Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Friday, Feb. 13, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Made Promises In Order To Become Health Secretary. He’s Broken Many Of Them
One year after taking charge of the nation’s health department, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t held true to many of the promises he made while appealing to U.S. senators concerned about the longtime anti-vaccine activist’s plans for the nation’s care. Kennedy squeaked through a narrow Senate vote to be confirmed as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, only after making a number of public and private guarantees about how he would handle vaccine funding and recommendations as secretary. (Seitz, 2/13)
KFF Health News: Clinics Sour On CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In
On a 15-degree morning in January, a clinic in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina began to fill up with patients. An older couple in flannel pajamas sat together in the waiting room. A toddler waved as Patricia Hall walked past him, a stethoscope draped over her neck. The family physician waved and smiled back. (Jones, 2/13)
KFF Health News: Trump Team’s Planned ACA Rule Offers Its Answer To Rising Premium Costs: Catastrophic Coverage
The Trump administration has unveiled a sweeping set of regulatory proposals that would substantially change health plan offerings on the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year, aiming, it says, to provide more choice and lower premiums. But it also proposes sharply raising some annual out-of-pocket costs — to more than $27,600 for one type of coverage — and could cause up to 2 million people to drop insurance. (Appleby, 2/13)
KFF Health News: Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines
Health policy has never looked so flirtatious. Every year, our readers send us valentines that make us swoon, laugh, and occasionally clutch our insurance cards. And in 2026, you did not hold back. You wrote about overcharging, rising insurance, AI in health care, and more. Here are some of our favorites, starting with the poem that stole our hearts like a $0 billing balance — and then was turned into a cartoon by KFF Health News staff illustrator Oona Zenda. (2/13)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: New Flu Vax? FDA Says No Thanks
The Food and Drug Administration is back in the headlines, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application from the drugmaker Moderna for a new flu vaccine, and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary continuing to take criticism from anti-abortion Republicans in the Senate for alleged delays reviewing the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone. (Rovner, 2/12)
PUBLIC HEALTH
AP: Trump's EPA Rejects Climate Change As Health Threat, But Science Strongly Disagrees
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that climate change is a danger to public health, an idea that President Donald Trump called “a scam.” But repeated scientific studies say it’s a documented and quantifiable harm. Again and again, research has found increasing disease and deaths — thousands every year — in a warming world. The Environmental Protection Agency finding in 2009, under the Obama administration, has been the legal underpinning of nearly all regulations fighting global warming. (Borenstein, 2/12)
The New York Times: What To Know About The E.P.A.’s Big Attack On Climate Regulation
By scrapping the finding, the Trump administration is essentially disputing the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. The vast majority of scientists say the Earth is rapidly and dangerously warming, which is fueling more powerful storms, killing coral reefs, melting glaciers and causing countless other destructive impacts. Here’s what you should know about the endangerment finding and why it matters. (Friedman and Joselow, 2/12)
The New York Times: Trump Orders the Pentagon to Buy More Coal-Fired Electricity
President Trump on Wednesday directed the Pentagon to start buying more electricity from coal-burning power plants as part of his efforts to revive the declining coal industry. Environmental and public health groups have sharply criticized the administration’s efforts to bring back coal. “The Trump administration is using our tax dollars to prop up the nation’s dirtiest, least efficient power plants," said Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The rest of us are left to pay the price: more heart disease and asthma attacks, higher utility bills, and more frequent unnatural disasters." (Plumer, 2/11)
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
NBC News: Trump Administration Says It Is Ending Its Immigration Surge In Minnesota
The Trump administration said Thursday it is ending its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The announcement comes weeks after federal authorities shot and killed two U.S. citizens, sparking outrage around the nation and the world. Border czar Tom Homan said "a significant drawdown" will begin this week and will continue into next week. He said he will remain on the ground "for a little longer" to ensure a successful end to the operation. (Lavietes, 2/12)
The Washington Post: National Guard Troops Withdrawn From L.A., Chicago, Portland
The Trump administration has withdrawn all federalized National Guard troops from U.S. cities, after its repeated attempts to surge forces into Democratic-run states encountered judicial roadblocks. The pullout was completed last month with no public acknowledgment from the White House or the Pentagon other than a social media post weeks earlier in which President Donald Trump announced the troops’ removal. The deployments — including more than 5,000 troops to Los Angeles, about 500 into Chicago and 200 to Portland, Oregon — were ordered despite the vehement opposition from state and local leaders who labeled the administration’s actions an unlawful abuse of presidential authority. (Copp and Horton, 2/11)
The 19th: Pregnant Patients In Minnesota Postponed Abortion Visits To Avoid ICE
Pregnant immigrants in Minnesota have been postponing their abortions, skipping aftercare, and delaying birth control visits and urgent cancer screening follow-ups to avoid coming in contact with federal immigration agents. (Luthra, 2/12)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
The Washington Post: Partial Government Shutdown Looms As Congress Leaves Town Without A Deal
Large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security are set to shut down Saturday after Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked two funding bills because the legislation did not include new restrictions on federal immigration agents. Democrats demanded a long list of changes to DHS after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti last month in Minneapolis, including tighter rules on warrants and a ban on agents wearing face masks. President Donald Trump appeared open to some of them, but Democrats rejected a proposal the White House made Wednesday night, all but ensuring a partial government shutdown. (Meyer and Beggin, 2/12)
Verite News New Orleans: Top FEMA Official Warns Of ‘Seriously Strained’ Disaster Response If DHS Shutdown Occurs
A top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned lawmakers Wednesday that the agency’s ability to respond to disasters would be strained if a shutdown occurred as Congress continues to debate Department of Homeland Security funding. “FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities for the foreseeable future,” Gregg Phillips, the associate administrator of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, said at a House Appropriations hearing. “That said, if a catastrophic disaster occurred, the DRF will be seriously strained.” (Banks, 2/12)
MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The New York Times: Federal Judge Blocks Trump Plan To Cut $600 Million In Health Funds
A federal judge in Illinois on Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s plan to claw back $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats, amid a wider effort by the federal government to pull funding from blue states. Judge Manish S. Shah of the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois wrote in a two-page order that the plaintiff states — California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota — had provided enough evidence that the cuts were “based on arbitrary, capricious or unconstitutional rationales” to halt what would have been deep cuts in federal public health funding that had already been allocated while legal arguments continue in the case. (Cameron, 2/12)
Politico: RFK Jr. Shakes Up Leadership Team
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is remaking his leadership team, putting Director of Medicare Chris Klomp in charge of overseeing all HHS operations, he announced in an email to staff Thursday that POLITICO has obtained. Klomp has also been serving as deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under Mehmet Oz. He will retain his roles at CMS and now also serve as chief counselor for the department. (Zeller and Röhn, 2/12)
The Hill: Dozens Of Democrats Call For Removal Of Newly Appointed OB-GYNs From Vaccine Advisory Panel
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are calling for the removal of two OB-GYNs who were recently appointed to the nation’s top vaccine advisory committee, citing the doctors’ “well-documented history” of anti-vaccine ideology. The lawmakers said in a Thursday letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that they were concerned about the Jan. 13 appointments of Dr. Adam Urato and Dr. Kimberly Biss to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Brams, 2/12)
Stat: NIH Redefines 'Clinical Trials,' As Shift Divides Researchers
In a long-debated move, the National Institutes of Health will no longer characterize basic experimental studies involving humans as clinical trials, a step that was cheered by many researchers, but is also raising transparency concerns because the work will no longer have to be registered with — or reported to — a government database. (Silverman, 2/12)
Stat: What The FDA's Moderna Rejection Means For Every Vaccine Maker
The Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to review Moderna’s flu vaccine this month has renewed fears that Trump administration policies could paralyze the vaccine industry, dissuading companies from developing new shots in the U.S. and leaving the country flat-footed in the event of future pandemics. (Mast, 2/12)
The Guardian: ‘Deeply Illogical’: This Man’s Life Work Could End Homelessness – And Trump Is Doing All He Can To Stop It
Now in his fourth decade of spreading the word across most of the world’s continents about “Housing First”, an approach to helping homeless people that has convinced governments and non-profits alike to see housing as a human right, Sam Tsemberis experienced a first. He was censored by the US government. (Pratt, 2/12)
The Hill: CDC Warns Travelers Of Seychelles Chikungunya Outbreak
The Seychelles are the subject of a new travel advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid an ongoing virus outbreak. The health organization issued a “Level 2” advisory for the archipelago, urging U.S. travelers to “practice enhanced precautions” when visiting the island republic. According to the CDC, the Seychelles, located in the western Indian Ocean, is experiencing an outbreak of chikungunya, a virus that is spread to humans through mosquito bites. (Unger, 2/12)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Fierce Healthcare: Claims For Younger Adults Are Rising: UnitedHealth, HAC Study
While Generation Z and millennial workers still account for fewer claims than their baby boomer counterparts, claims in these populations are rising fast, according to a new report. UnitedHealthcare and the Health Action Council (HAC) earlier this month released their annual white paper digging into key trends impacting the employer market and found that the number of claims for lower-aged workers are increasing more quickly than they did for baby boomers. (Minemyer, 2/13)
Bloomberg: Humana Is Said To Near $1 Billion Deal For Florida’s MaxHealth
Humana Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire MaxHealth in a deal valuing the operator of primary care clinics at about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. An agreement could be announced within days for the company, which is backed by Arsenal Capital Partners, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. A final agreement hasn’t been reached and talks could still end without one, the people said. (Davis and Tozzi, 2/12)
PHARMACEUTICALS
The New York Times: Senate Questions Health Care Firm For Profiting Off Program Meant For Poor
The Senate Health Committee is seeking answers from a private company that makes millions off a federal drug program meant to help the poor. Senator Bill Cassidy, the Republican committee chairman and a doctor from Louisiana, sent a letter last week to Apexus, the Texas-based company, asking about its profits, business practices and role in the 340B Drug Price Program. (Gabler, 2/12)
The Hill: Weight Loss Drugs Linked To Rise In Scurvy Cases
The popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs is bringing back a historic affliction once suffered by sailors on long journeys at sea. There are reports that those taking the drugs, which include medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, are being diagnosed with scurvy, an illness once common in the 17th and 18th centuries that is now considered rare in developed countries. Clare Collins, a professor of nutrition at the Newcastle School of Health Sciences, conducted research on the long-term effects of GLP-1 drugs and raised the alarm about potential malnutrition with the popular medications. (Whiteside, 2/12)
MedPage Today: Potentially Blinding Eye Condition Tied To Ozempic Again
Risk for a rare, potentially blinding eye condition was low, but it was significantly higher in diabetes patients who started semaglutide (Ozempic) versus SGLT2 inhibitors, an observational study of U.S. veterans showed. (Monaco, 2/12)
Stat: Consumer Group Presses U.S. To Authorize Generic GLP-1s
Public Citizen petitioned the Trump administration to use a federal law to authorize generic competitors for GLP-1 drugs for treating obesity and diabetes, arguing that prices are “unjustifiably high” for too many Americans. (Silverman, 2/12)
Newsweek: Common Drug Could Stop Alzheimer’s Process ‘Before It Even Begins’
A medication that has been prescribed in the U.S. for decades may be able to stop the earliest steps of Alzheimer’s disease— but only if it is taken long before symptoms appear, according to new research from Northwestern University. Scientists report that levetiracetam, an inexpensive anti-seizure drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, can prevent brain cells from producing one of the most toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s. (Patrick, 2/12)
The Baltimore Sun: New Journal Seeks To Publish Medical Research Free Of Pharma
A newly launched medical journal says it aims to challenge what its founder describes as long-standing pharmaceutical industry influence over scientific research published in some of the world’s most prestigious journals. (Attkisson, 2/12)
Crains Chicago Business: Baxter Stock Tumbles As Hurricane Helene Damage Still Lingers
Hurricane Helene’s damage hasn’t ended for Baxter International. The Deerfield-based medical products maker posted a mixed bag of fourth-quarter 2025 financial results this morning and forecast a 2026 profit that’s lower than analyst expectations. Baxter stock fell sharply, down more than 12% to trade in the $19 range by mid-morning, on the news that the company expects 2026 adjusted profit between $1.85 and $2.05 per share. That’s below Wall Street’s previous expectations of about $2.25 per share. (Asplund, 2/12)
STATE WATCH
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri House OKs Bill To Help Pregnant Women Divorce
The Missouri House unanimously passed a bill Thursday to prevent courts from using pregnancy status as a reason not to dissolve a marriage. It marks the fourth consecutive year lawmakers have considered the legislation. (Friedheim, 2/12)
Missouri Independent: Missouri House OKs Permanent Ban On Minors' Transgender Care
The Missouri House passed legislation Thursday that would permanently bar doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to transgender minors, sending the bill to the Senate for approval. (Hanshaw, 2/12)
Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming House Moves Bill To Help Pregnancy, Birth Centers
Wyoming lawmakers have advanced two bills that some say could help fill maternal care gaps. (Merzbach, 2/12)
Wyoming News Now: Wyoming House Introduces Bill To Have Schools Prepped For Cardiac Emergencies
The Wyoming House voted to introduce a bill that aims to require schools to have plans in case of cardiac emergencies. (Bonner, 2/12)
WLRN Public Media: Florida Sends A $786,000 Invoice To Cover Records Request Over AIDS Drug Program
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation calls the bill a "ransom note" after it sued the health department for failing to comply with a public records request related to altering ADAP. (Gillespie, 2/12)
The 19th: How South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Is Shaping Pediatrician’s Run For Senate
In mid-December, Dr. Annie Andrews turned on her camera to record. The pediatrician — among a growing cohort of medical professionals who use social media to break down health care news and misinformation — had a public service announcement. (Rodriguez, 2/12)
CBS News: Minnesota Is Epicenter Of Nation's "Largest Known Outbreak" Of Sexually Transmitted Ringworm, Health Officials Say
Minnesota is in the midst of what state health officials call the nation's "largest known outbreak" of TMVII, a sexually transmitted fungal skin infection that can cause severe ringworm. TMVII, or trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII, is the only known fungal-based sexually transmitted disease, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, and it's treatable with oral antifungals. (Swanson, 2/12)
New Hampshire Bulletin: Vaccine Skeptics Renew Efforts To Rescind New Hampshire’s Vaccine Requirements In 2026
A contingent of vaccine skeptics in the New Hampshire House of Representatives has again brought a slate of vaccine-related legislation to the State House in 2026. Some proposals go further than others. (Skipworth, 2/12)
CBS News: Rock Salt Could Enter Philadelphia Drinking Water Supply As Snow Melts Across The Region
As the piles of snow and ice covering the Philadelphia region begin to melt, some of the rock salt used for de-icing can end up in the drinking water supply, and that can be a concern for people on salt-restricted diets. "Salt in the waterways has been doubling about every 20 years," John Jackson, a senior scientist at Stroud Water Research Center, an independent nonprofit in Chester County, said. (Stahl, 2/12)
AP: Nevada Sex Workers Are Pushing For A Historic Fight To Unionize
Nevada is the only state where people can legally purchase sex, and now sex workers at one of the state’s oldest brothels are fighting to become the nation’s first to be unionized. “We want the same things that any other worker wants. We want a safe and respectful workplace,” said a worker at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, who goes by the stage name Jupiter Jetson and asked that her legal name not be used for fear of harassment. Prostitution is legal at licensed brothels in 10 of Nevada’s rural counties. That doesn’t include Clark County, home to Las Vegas, though Sheri’s Ranch is about an hour’s drive away. (Hill, 2/13)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Liable For Destroying Homeless People's Property, Federal Judge Rules
A federal judge has found that the city of Los Angeles violated the constitutional rights of homeless people by seizing and destroying their personal property during cleanups. The ruling filed late Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer ended a seven-year-old case against the city without a trial. The decision hinged on Fischer’s finding that the city had altered records of the cleanups after the case was filed to make it appear that care was taken to separate personal property from trash or hazardous material. (Smith, 2/12)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Bloomberg: Pregnant Women Die At Higher Rates When States Restrict Abortion
State abortion restrictions put in place during the last two decades have resulted in more women dying during or after childbirth, leading to about 16 additional deaths a year across the states that became more stringent, new research finds. The study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that restrictions have ratcheted up since 2005, when eight states had at least five limitations on things like how and when patients could access the procedure, and who could perform it. (Court, 2/12)
The New York Times: New Method Can Find Hidden Eggs To Aid In Fertility Treatment
Fertility experts know that the more eggs retrieved from a woman, the better the chances that one of them will lead to a viable embryo that will result in the birth of a baby. Now, a new study suggests something startling, even to many in the field: the conventional method of searching for eggs often fails to find all of them, and a new technology that automates the process may significantly increase the number recovered. (Belluck, 2/12)
CIDRAP: COVID Infection May Impair Male Fertility, But Vaccination Shows No Effect, Review Suggests
COVID-19 infection may meaningfully affect male reproductive health, while having limited consequences for female fertility or assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes, according to a new umbrella review published this week in Vaccine. In contrast, COVID vaccination showed little impact on fertility in either men or women. (Bergeson, 2/12)
MENTAL HEALTH
Military.com: VA Releases Newest Veteran Suicide Data. Here's What They Found.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released its latest National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, with the most recent available data showing little change from the previous year in terms of annual suicides and daily averages. The report analyzed veteran suicides between 2001-2023, with 2023 being the most recent year for which data is available. Suicides among veterans in 2023 totaled 6,398, a slight decrease from the 6,442 suicides in 2022. The average number of daily veteran suicides fell from 17.6 in 2022 to 17.5 in 2023. (Mordowanec, 2/13)
LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH
Bloomberg: Nestlé Boosts Infant Formula Production To Prevent Shortages After Recall
Nestlé SA is ramping up production of infant formula to avert a shortage, after a contamination crisis led the Swiss foodmaker and rival producers Danone SA and Groupe Lactalis to recall hundreds of batches. Five Nestlé factories in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands are running 24 hours a day to boost supply, particularly products for babies under the age of one, it said. A filing seen by Bloomberg showed Nestlé asked Swiss authorities for permission to conduct night and holiday work at its Konolfingen plant on Jan. 6, the day after the global recall began. (Kinzelmann and Deutsch, 2/13)
NBC News: Harmful Chemicals Lurk In Extensions And Braiding Hair Marketed To Black Women, Study Finds
The same chemicals found in pipes, pesticides and floor tiles are also present in some wigs, braiding hair and hair extensions, a new study published Wednesday in the journal Environment & Health found. Researchers at the Silent Spring Institute, a scientific research nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts, tested 43 hair extension products purchased online and from local beauty supply stores and identified 169 chemicals present overall, including dozens of harmful substances such as flame retardants, pesticides and compounds used to stabilize plastics. (Bellamy, 2/12)
The Wall Street Journal: The Guthrie Kidnapping Has Families Rethinking Senior Safety And Independence
The Nancy Guthrie case, while a nightmare for one high-profile family, is striking a personal chord with millions of Americans. We all have aging relatives or friends and worry about something happening to them. Many live alone, hundreds of miles away. They may have lots of friends, golf five times a week, but are still 80 or 90 and likely to have chronic health conditions. What if they fall, get in an accident, have a stroke, get scammed? The Guthrie case adds another, more horrific scenario. (Ansberry, 2/13)
