Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Friday, Aug. 28, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: High Fertility Costs Push Americans Abroad For IVF Treatment
In the summer of 2024, Emilie and Justin Solomon found themselves on a top-secret mission in Greece. Their family and friends thought the adventure-loving couple was on another jet-setting vacation, but they were keeping something else under wraps: They had turned off their phone locations to hide visits to a Greek clinic where they were trying to get pregnant. (Dawson, 8/28)
KFF Health News: Trump And Kennedy’s Health Industry Deals Haven’t Been Enforced And Are At Risk Of Vanishing
In the thick of his competitive reelection race in Michigan, Republican Rep. Tom Barrett joined Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a sprawling 400-acre apple orchard, farm, and winery. They touted Trump administration efforts to improve the American diet, including the removal of some artificial dyes from processed foods. “We had a great discussion about healthy options for all Americans and taking back control of our healthcare,” Barrett said in a June Instagram post, after sampling the farm’s apple cider. (Armour, 8/28)
KFF Health News: Why Older Pedestrians Fare Worse In Car Crashes
On an August morning two years ago, Meredith Melville was crossing Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, California, to meet a friend at a cafe. While in the crosswalk, she noticed a car some distance away. Perhaps she misjudged its speed, she said, because she’d walked only partway across the street when the car, a Toyota sedan, came bearing down on her. (Span, 8/28)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Summer’s Health Policy Themes
Summer may be approaching its end, but the health policy stories that have marked the season continue. In Washington and across the country, public health officials are still struggling with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, while states and health systems are preparing for the impact of major federal funding cuts to their Medicaid programs. (Rovner, 8/27)
COVID
The New York Times: F.D.A. Approves New Covid Vaccines, And They Should Be Available Soon
The Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid vaccines on Thursday, clearing the way for manufacturers to ship doses to pharmacies and doctors’ offices. Moderna and Pfizer, which make the most commonly used Covid vaccines, are expected to begin shipping soon; Pfizer said it would do so “immediately,” and Moderna has done so within days of approval in past years. Sanofi, which distributes a non-mRNA option called Nuvaxovid (commonly known as Novavax), said doses would be available in the coming days, with the timing varying by location. ... The updated vaccines target the XFG variant of Covid, as an F.D.A. committee recommended this spring. That should be a good match for the virus that is circulating, said Dr. Ian Mellis, an assistant professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University. XFG is the most common variant in North America as of late August. (Astor, 8/27)
MEASLES
Bloomberg: CDC Joins RFK Jr. In Questioning Measles Deaths In Pennsylvania
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cast doubt on Pennsylvania officials’ statements about two recent measles-related deaths, intensifying a dispute between the Trump administration and the state over the disease outbreak. In a social media post, the top US public health agency said Governor Josh Shapiro has rejected help from the agency and declined to provide more information on the deaths. The CDC also thanked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for raising questions about whether the two people had actually died from measles. (Nix, 8/27)
Politico: Shapiro Won’t Say Who Died Of Measles. RFK Jr. Is Exploiting It
The death of two Pennsylvanians with measles has sparked a social media row between the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The dispute has also reprised a Covid 19-era debate: How much does it matter whether someone died from a disease or just died with a disease? Pennsylvania health authorities strongly implied that the two died from measles in announcing their deaths Tuesday but also left some wiggle room in describing the deaths as “measles-associated.” (Paun, 8/27)
NBC News: Coroner Says Baby With Measles In Pennsylvania Died Of A Ruptured Spleen
After the Pennsylvania Health Department announced Wednesday that one of the two people whose deaths in the state were associated with measles was an infant, the coroner involved in the case has said he does not consider measles to be the cause of death. The Lancaster County coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said in an interview Wednesday evening that the baby died shortly after birth from an internal hemorrhage and “traumatic rupture” of the spleen. He said he found evidence of the measles virus in the infant’s lung tissue. (Mayk, Bendix and Edwards, 8/27)
AP: Exclusive: RFK Jr. Said A Samoa Trip Had Nothing To Do With Vaccines. New Documents Refute That
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation last year that a 2019 visit to Samoa before a deadly measles outbreak had “nothing to do with vaccines.” New documents obtained by The Associated Press and The Guardian refute that testimony. Kennedy, then a prominent anti-vaccine activist, preceded the visit with a letter to the Samoan prime minister requesting to study the Pacific island nation’s measles, mumps and rubella vaccines after the deaths of two children who had received them. In the letter, he used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times. (Swenson, 8/27)
AUTISM
Stat: Vaccines Take Center Stage At Federal Autism Advisory Committee Meeting
Vaccines took center stage at the federal autism advisory committee meeting Thursday, as committee members explicitly pointed to vaccines as a potential cause of autism, even though the link has been routinely debunked. (Broderick, 8/28)
CNN: Largest Ever ‘Map’ Of Autism May Hold Clues For New Targeted Therapies
Scientists are getting a step closer to understanding exactly how autism develops in the brain – and what might work to treat it. (Howard, 8/27)
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Gets $46M Autism Grant From Sergey Brin-Backed Foundation
UCSF has received a $46 million grant from a foundation backed by Google cofounder Sergey Brin to advance autism research and potential therapies, one of the largest single grants the university has gotten for basic research. The award comes from Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA), an initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, and goes to Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), a research unit within UCSF. (Ho, 8/27)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
MedPage Today: 'Transformation' Project Underway At CDC
The CDC has launched a new "enterprise transformation project" called CDC Voyager that's left employees wondering exactly what it will mean for the agency's future. Sean Slovenski, CDC's principal deputy director and chief operating officer, announced the project in an email late last week, after new director Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, was sworn in. (Fiore, 8/27)
Modern Healthcare: HHS Health At Home Challenge Aims To Boost Community Care Hubs
The Health and Human Services Department is pushing the collaboration of health systems and insurers with community service organizations to drive down healthcare costs. The department launched the Health at Home Challenge last spring. The $6 million, two-year initiative is aimed at bolstering community care hubs that connect providers and insurers to smaller community groups offering nonmedical services. The collaborations could help keep dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries and at-risk Medicare beneficiaries healthy and out of the hospital. (Eastabrook, 8/27)
The Hill: New Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's Title X Plan To Restrict Family Planning Grants
A coalition of states sued the Trump administration Thursday to block changes to a family planning grant program that it alleges would strip federal funding from states and providers unless they align with the administration’s political views and priorities. The lawsuit by officials from 23 states, filed in Maryland federal court, argues that new conditions on Title X funding will unlawfully penalize states and providers that offer gender-affirming care or refuse to adhere to the administration’s ideology on contraception. (Weixel, 8/27)
WUSF: Healthy School Lunches To Cost More Than Trump Grants Offer
After cutting more than $660 million last year from programs to get locally grown food into school lunchrooms, the Trump administration is announcing a series of smaller grants to improve healthy options in schools. But some district leaders say it’s nowhere near enough. (Sheridan, 8/28)
Stat: Cassidy Abortion Pill Criticism Raises Temperature For FDA Nominee
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) released a report on Thursday criticizing the Food and Drug Administration for not tightening restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, and charging the agency with lackluster oversight of the companies that manufacture the drug. (Manto, 8/27)
Bloomberg: Harvard, MIT Scholars Head North As Carney Offers Millions
Canada has awarded 64 global scholars with C$504 million ($362 million) in funding to relocate their work to Canadian universities and advance projects in areas such as health and artificial intelligence. Some 48 of the researchers were poached from the US, including from elite institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other 16 researchers are coming from 12 other countries, including the UK, Germany, China and Japan. ... Canada’s effort to lure top research talent contrasts with recent US federal funding cuts that, combined with tightening immigration policies and clashes between the Trump administration and top-tier universities, have led some scholars to look for opportunities elsewhere. (Mallees, 8/27)
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
ProPublica: Listen To 911 Calls From Inside An Immigration Detention Center
The first emergency call about a detainee trying to harm himself came about a month after Camp East Montana — an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas — started to house immigrants. It was 2:50 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12. “We have a patient currently in holding who is saying he’s got suicidal ideations, swallowed some foreign object, has refused our basic medical care here,” a nurse told the operator. In the audio, you can hear that someone is moaning and yelling in the background. (Trevizo, 8/28)
MEDICARE
The Hill: Federal Court Rejects PhRMA Challenge To Medicare Drug Price Negotiation
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled against a lawsuit filed by representatives of the pharmaceutical industry challenging the federal Medicare drug price negotiation program, finding that drugmakers are not entitled to sell their products to Medicare at a price they would prefer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit affirmed a prior ruling granting summary judgment against the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade group representing the pharmaceutical industry. (Choi, 8/27)
The Hill: South Carolina Democrat Annie Andrews Dismisses 'Medicare For All' Policy
South Carolina Senate Democratic nominee Annie Andrews on Wednesday dismissed “Medicare for All” as an outdated policy as she seeks to become the first Democrat to win a statewide race in the Palmetto State in more than 25 years. “Medicare for All is a policy from a few decades ago,” Andrews, a physician, told host Leland Vittert on NewsNation’s “On Balance.” She added, “I’m a pragmatic person. When you work as a physician, you have to be a problem solver. You roll up your sleeves, you solve the problem in front of you, you work with whoever you need to work with, you don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” (Rego, 8/27)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
AP: Cyclospora Outbreak Tied To Lettuce Now Involves 20 US States
Parasitic illness cases linked to recalled iceberg lettuce have now been confirmed in 20 states, federal health officials said Thursday, expanding the scope of the largest outbreak of its kind in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration said government scientists have now identified cases in three additional states: Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. (Perrone, 8/27)
Bloomberg: Fruit, Vegetable Sales Drop As Parasite Outbreak Shakes Consumer Confidence
A major produce lobby group asked US health officials to change how they communicate about a parasite outbreak that’s sickened thousands, citing battered consumer confidence and sagging sales of fruit and vegetables. The International Fresh Produce Association asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to be more precise about which foods are unsafe to eat and urge Americans to keep eating fresh fruits and vegetables, the group said in an Aug. 10 letter viewed by Bloomberg News. (Nix, 8/27)
CIDRAP: CDC, FDA End Investigation Into Listeria Outbreak, Begin Looking Into New Salmonella Cluster
As the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) end their investigation into the June Listeria outbreak tied to soft cheese, the FDA is reporting a new outbreak, this one involving Salmonella from an unidentified food source. The CDC has also released updated case counts for several smaller Cyclospora outbreaks. (Van Beusekom, 8/27)
CIDRAP: USDA Confirms New H5N1 Avian Flu Cases In Poultry, Dairy Cattle
After nearly 30 days with no updates, the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) this week posted several recent H5N1 avian flu detections in both commercial poultry and dairy cattle. In the past 30 days there have been three confirmed detections in dairy cows, with Texas reporting two affected herds and Utah reporting a single detection. (Soucheray, 8/27)
Bloomberg: Ebola Infections In Congo Likely Underreported, Fatality Rate Climbs To 48%
The Ebola epidemic sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo may be three times larger than official figures indicate, Africa’s top public-health agency said, suggesting thousands of infections are going undetected as authorities struggle to track transmission. Congo has officially recorded 5,713 confirmed infections and 2,744 deaths through Aug. 25. An outbreak three times that size would imply about 17,100 infections. The confirmed case-fatality ratio has climbed to 48% from 27% two months earlier. (Gale, Ambaye and Kew, 8/27)
CIDRAP: Ebola Outbreak Officially Ends In Uganda As CEPI Announces New Vaccine Candidate
The Ebola outbreak in Uganda is over now that 42 days have passed without a new confirmed case since the country’s last patient, who contracted the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was discharged from care on July 16. In total, the country had 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. The news comes as funding for a new candidate vaccine is announced. (Soucheray, 8/27)
MENTAL HEALTH
NOTUS: Wife Of USS Lincoln Sailor Says He’s Facing Discipline For Apparent Suicide Attempt
A Navy sailor who jumped overboard in an apparent suicide attempt while serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln is facing disciplinary action, the service member’s wife told MS NOW Wednesday. The wife, who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity, said the service member was accused of violating two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The sailor jumped overboard on Aug. 3 and had been repeatedly denied requests for paternity leave, his wife said. (Orellana Hernandez, 8/27)
The Trace: Murder-Suicide Among Older Americans Appears To Be Rising
A day after New Year’s, 2025, a 91-year-old man fatally shot his 89-year-old wife in their house in Camarillo, California. He called the police to confess before killing himself. “They were inseparable for the 64 years they were together,” according to the couple’s joint obituary. (Mascia and Brownlee, 8/27)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
AP: Damaged By Hurricane Katrina Decades Ago, Iconic New Orleans Hospital To Get A Makeover
In the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital in New Orleans became a scene of heartbreak and heroism, with doctors scrambling to keep patients alive without power or functioning medical equipment while floodwaters trapped them inside its darkened halls for days on end. The massive hospital, a New Orleans landmark that long cared for the city’s most vulnerable residents, was shuttered after the last patients and staff were rescued in 2005. Now, as Louisiana marks the storm’s 21st anniversary Saturday, the long-vacant storm-damaged building is on the brink of new life. (Brook, 8/28)
Modern Healthcare: Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital To Add $440M New Tower
Corewell Health is investing $440 million to build a new hospital tower as an addition to its Troy hospital. The project includes an eight-story, 423,000-square-foot tower that includes 180 private rooms and a new emergency department waiting room at Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital. The expansion, which was first reported in October, will add 180 beds to the new tower, pushing the hospital to a total of 654 beds. (Walsh, 8/27)
Modern Healthcare: Villages Health System To Pay $541.5M In DOJ Settlement
The Villages Health System has agreed to pay $541.5 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act. The provider was acquired by Humana’s CenterWell Senior Primary Care in November 2025. The previous December, Villages Health self-reported to the government it had submitted invalid diagnosis codes to Medicare Advantage organizations, leading to higher payments for patient care, the Justice Department said in a news release Wednesday. The provider in January 2025 notified the affected insurers of the discrepancy, including Humana. (DeSilva, 8/27)
Modern Healthcare: Express Scripts, Prime Therapeutics Face Florida Antitrust Suit
Major pharmacy benefit managers Prime Therapeutics and Express Scripts are facing more antitrust allegations. The Florida attorney general’s office sued the two companies in state court Thursday, claiming the PBMs’ network management agreement allegedly improperly lowered retail pharmacy rates and violated antitrust laws. “Prime and Express Scripts colluded to fix prices and underpay those pharmacies, forcing many to fill prescriptions at a loss,” Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said in a news release. (Tepper, 8/27)
PHARMA AND TECH
CNBC: FDA Approves Gilead HIV Pill Bixlenvo Designed To Simplify Treatment
The Food and Drug Administration approved a once-daily HIV pill from Gilead that could help simplify care for some patients, the company announced Thursday. (Constantino, 8/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Why Revolution Medicines, The Drugmaker Behind A Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough, Stayed Independent
Earlier this year, an oncology biotech with no drugs on the market—just promising research—was attracting takeover interest. Revolution Medicines stayed independent. This week, that bet paid off. (Martinez, 8/27)
The New York Times: Some Scientists Have ‘Magic Hands’ In The Lab. This A.I. Is Learning Why.
On a recent afternoon, scientists buzzed around a lab in Cambridge, Mass., performing experiments. Their equipment was standard: a lab hood for working with dangerous chemicals, an incubator for growing cells. Their procedures were identical to those in biology labs everywhere. A closer look revealed some oddities, though. Along with lab coats and gloves, most of the scientists wore miniature cameras on headbands. Three additional cameras peered down at each work station from a shelf. (Zimmer, 8/27)
STATE WATCH
Modern Healthcare: California Approves Healthcare Spending Penalties For 2030
California will levy financial penalties against hospitals, health insurance companies and medical practices that don’t beat spending benchmarks. The California Office of Health Care Affordability voted unanimously Wednesday to discipline covered entities with penalties up to 125% of the amount covered entities spend above state-imposed growth targets. Providers and insurers also could face penalties up to $10,000 per day if they repeatedly fail to file acceptable performance improvement plans, or flat penalties up to $500,000 for not implementing corrective action plans or for falsifying information. (Hudson, 8/27)
CalMatters: California Moves To Expand Access To GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs
Laura Richardson pays $450 a month out of pocket for a drug that could keep her off insulin for the rest of her life. She’s a California state senator — and even she can’t get her own insurance to cover it. Richardson started using a GLP-1 a year ago after learning she was pre-diabetic. Her state health plan does not cover it. (Ibarra, 8/27)
FOX45 News: Maryland Sues United Health, Optum For Defrauding Medicaid
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown filed a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group (also known as United Healthcare) and Optum, Inc., alleging they defrauded the Maryland Medicaid Program by supplying a defective computer system. (Buckheit, 8/27)
New Hampshire Public Radio: In Reversal, Easterseals NH Commits To Keeping Adult Day Programs Open
Easterseals NH, which provides services for individuals with disabilities statewide, said in a statement Thursday that it will continue operations of adult day programs in Manchester and Rochester, as well as certain in-home services in Strafford and Hillsborough counties, following a vote by the organization’s board of directors. (Richardson, 8/27)
The New York Times: Jury Deliberations Underway In Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Jury deliberations are set to resume on Friday morning in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman charged with murder for strangling her three young children in 2023. After more than four weeks of often emotional testimony in the high-profile case, the lawyers on each side made their closing arguments at the courthouse in Plymouth, Mass., on Thursday. It was their final opportunity to convince the jurors whether or not Ms. Clancy should be held criminally responsible for the children’s deaths. (Fortin, 8/28)
LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH
MedPage Today: Dementia Risks Vary By Menopause Hormone Therapy Timing, Study Shows
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was tied to a lower risk of dementia in a prospective study of nearly 185,000 postmenopausal women in the U.K. Biobank. (George, 8/27)
MedPage Today: U.S. Women Increasingly Not Screened For Cervical Cancer
The proportion of women never screened for cervical cancer increased by more than 5% per year from 2005 to 2023, a cross-sectional study showed. (Bassett, 8/27)
Daily Southtown: Cancer Survivor Says She Owes Her Life To A Labradoodle's Snoot
These days when Karen Daggett goes to see her doctors at South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, she’s known as the “dog patient.” For Daggett, of Chicago Heights, it’s a bittersweet reminder of a family pet that may have saved her life. (Neumann, 8/27)
The Washington Post: Parkinson’s Can Rob People’s Voices. This Instrument Could Help Bring Them Back.
Harmonica lessons could be helping patients regain voices weakened by the progressive movement disorder, a boon for patients and their families. (Kim, 8/28)
