Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Pledges $90 Payments To 20M Americans On Medicare
Bloomberg: Trump Offering $90 Payments To 20 Million Medicare Recipients
President Donald Trump said his administration would soon send checks of “nearly $100” to more than 20 million older Americans to “help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums.” The president, who made the announcement in a post on Truth Social late Friday, said the money would come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, established in 2008 to enhance the original Medicare health insurance program. (Harney, 10/3)
Politico: Republicans Tried To Punt Health Care Cuts Until After The Midterms. It Didn’t Work
The political bill for Republicans’ health care agenda is coming due earlier than they’d hoped. Republicans’ signature legislation from Trump 2.0 — 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — ensured that its tax cuts were immediate while its controversial cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs wouldn’t take effect until after the midterm elections. (Ollstein, 10/3)
On Head Start changes and the immigration crackdown —
AP: Some Head Start Preschools Could Suspend, Expel Kids Under Trump Plan
It was sometime around Xavier Rogers’ second birthday that his mom and Early Head Start teachers noticed a shift in his demeanor. Xavier, usually a happy baby, now mostly wanted to play alone and would sometimes bite and hit other kids in his class. Instead of removing Xavier from his class, his Chicago-area preschool gave the family extra support from a social-emotional and mental healthcare team. (Geduld, 10/5)
The Hill: Advocates Fight Proposed Trump Head Start Changes
The Trump administration is moving ahead with big changes to Head Start — the federal early childhood education program that serves low-income families — to the outcry of advocates who say the proposals will limit access to the program, which currently serves 700,000 students. Interested parties have until Tuesday to submit their thoughts to the federal government on how the changes would affect the 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide. The government says it will then review the public’s comments and decide how to move forward with the proposal. (Lonas Cochran, 10/3)
KFF Health News: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Divides Rural Voters, KFF-AP Poll Finds
More than a year into President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, a poll finds that voters in rural parts of the country are divided on whether those immigration policies have benefited or harmed their communities. In the Associated Press-KFF survey of more than 2,000 rural voters in August, about a third said the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement had been positive for their community and about a third said it had been negative. The remaining 3 in 10, roughly, said it had no impact. (Sanders, Tribble, Swenson and Hussein, 10/5)
On the MAHA movement —
Politico: RFK Jr.’s Movement Is In Disarray
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement is turning on its leader. Not RFK Jr. Rather, Tony Lyons, the Kennedy friend and book publisher who is the president of a web of MAHA nonprofits and political groups. Supporters of Kennedy’s message, that food and pharma companies have conspired with bureaucrats to poison Americans for profit, say Lyons is selling out to business interests who want Kennedy’s ear now that he’s President Donald Trump’s health secretary. Ignoring the grassroots could cost Republicans running in the midterm elections who need it energized, they say. (Chu, 10/4)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘On Air’: Journalists Evaluate Rural Voter Sentiment, MAHA Movement, And Gene-Editing Finding
KFF Health News chief rural correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble discussed the findings of a KFF-Associated Press poll about rural support for the Make America Healthy Again movement on NPR’s Morning Edition on Sept. 30. (10/3)
In governmental news on psychedelics, kratom, and peptides —
The Hill: Psychedelics Move Toward Medical Legitimacy Under Trump Administration, MAHA Influence
The Trump administration, under the influence of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, is exploring the potential use of psychedelic substances in medicine — once a fringe topic that is now being heavily researched and invested in. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public hearing in September in which over 200 people requested to comment on the potential uses of psychedelic drugs, with substances like psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca and ibogaine discussed. (Choi, 10/3)
The Hill: Sen. Chuck Grassley Calls For Trump Admin To Ban Kratom Sales Immediately
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday called on the Trump administration to finalize its proposed rule limiting the sale of kratom, a plant with opioid-like properties that can be bought over the counter. “All Kratom is deadly it should NOT be sold at gas stations/vape stores/ANYWHERE Admin needs 2 put out final 7OH rule NOW Kratom is killing our kids BEWARE of special interest snake oil,” Grassley said on the social media platform X. (Choi, 10/2)
Military.com: Bill Calls For Veterans Affairs Peptide Study. Critics Label Effort A 'Joke'
A congressional lawmaker has taken a step toward veterans, military service personnel and first responders achieving government-approved access to controversial peptide therapies. Not everyone is on board. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who is leaving Congress after this current term, recently introduced the Providing Evidence-based Peptide Therapies to Improve Delivery and Expanded Services for Veterans Act, or Peptides for Veterans Act, which would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to officially start the research. (Dennis, 10/5)
On foreign aid cuts —
The Guardian: Shortages Of Crucial HIV Medicines Due To Aid Cuts Are A ‘Warning’, Say Experts
Aid cuts have affected HIV drug and test supplies across the world, with some providers reporting they are out of stock of key medicines, according to a survey of 40 countries. Organisations providing HIV care revealed that more than half (55%) had run out of stock within the past year, with a critical scarcity of HIV tests and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – a prescription medicine that people take to reduce the risk of getting HIV. (Johnson, 10/5)
