First Edition: Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 ♥

KFF Health News: As States Mull Medicaid Work Requirements, Two Scale Theirs Back
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House sent a clear signal about Medicaid to Republicans across the country: Requiring enrollees to prove they are working, volunteering, or going to school is back on the table. The day after Trump’s inauguration, South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster asked federal officials to approve a work requirement plan. Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine plans to soon follow suit. Republicans in Congress are eyeing Medicaid work requirements as they seek to slash billions from the federal budget. (Rayasam and Whitehead, 2/14)

KFF Health News: A Dose Of Love: The Winning Health Policy Valentines
Nothing sweeps us off our feet like a health policy valentine. Readers showed their love this season, writing poetic lines about surprise medical bills, bird flu, the cost of health care, and more. Here are some of our favorites, starting with the grand prize winner, whose entry was turned into a cartoon by staff illustrator Oona Zenda. (2/14)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Courts Try To Curb Health Cuts
Some of the Trump administration’s dramatic funding and policy shifts are facing major pushback for the first time — not from Congress, but from the courts. Federal judges around the country are attempting to pump the brakes on efforts to freeze government spending, shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, eliminate access to health-related webpages and datasets, and limit grant funding provided by the National Institutes of Health. (Rovner, 2/13)

USA Today: 'God Sent Me President Trump': RFK Jr. Sworn In As Secretary Of Health And Human Services
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was officially sworn in as leader of the nation's leading public health department, in a ceremony at the White House Thursday. The newly minted Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy has long been a vocal advocate for tackling rising rates of chronic illness in the country. "For 20 years," he said Thursday, "I'm up every morning on my knees and praying that God would put me in a position where I can end the childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country." "God sent me President Trump." (Kuchar, 2/13)

Time: RFK Jr. Outlines Priorities On Food, Vaccines, And Personnel
In an interview just hours after his confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined his priorities in response to specific prompts by Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “It’s MAHA time” read a chyron as Kennedy joined the program, later changing to “MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!”—a variation on Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan. Kennedy asserted that the U.S. is “the sickest country in the world,” a talking point he has repeated many times in reference to its low ranking on various metrics among developed nations. He said that Americans face not only a health crisis but also a “spiritual crisis.” (De Guzman, 2/14)

Reuters: Trump Wants A Study Of Abortion Pills' Safety, RFK Jr Tells Fox News
U.S. President Donald Trump has asked for a study on the safety of abortion pills and he has not made a decision on whether to tighten restrictions on the pills, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News in an interview on Thursday. (2/13)

NBC News: DOGE And Trump May Pose Biggest Hurdles For RFK Jr. At HHS
Now that he’s got the job, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may struggle to navigate his new position as secretary of Health and Human Services as the agency contends with potential job cuts and the administration works to pursue President Donald Trump’s agendas, experts say. The high-profile anti-vaccine activist, known for spreading misinformation, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote on Thursday. (Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was the only Republican to break with his party and vote no.) His selection in November sparked outrage within the scientific community, with many fearing his appointment could undermine decades of public health — particularly vaccination efforts — in the United States. (Lovelace Jr., 2/13)

Time: ‘Terrifying’: Public Health Experts React to Senate’s Confirmation of RFK Jr. to Lead HHS
“I think it’s a sad day for America’s children. I think it’s a sad day for public health when someone who is a science denialist, conspiracy theorist, and virulent anti-vaccine activist is [leading] the biggest public health agency in the United States,” says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who has served on vaccine advisory committees for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “I think every Senator who voted for his confirmation should be ashamed of themselves for their unwillingness to stand up for the health of the American public.” (Lee, 2/13)

McKnights Long-Term Care News: Provider Groups Push Newly Confirmed HHS Leader RFK Jr. To Protect Medicare, Promote Workforce Solutions 
Provider organizations rushed to embrace Kennedy’s confirmation and his mission to “Make America Healthy Again” — and to subtley slip in points of self-interest — after the votes were counted. “We want to thank Secretary Kennedy for his commitment to protecting Medicare and Medicaid — programs that the majority of our residents rely on to cover their daily care. Proper federal resources and policies can help us strengthen the care being delivered and support those who deliver it,” said Clif Porter, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. (Marselas, 2/13)

The Hill: McConnell On RFK Jr.: ‘I Will Not Condone The Relitigation Of Proven Cures’
Sen. Mitch McConnell issued a blistering indictment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday, with the Kentucky Republican saying his childhood bout with polio heavily influenced his decision to vote against Kennedy as Health and Human Services secretary. “In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the relitigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles,” McConnell said in a statement. (Weixel, 2/13)

The New York Times: Louisiana Health Department Says It Will Stop Promoting ‘Mass Vaccination’
Louisiana’s top health official said in an internal memo to the state’s Health Department on Thursday that it would no longer use media campaigns or health fairs to promote vaccination against preventable illnesses. The official, Dr. Ralph L. Abraham, Louisiana’s surgeon general, wrote in the memo that the state would “encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider” but would “no longer promote mass vaccination.” (Balk, 2/13)

New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Doctors Warn Against Bill That Could Gut Childhood Vaccine-Buying Program
Doctors, nurses and other public health professionals are speaking out against a bill that would dismantle New Hampshire's universal childhood vaccine purchasing program, saying it would increase barriers to vaccination and put kids’ health at risk. The bill – along with several others that would weaken childhood vaccination requirements – comes at a time of declining childhood vaccination rates, in New Hampshire and around the country. (Cuno-Booth, 2/13)

The Washington Post: Judge Blocks Trump Order On Transgender Youth Health Care
A federal judge on Thursday blocked executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that target transgender people and their health care, giving temporary relief to LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, who braced for legal battles to continue. At least one health system — the hospital affiliated with the University of Virginia — said it would resume providing services that had been paused under the order. (Portnoy and Rizzo, 2/13)

AP: Fourth Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order
A federal judge in Boston on Thursday blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would end birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, becoming the fourth judge to do so. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin came three days after U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in New Hampshire blocked the executive order and follows similar rulings in Seattle and Maryland. (Casey and Catalini, 2/14)

The New York Times: Judge Extends Halt On Trump Plan To Dismantle U.S.A.I.D.
A federal judge on Thursday moved to extend by one week a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from carrying out plans that would all but dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. The order, which Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said he would file later Thursday, continues to stall a directive that would put a quarter of its employees on administrative leave while forcing those posted overseas to return to the United States within 30 days. (Demirjian and Sullivan, 2/13)

CIDRAP: USAID Funding Freeze Disrupts Global Tuberculosis Control Efforts
The Trump administration's freeze on foreign aid delivered through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the subsequent shutdown and dismantling of the agency altogether, has sent shockwaves throughout the community of people working on tuberculosis (TB) treatment, diagnosis, and prevention. The 90-day funding freeze, which sources tell CIDRAP News came with no warning or ability to make contingency plans, has left no parts of the global TB control community untouched. (Dall, 2/13)

AP: Trump's Foreign Aid Freeze Forces Health Clinics In A Vulnerable Region Of Syria To Close
In the town of Sarmada in northern Syria, Dr. Mohammad Fares unlocked a clinic that once bustled with patients. Now it’s empty, and shelves of medicine reduced to a few boxes of bandages and expired drugs. This is what it looks like after the Trump administration halted U.S. foreign assistance last month. The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, issued stop-work orders during a 90-day review for what the administration has alleged is wasteful spending. (Badendieck and Alsayed, 2/14)

AP: Federal Funding Freeze Disrupts Rural Organizations Supporting Foster Youth, Job Growth
After surviving teen homelessness and domestic violence in West Virginia, 23-year-old Ireland Daugherty was finally feeling stable. ... Ashley Cain, 36, was celebrating four years of sobriety and working with a nonprofit that trains workers to remediate long-abandoned factories and coal mines into sites for manufacturing and solar projects. Federally funded programs provided both women with a social safety net and employment in one of the nation’s poorest states, where nonprofits play a vital role in providing basic services like health care, education and economic development. (Willingham, 2/14)

The New York Times: How Trump’s Medical Research Cuts Would Hit Colleges And Hospitals In Every State
A proposal by the Trump administration to reduce the size of grants for institutions conducting medical research would have far-reaching effects, and not just for elite universities and the coastal states where many are located. Also at risk could be grants from the National Institutes of Health to numerous hospitals that conduct clinical research on major diseases, and to state universities across the country. North Carolina, Missouri and Pennsylvania could face disproportionate losses, because of the concentration of medical research in those states. (Badger, Bhatia, Cabreros, Murray, Paris, Sanger-Katz and Singer, 2/13)

Stat: Examining Options For U.S. Researchers Seeking Opportunities Abroad
The Trump administration’s early moves to restrict scientific studies and limit payments to universities and other institutions have stoked concerns that some academics may look to leave the U.S. The question is, where will they go? (Joseph, 2/14)

Modern Healthcare: House Budget Talks Heat Up Over Medicaid Cuts
Medicaid cuts emerged as an especially sensitive flash point Thursday during the first public debate over a House Republican plan to extend tax cuts and slash federal spending. Republicans at a House Budget Committee markup insisted they only want to target waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, and defended themselves against Democratic assertions that GOP policies would hurt people and medical providers. Democrats said harm is inevitable if Republicans want the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, to find $880 billion in budget cuts over the next decade. (McAuliff, 2/13)

Politico: Republicans May Find It Harder To Cut Medicaid Than They Think
Amid the chaos of President Donald Trump’s now-rescinded domestic funding freeze, Medicaid portals across the country went offline, which meant states couldn’t get their Medicaid dollars. It was something the administration said was never supposed to happen and which provoked public outrage and a bipartisan outcry. Now Republicans are considering whether and how to target Medicaid as part of their effort to defray the cost of massive tax cuts, the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda. (Kenen, 2/13)

CIDRAP: Ohio Announces Human H5N1 Avian Flu Case, State's First 
A man from Mercer County, Ohio, is that state’s first human case of H5N1 avian flu, according to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The man is a farm worker who was in contact with deceased commercial poultry. ... Ohio is one of the epicenters of the US bird flu outbreak, with 54 outbreaks since the middle of January. The outbreaks have led to the loss of more than 10 million birds. (Soucheray, 2/13)

Politico: Key Bird Flu Lab Threatens To Strike As California Cases And Egg Prices Climb
Workers at a key lab for testing animal disease are threatening to go on strike, raising concerns about California’s ability to respond to the growing outbreak of bird flu that has sent the price of eggs soaring nationwide. Technicians at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab at the University of California, Davis, have been sounding the alarm for months, alleging staffing shortages and strains as their union has been in contentious negotiations with the University of California system. (Bluth, 2/13)

MedPage Today: Neurologic Complications Of Flu In Kids May Be Up This Year
Public health officials are looking into reports of a small potential uptick in neurologic complications of influenza in children -- particularly a rapidly progressing and dangerous condition called acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE). Adrienne Randolph, MD, MSc, of Boston Children's Hospital, said she reported about 12 potential cases of flu-associated ANE to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) in the past few weeks. (Fiore, 2/13)

CIDRAP: Five Years Later, Americans Say Pandemic Drove Them Apart
A new Pew Research Center poll shows 72% of Americans said the pandemic did more to divide the country than bring it together, with 75% saying COVID-19 took a toll on their own lives. The poll was conducted in late October 2024 with 9,593 respondents. The poll suggests that, 5 years after the pandemic was officially declared in March 2020, the nation has not yet healed from the societal effects of the novel coronavirus, with Americans citing the once-in-decades event as an accelerator of the political divide between the left and the right, the distrust of government institutions, and the rise of disinformation. (Soucheray, 2/13)

The 19th: Sen. Warren, Rep. Bonamici Introduce SAD Act To Regulate Anti-Abortion Centers
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for the federal government to better regulate anti-abortion centers, facilities that seek to dissuade people from terminating their pregnancies, The 19th is first to report. (Luthra, 2/13)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri GOP Wants To Hike Tax Credit For Pregnancy Centers
Voters chose to protect abortion rights last year, and Missouri Republicans are now responding with multiple plans to boost pregnancy centers that discourage abortions. One proposal, which would increase the current 70% tax credit for donations to qualified pregnancy resource centers to 100%, is quickly emerging as a partisan flashpoint in the current legislative session. (Suntrup, 2/13)

The Hill: Texas Judge Fines NY Doctor For Prescribing Abortion Pills To Woman Near Dallas
A judge in Texas on Thursday fined a doctor from New York for prescribing abortion pills to a woman outside of Dallas in a ruling that could change the landscape of abortion law in Democratic states. Earlier Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor, Maggie Carpenter, who was charged for prescribing a Louisiana pregnant minor abortion pills. (Irwin, 2/13)

Politico: Knives Are Out For Planned Parenthood. In All 3 Branches Of Government
Anti-abortion activists and their allies in government are hoping this is the year they finally take down Planned Parenthood by going after the federal funding that makes up more than a third of the organization’s budget — with efforts moving simultaneously through Congress, the courts and the executive branch. ... The Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear arguments in April on South Carolina’s ability to strip Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood — a landmark case that could prompt dozens of GOP-controlled states to take a significant bite out of the organization’s finances. (Ollstein, 2/13)

Modern Healthcare: Cigna's Customer Service Improvements May Inspire Other Insurers
Cigna’s new plan to bet big on customer service could be a blueprint for other health insurers to follow as the sector grapples with public discontent. The sweeping changes — at least on paper — to how Cigna interacts with its insurance members and Express Scripts pharmacy benefit manager customers could augur a new era for health insurance. (Berryman, 2/13)

Modern Healthcare: SSM Health-Inbound Health's Home Care Program Shows Good Results
SSM Health hopes to expand home-based skilled nursing to other hospitals in its system after achieving good results from a program it launched last spring in Madison, Wisconsin. The St. Louis, Missouri-based health system launched the Recovery Care at Home program with technology company Inbound Health at St. Mary’s Hospital. The program provides nurse visits, therapy, durable medical equipment, infusion services, imaging and telehealth support to certain patients in their homes following a hospitalization. (Eastabrook, 2/13)

Modern Healthcare: Humana, Eastern Kentucky University Launch Partnership 
Humana announced a partnership Thursday with Eastern Kentucky University to teach nursing students how to deliver healthcare in the home. Humana is contributing $75,000 to add a home studio lab within the university’s nursing simulation center, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company said in a news release. The studio will help student nurses learn how to provide care to patients in diverse settings and better assess social determinants of health. The partnership with the university expands Humana and its CenterWell division’s collaboration with approximately 50 nursing schools nationwide. (Eastabrook, 2/13)

Stat: Judge: Lawsuit Over UnitedHealth AI Care Denials In Medicare Advantage Can Move Forward
Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who are suing UnitedHealth Group over allegedly wrongful denials of care that were based on artificial intelligence scored a victory Thursday, as a judge ruled their case could move forward. (Herman, 2/13)

MedPage Today: Meet The World's Healthcare Billionaires
Six of the world's 500 richest people are Americans who have reaped fortunes from healthcare -- and two of them are physicians. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, only 32 people globally have become mega-rich from healthcare enterprises. The richest person to make their fortune in healthcare is Thomas Frist, Jr., MD, who alongside his father in the 1960s co-founded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Healthcare. (Robertson, 2/13)

Newsweek: Colorado Removes 500,000 People From Health Care Plan
More than a half-million people in Colorado have been disenrolled from their public health care, following the conclusion of policies that were put in place to safeguard public insurance coverage during the COVID-19 health emergency. Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment in Colorado has fallen from more than 1.7 million to less than 1.2 million between March 2023 and October 2024, according to health care research nonprofit the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). (Cameron, 2/14)