First Edition: Friday, Jan. 9, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: California Ends Medicaid Coverage Of Weight Loss Drugs Despite TrumpRx Plan
Many low-income Californians prescribed wildly popular weight loss drugs lost their coverage for the medications at the start of the new year. Health officials are recommending diet and exercise as alternatives to heavily advertised weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, advice experts say is unrealistic. “Of course he tried eating well and everything, but now with the medications, it’s better — a 100% change,” said Wilmer Cardenas of Santa Clara, who said his husband lost about 100 pounds over about two years using GLP-1s covered by Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid. (Thompson, 1/9)

KFF Health News: Thrift Store. Clinic. Roller Rink. Center Becomes ‘Radical’ Lifeline Amid Homelessness, Drug Crises
From the outside, the abandoned Family Dollar store in the Lower 9th Ward looks intimidating. It’s covered in graffiti, with aluminum cans and trash dotting the parking lot. It sits on a street with other empty lots and decayed buildings — symbols of the lasting devastation this neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest, has endured since Hurricane Katrina. But inside, the store is a welcoming oasis. (Pattani, 1/9)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: New Year, Same Health Fight
Congress returned from its holiday break to the same question it faced in December: whether to extend covid-era premium subsidies for health plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. The expanded subsidies expired at the end of 2025, leaving more than 20 million Americans facing dramatically higher out-of-pocket costs for insurance. (Rovner, 1/8)

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Politico: The GOP's Obamacare Defectors Were More Numerous Than Expected
Republicans in competitive seats see a grave threat to their reelections in skyrocketing insurance premiums. That was apparent Thursday in the defection of 17 in the House who voted for Democrats’ bill to restore expired Obamacare subsidies for three more years. The GOP revolt was bigger than anticipated and a stunning rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump. The 17, primarily from swing seats or districts with large numbers of people enrolled in Obamacare plans, sent a clear message from the GOP’s most-at-risk members that they’re more afraid of losing their voters in an unfavorable midterm climate than they are of bucking their party leaders. (Kashinsky and Levien, 1/8)

The Hill: House GOP To Question Health Insurers On Premium Hikes, Costs Amid ACA Turmoil
House Republicans on Thursday said they are summoning top health insurance executives to testify later this month as part of a series of hearings about health care affordability. The move from the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees comes weeks after the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expired on Dec. 31, resulting in significant out-of-pocket cost increases for tens of millions of low- and middle-income Americans on ACA plans. (Weixel, 1/8)

Bloomberg: Massachusetts Gives $250 Million To Cover Rising Insurance Costs
Massachusetts is dipping into its reserves for $250 million as a way to help cover the hole in health insurance coverage created by the expiration of federal Obamacare subsidies. The funding boost will cover only a portion of the lapsed aid, though about 270,000 residents are expected to see at least some relief from the infusion. “Massachusetts families cannot afford President Trump’s drastic increases to their health insurance premiums,” Governor Maura Healey, a first-term Democrat running for reelection this year, said in a statement. (Ryan, 1/8)

The Connecticut Mirror: Connecticut Weighs Extending Open Enrollment Due To Uncertainty With Federal Health Care Subsidies
With uncertainty in Congress around reviving expired federal health care subsidies, Connecticut officials are considering another extension of open enrollment for 2026 Affordable Care Act plans. Federal lawmakers are trying different avenues to bring back the enhanced premium subsidies in some form after they lapsed at the end of the year. But depending on what Congress may do over the coming weeks, the state’s marketplace, Access Health CT, said it is in discussions with carriers about potentially extending the final deadline beyond Jan. 31 for another month or two. (Agen, 1/8)

MORE FROM CAPITOL HILL

MedPage Today: AMA Urges Congress To Make Telehealth Flexibilities Permanent
With the deadline for making pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities permanent looming at the end of the month, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a brief aimed at convincing lawmakers to take action. "Since the COVID-19 public health emergency, Congress has repeatedly extended telehealth flexibilities for Medicare patients -- often at the last moment -- creating uncertainty for millions of patients and their physicians," said AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD, in a press release. (Firth, 1/8)

Becker's Hospital Review: Senators Widen Probe Into UnitedHealth Nursing Home Practices
Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are expanding their probe into UnitedHealth Group’s nursing home programs after the company provided what they said is an insufficient response to their initial inquiry, along with new allegations of resident deaths. In a Jan. 7 follow-up letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, the senators wrote they are renewing their inquiry “with heightened alarm” after the company failed to meaningfully respond to their initial request for information in August. The letter warns that if UnitedHealth fails to fully respond, the senators “will pursue answers to this critical inquiry using all tools at the Committee’s disposal.” (Emerson, 1/8)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Bloomberg: J&J Reaches Deal With Trump For Drug Discounts, Tariff Reprieve
Johnson & Johnson reached a deal with the US government to lower drug prices for some Americans, joining a cadre of major pharmaceutical companies to make price concessions in exchange for tariff exemption. The American drugmaker was one of 17 companies President Donald Trump called on last summer to lower prices, and among the last ones to announce a deal. The two remaining companies are AbbVie Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which previously said they are in talks with the White House. (Tong, 1/9)

AP: 5 States Sue Trump Over Frozen Social Safety Net Funds
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs, citing concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families. The states — California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York — called the move an unconstitutional abuse of power. The Trump administration announced earlier this week it was withholding their social safety net funding. The funding went toward three federal programs, two of which focus on lifting families with children out of poverty. (Balingit, 1/9)

AP: Federal Immigration Officers Shoot 2 Outside Hospital In Portland, Oregon
Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said. The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor’s office if warranted. (Rush and Johnson, 1/9)

CIDRAP: FDA Needs Sharper Focus On Foodborne-Illness Prevention, Accountability Office Says
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday finds that while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made strides in carrying out the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), gaps remain in implementing the rules and in establishing the systems needed to measure whether the FDA’s efforts are working. (Bergeson, 1/8)

The New York Times: NASA Will Bring I.S.S. Astronauts Home Early After Medical Issue
NASA will bring a crew of four astronauts home from the International Space Station before its scheduled return because of a “controlled medical evacuation,” agency officials said on Thursday. During the 25-year history of the space station, this is the first time that astronauts will return early because of a medical issue. NASA did not provide details on who had the medical issue, or what the issue was. But the agency said that the astronaut was in stable condition. (Chang and Holpuch, 1/8)

VACCINES

MedPage Today: 'They've Just Gotten It Wrong': Vaccine Shift Raises Fears Of Hepatitis A, B Surges
After plunging over the past several decades, hepatitis A and B rates could climb again now that the CDC has removed both vaccines from its list of universally recommended childhood immunizations, public health experts warned. "We're going to start to see diseases that we thought were on the ash heap of history," Saul Karpen, MD, PhD, president of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, told MedPage Today. (McCreary, 1/8)

Stat: When It Comes To Vaccine Schedules, The U.S. Is Now The Outlier
The U.S. childhood vaccination schedule has been dramatically reduced, purportedly because, as federal health officials argued, the now-discarded schedule recommended children get far more vaccines than kids in “peer countries.” (Branswell, 1/9)

VTDigger: Vermont Health Officials Reaffirm Existing Childhood Vaccine Schedule In Light Of Federal Changes
Vermont officials and health experts are reaffirming the state’s commitment to its existing childhood immunization schedule, which recommends many of the vaccines that the CDC had removed. (Gieger, 1/8)

North Carolina Health News: NC Childhood Vaccine Schedule Isn't Changing 
North Carolina’s vaccination schedule for children requires two vaccines — against hepatitis B and meningococcal disease — that are no longer recommended by the CDC. Despite the mismatch between the North Carolina and federal schedules, North Carolina health officials said Wednesday that the state has no plans to change any recommendations about vaccines. Requirements for vaccines that are needed before a child can attend day care and school will not change. (Fernandez, 1/9)

Kansas City Star: Children's Mercy KC Refuses CDC Childhood Vaccine Change 
Children’s Mercy says they will not follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s revised recommendations for childhood vaccinations, but instead will follow the recommendations of The American Academy of Pediatrics. (Alviz-Gransee, 1/8)

CIDRAP: Vaccine Integrity Project Will Conduct Independent Review Of HPV Vaccine
The Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP), an initiative of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), announced this week that it will conduct an independent, transparent review of the scientific evidence related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The announcement comes amid growing uncertainty around US vaccine policy and the dismantling of long-standing immunization recommendations. (Bergeson, 1/8)

CNN: As A Measles Outbreak Burns Through South Carolina, Not Enough People Are Getting Vaccinated 
As measles outbreaks flared up across the US last year, causing a record number of cases, Scott Thorpe kept a wary eye on Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in South Carolina’s upstate region, it’s a community with pockets of residents who have particularly low vaccination rates. (McPhillips, 1/8)

OPIOID CRISIS

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Regulations, Pay Models Strain Doctors' Offices
Medical practices are struggling with financial uncertainty and regulatory pressure after a tumultuous year. President Donald Trump’s administration and the Republican-led Congress engaged in high-velocity policymaking in 2025 that’s reshaping the healthcare sector. Trump’s tax law and its $1 trillion in healthcare cuts were the centerpiece, but the Health and Human Services Department and its agencies rolled out a slew of new regulations and Medicare payment models. (Early, 1/8)

Modern Healthcare: IntelyCare Acquires CareRev
IntelyCare has acquired staffing platform CareRev, expanding its reach to serve the acute-care marketplace. The deal closed Dec. 23 and was announced Thursday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company will market itself as two brands, with IntelyCare focusing on staffing in the post-acute space and CareRev serving acute-care markets. (DeSilva, 1/8)

WFSU: Big Bend Hospice Is Extending Its Reach Into Rural Northwest Florida 
Tallahassee's nonprofit hospice has announced a major expansion into the rural counties to the west of its present service area. Big Bend Hospice CEO Bill Wertman says the organization is gearing up to provide services to Jackson, Calhoun and Gulf counties, in addition to the eight-county region it already serves. So more hiring is underway. (Flanigan, 1/8)

Stat: More Patients Are Ordering Lab Tests Online, Frustrating Some Doctors 
About a decade ago, 48-year-old Darren Sidaway started having health concerns he didn’t think he could bring to his doctor. Sidaway, who lives in Cleveland, had long struggled with weight, and worried that he had metabolic issues that put him at risk for Alzheimer’s or early death. But his routine blood work seemed normal so he did not think his doctor would order more tests, and without that his insurance was unlikely to pay for it. (Ravindranath, 1/9)

NBC News: A College Student Fights An Insurance Denial To Get A Prosthetic Foot Before Graduation
Gabrielle Guerrero was 15 when doctors told her that her life would never be the same. “They were like, ‘You’re young and energized, but you’ll never be able to walk again without assistance,’” said Guerrero, of Burleson, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. She had been riding in an off-road vehicle with her siblings when it hydroplaned and flipped. Guerrero’s left foot caught in the door. After more than two weeks in the hospital and two surgeries, it ultimately had to be partially amputated. Guerrero lost all of her toes and about half of the front of her foot. To get around comfortably, Guerrero, now 21, wears a custom prosthesis. (Kopf, Llamas and Taylor, 1/8)

PHARMA AND TECH

CIDRAP: Study: 87% Of Primary Care Providers Say Drug Shortages Lower Quality Of Care
A research letter yesterday in JAMA Network Open highlights the high perceived prevalence of US drug shortages and the negative outcomes related to patient care, primary care practice, and physician well-being. (Soucheray, 1/8)

Stat: Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, On Top Of Older Drug, Reduced Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
Eli Lilly said Thursday that adding its weight loss drug Zepbound on top of its immunology therapy Taltz helped obese patients with an autoimmune condition that causes joint pain more than Taltz did alone. (Chen, 1/8)

The Guardian: Alzheimer’s Therapies Should Target A Particular Gene, Researchers Say
New therapies for Alzheimer’s disease should target a particular gene linked to the condition, according to researchers who said most cases would never arise if its harmful effects were neutralised. The call to action follows the arrival of the first wave of drugs that aim to treat Alzheimer’s patients by removing toxic proteins from the brain. While the drugs slow the disease down, the benefits are minor, and they have been rejected for widespread use by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). (Sample, 1/9)

Wyoming Public Radio: Brain Chemistry Lab In Jackson Develops A Blood Test To Help Diagnose ALS
A nonprofit discovery lab in Teton County is developing a new rapid blood test to help diagnose ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The in-the-works test can identify an ALS patient with 97% accuracy, according to the findings recently published by the team at Brain Chemistry Labs in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Biology. (Habermann, 1/8)

WUSF: Study Finds Cockroach Toxins May Help Drive Childhood Asthma 
Researchers find that German cockroaches produce endotoxins that spread through household dust and air, amplifying allergic reactions and posing a hidden health risk in infested homes. (Levesque, 1/8)

Modern Healthcare: Pharmaceutical Care Management Association Names David Marin CEO
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association has named David Marin as president and CEO, effective Jan. 20. Juan Carlos “JC” Scott, who had led the pharmacy benefit manager trade group since 2018, stepped down in November. PCMA Chief Government Affairs Officer Lucia Lebens then served as president and CEO for an interim period. (DeSilva, 1/8)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Washington Post: Scientists Find New Clues To Why Female Fertility Declines With Age
Scientists are making inroads in understanding one of the central mysteries of human reproduction: Why do women’s eggs deteriorate as they age? The broad strokes have been well-known — the ticking of a woman’s biological clock increases risk of miscarriage and infertility, often caused by eggs with the wrong number of chromosomes, the structures that carry DNA. Researchers who presented their work at the Fertility 2026 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, say they have identified how the decline of a particular protein as women age could be a clue to the problem. (Johnson, 1/9)

CIDRAP: Prenatal Antibiotics Linked To Higher Risk Of Group B Streptococcus In Newborns
A population-based cohort study in Sweden suggests prenatal antibiotic exposure is associated with increased risk of group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease in newborns, researchers reported last week in the Journal of Infection. (Dall, 1/8)

CANCER

Stat: Medicaid Restrictions May Lead To A Million Missed Cancer Screenings Over Two Years: Study
In less than a year, new Medicaid eligibility restrictions may lead millions of people to lose coverage and then miss potentially lifesaving cancer screenings like colonoscopies or mammograms. A new analysis estimates that Americans may miss more than a million cancer screenings for colorectal, breast, or lung cancer over the two years after the new policy takes effect. (Chen, 1/8)

MedPage Today: CAR7 Gene Therapy Shows Promise In T-Cell ALL
The use of base editing to generate universal off-the-shelf CAR T cells induced durable remissions -- up to 36 months in one case -- in patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to results from a phase I study. (Bassett, 1/8)

Bloomberg: Merck In Talks To Buy Biotech Revolution Medicines, FT Says
Merck & Co. is in talks to acquire the cancer-focused biotech company Revolution Medicines Inc., according to a report in the Financial Times. The article comes one day after the Wall Street Journal reported that AbbVie Inc. was near a deal to buy Revolution. AbbVie said that story was inaccurate. The FT reported, citing a person familiar, that the price tag being discussed was between $28 billion and $32 billion. This would make it one of the biggest pharmaceutical deals since Pfizer Inc. bought Seagen Inc. for $43 billion in late 2023. (Muller, 1/8)

STATE WATCH

Bloomberg: Mamdani, Hochul Unveil Free Child Care Plan For 2-Year-Olds
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new investment to provide free child care for all 2-year-old children in the city, fulfilling part of Mamdani’s campaign pitch to offer universal care for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years. The plan will cost $498 million over the next two years, Hochul said at a press briefing with Mamdani in Brooklyn Thursday. It will be paid for with existing state funds, without requiring new taxes or revenue raisers for the next fiscal year, she said. The 2 Care program will serve about 2,000 children when it opens later this year, Mamdani said. (Nahmias, 1/8)

The Connecticut Mirror: Connecticut Health Program For Public Sector Workers Lost $23 Million In Last Fiscal Year
The state-run health plan for municipal and other public-sector employees outside of state government paid almost $23 million more in claims than it collected in member premiums last fiscal year, according to a new report from Comptroller Sean Scanlon’s office. But Scanlon said this week the Connecticut Partnership Plan remains fiscally sound and generally has performed in the black since member premiums were adjusted in 2019. (Phaneuf, 1/8)

ProPublica: New York City Employees Suing EmblemHealth After Not Being Able To Access Mental Health Care 
In late 2024, Nimrod Shimrony, an emergency medical technician for the New York City Fire Department, tried to end his life. After completing an intensive outpatient treatment program, he and his wife searched for a therapist for months. Valeria Calderón, a special education teacher with New York City’s public school system, suffered a miscarriage that same year. Before she tried to have a baby again, she sought help with the depression and anxiety she had been struggling with. She called more than a dozen therapists. (Blau, 1/9)

The New York Times: Former Uvalde Teacher’s Testimony Throws A Trial Into Chaos
Lawyers for a former officer charged with abandoning children in the police response accused prosecutors of withholding information. A judge ruled prosecutors had erred but denied a motion for a mistrial. (Sandoval, 1/8)

The New York Times: Brown Shooting Suspect’s Descent From Brilliant Friend To Angry Loner 
After Claudio Neves Valente was accused of killing two Brown students and a M.I.T. professor, former classmates recalled how he yearned to go to M.I.T. himself and failed, adding to his growing list of resentments. (Ahmed and Fonseca, 1/8)