civil Rights Act and were issued without an opportunity for public comment, which is unusual for major regulatory action. The rules are final and will take effect Wednesday. While they apply only to Justice Department programs, the administration has made clear that it plans similar regulatory rollbacks across the government. (Meckler, 12/9)

Stat: To Fight Chronic Disease, MAHA Could Look To Slovenia For Tips 
In the U.S., the Trump administration, driven by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has elevated the issue of chronic diseases to never-before-seen political salience. Prioritizing these ailments could improve the nation’s health and kick-start its stubborn life expectancy rates, Kennedy preaches. Here in Slovenia, that approach would be old news. (Joseph, 12/10)

PRESIDENTIAL HEALTH

Bloomberg: Trump Says He ‘Aced’ A Third Cognitive Exam Taken Recently
President Donald Trump said he had recently “aced” a third cognitive exam as he looked to bat down questions about his age and acuity. Trump, in a social media post Tuesday night, said that in addition to a battery of “long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations” he had “on three separate occasions, the last one being recently” taken a cognitive examination. “I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know,” Trump said. (Sink, 12/10)

LGBTQ+ HEALTH

The Hill: HHS Changes Adm. Rachel Levine's Name On Official Portrait
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed the name of former Adm. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who served as the agency’s assistant secretary under former President Biden, to her birth name, or “dead name,” on her official portrait. HHS confirmed on X Tuesday that the department changed the name during the government shutdown, saying that they wanted to depict “biological reality.” (Anderson, 12/9)

AP: Georgia's Prison System Must Continue Hormone Therapy For Transgender Prisoners, Judge Rules
A federal judge has permanently ordered Georgia’s prison system to keep providing some kinds of gender-affirming care for transgender prisoners, although the state plans to appeal. U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert last week ruled that a new state law denying hormone therapy to inmates violated their protection against cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She ordered the state to keep providing hormones to inmates who had been receiving therapy and to allow others medically diagnosed as needing hormone therapy to begin receiving treatment. (Amy, 12/9)

Undark: Can Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Affect Gender Identity?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was running for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination when he sat for an interview with Jordan B. Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist, during his eponymous podcast. About an hour into the conversation, which published in June 2023, Kennedy pivoted from answering a question about climate change to bringing up a very different subject: He stated that a lot of the sexual dysphoria seen in children, particularly in boys, “is coming from chemical exposures.” (Schmidt, 12/10)

ABORTION

The Washington Post: More Women Accessing Abortion Pills Online Despite Red State Efforts
The percentage of medication abortions arranged via telehealth grew again in the first half of 2025, according to a report released Tuesday, despite Republican efforts to keep doctors in blue states from prescribing pills to women in states where abortion is illegal. Twenty-seven percent of the nearly 592,000 abortions provided from January to June relied on clinicians prescribing and mailing pills to patients seeking care remotely, according to the report by #WeCount, a project from the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion rights. The number, up from 25 percent at the end of 2024, comes as Republicans file lawsuits and enact legislation to try to curtail pill access. (Somasundaram, 12/9)

Rewire News Group: After Abortion, Some People Report Worsening Mental Health. Experts Say It's Not About Regret.
When Melanie walked out of the abortion clinic in her city, it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. The 32-year-old, who is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, had a procedural abortion at 10 weeks of gestation after unintentionally getting pregnant with her then-partner. (Santilli, 12/9)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Fierce Healthcare: Over 100 Provider Groups Tell HHS To Pull Proposed HIPAA Update
More than 100 health systems and other provider organizations “have united to oppose” cybersecurity and privacy regulations proposed back in January. The groups, corralled by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, wrote the Department of Health and Human Services this week, warning that the financial burdens and “unreasonable implementation timelines” outlined by the prior administration run counter to President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda. (Muoio, 12/9)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Unprepared For 340B Rebate Model, PBM Shifts: Survey
Pharmacy leaders from many health systems say their organizations are not prepared for potential changes to the 340B drug pricing program, new pharmacy benefit management models or a looming surge in uncompensated care costs. Roughly 60% of 298 pharmacy leaders surveyed this year said by 2030, they expect all drugmakers to require a rebate-based model for 340B-covered facilities, according to a Tuesday report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (Kacik and Broderick, 12/9)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Changes Leave Insurers Split
Health insurance companies spent two years getting ready for a new Medicare Advantage quality metric intended to tackle health disparities. Then the government pulled the plug. The Excellent Health Outcomes for All measure — also known as EHO4All and formerly known as the health equity index — likely won’t be part of the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings program in 2027 after all, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid proposed in a draft regulation last month. (Tepper, 12/9)

Spotlight on Maryland: ‘Public Health Crisis:’ Senior Care Experts Warn Of Dangerous, Unlicensed Facilities
Several experts in senior care say that Maryland officials need to take action to prevent a dangerous underground network of unlicensed assisted living facilities from expanding. (Hauf, 12/9)

Modern Healthcare: UCare May Be Taken Over By Minnesota Before Medica Acquisition
Minnesota insurance regulators are pressing a state judge to let them seize control of troubled health insurance company UCare. UCare is scheduled to shut down next year after a rival health insurance company Medica acquires its final insurance business. The deal is projected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. (Tepper, 12/9)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland School Approved To Start Training More Doctors To Address Growing Shortage
The University of Maryland School of Medicine may increase its class size from 175 to 200 per year by the fall of 2031. The move was approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the organization that accredits medical schools in the United States and Canada. (Hille, 12/9)

Wyoming Public Radio: Rural Wyoming Clinical Experiences Hold Promise For Healthcare Workforce 
Dr. Mattson Mathew and Celeste Keelin huddled around a laptop in an examination room. Mathew asked Keelin about the patient she saw this morning. “Just looking at her x-ray here, was there any additional workup done in the emergency room that kind of pushed the team in the direction to think [it’s] croup?” Mathew asked. (Kudelska, 12/9)

Chicago Tribune: Couple Donates $11 Million To Lurie Children's Hospital
A couple with deep ties to the Chicago area is donating $11 million to Lurie Children’s Hospital in hopes of speeding research, treatment and diagnosis for children with rare and genetic disorders. (Schencker, 12/10)

Modern Healthcare: How Catholic Health, ECU Are Investing In Patient Experience Tech
Health systems are finding that improving the patient experience at their hospitals goes far beyond better food in the cafeteria and cute stuffed animals in the gift shop. Significant investments into a tech-enabled patient experience are taking place, even as health systems deal with tightening margins. The top priority of nearly 50% of C-suite health system executives was improving how patients interact with their organizations, up from 36% in 2023, according to a recent survey of 101 executives by advisory firm Sage Growth Partners. (Perna, 12/9)

STATE WATCH

CNBC: Eli Lilly To Build $6 Billion Alabama Manufacturing Plant
Eli Lilly on Tuesday said it will spend $6 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, to help boost production of its closely watched experimental obesity pill and other drugs. (Constantino, 12/9)

Chicago Tribune: Bill Could Inspire More Illinois Therapists To Take Insurance
Carey Carlock never imagined she’d have so much trouble finding a therapist for her teenage child. She was a hospital CEO, on the board of a prominent local mental health organization and well connected. Yet the Oak Park mother couldn’t locate a therapist in her community who took her health insurance. (Schencker, 12/9)

ABC News: 14 Cases Of Legionnaires' Disease Reported In Florida
At least 14 cases of Legionnaires' disease have been reported in central Florida. In an email to state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, the Florida Department of Health revealed the outbreak is linked to a gym, reported ABC News affiliate WFTV. The letter from the department did not list the name of the gym, but WFTV previously reported that a Crunch Fitness in Ocoee -- 12 miles west of Orlando -- had members reporting cases of Legionnaires' disease. (Kekatos, 12/10)

CNN: A Healthy Man Suffers A Stroke And Permanent Damage After Consuming Numerous Energy Drinks 
He was healthy and fit at 54, an avid runner with no vices — he didn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. So when he suddenly experienced left-sided weakness, numbness and difficulties with balance, walking, swallowing and speech, a family member rushed him to a nearby stroke clinic. (LaMotte, 12/9)

GLOBAL WATCH

Axios: What To Know About The Surprising MERS Coronavirus Cases Discovered In France
Two cases of the MERS coronavirus were identified in France this month, a surprising development for a virus typically confined to the Arabian Peninsula. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which can cause a litany of symptoms and even death, hasn't been a major concern since early in the pandemic with the arrival of the novel coronavirus. (Scribner, 12/9)

Bloomberg: World Watches First Teen Social Media Ban Kick Off In Australia
Australia’s social media ban for youths took effect Wednesday, a landmark move that’s drawn global attention at a time governments are increasingly enacting rules to shield minors from toxic content and cyberbullying. ... Australia becomes the world’s first democracy to undertake such a crackdown in response to growing concerns about social media’s harms. (Purnell and Said, 12/10)

The Washington Post: These Surgeons Want To Treat Patients. A Visa Ban Is Stopping Them
A diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and the Central African nation of Chad is preventing two American doctors from delivering life-changing care. (12/10)