First Edition: Friday, June 27, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Kennedy’s Vaccine Advisers Sow Doubts As Scientists Protest US Pivot On Shots
As fired and retired scientists rallied outside in the Atlanta heat, an advisory panel that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. handpicked to replace experts he’d fired earlier met inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters to plan a more skeptical vaccine future. The new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began their tenure Wednesday by shifting the posture of the 60-year-old panel from support for vaccine advancement to doubt about the safety and efficacy of well-established and widely administered inoculations. (Allen and Whitehead, 6/27)

KFF Health News: Too Sick To Work, Some Americans Worry Trump’s Bill Will Strip Their Health Insurance
Stephanie Ivory counts on Medicaid to get treated for gastrointestinal conditions and a bulging disc that makes standing or sitting for long periods painful. Her disabilities keep her from working, she said. Ivory, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, believes she would be exempt from a requirement that adult Medicaid recipients work, but she worries about the reporting process. “It’s hard enough just renewing Medicaid coverage every six months with the phone calls and paperwork,” she said. (Galewitz and Armour, 6/27)

KFF Health News: Thune Says Health Care Often ‘Comes With A Job.’ The Reality’s Not Simple Or Straightforward
Millions of people are expected to lose access to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans if federal lawmakers approve the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Donald Trump’s domestic policy package, which is now moving through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune discussed health care and the pending legislation in an interview with KOTA, a South Dakota TV station. But he focused on a different kind of health insurance — employer-sponsored insurance. (Zionts, 6/27)

KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’ Podcast: Live From Aspen — Governors And An HHS Secretary Sound Off
It’s not exactly news that our nation’s health care system is only a “system” in the most generous sense of the word and that no one entity is really in charge of it. Notwithstanding, there are some specific responsibilities that belong to the federal government, others that belong to the states, and still others that are shared between them. And sometimes people and programs fall through the cracks. (Rovner, 6/26)

MEDICAID AND MEDICARE

Bloomberg: Trump Tax Bill Hits $250B Medicaid, Health Care Roadblock In Senate
A Republican plan to cut $250 billion in Medicaid and other health-care spending hit a procedural roadblock in the Senate Thursday, complicating efforts to pass President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package. The Senate’s legislative rules-keeper judged a series of key health care provisions in the legislation ineligible for a special procedure Republicans are using to bypass the Senate’s normal process so they can avoid making concessions to Democrats. (Cohrs Zhang, Wasson and Durkin, 6/26)

Stat: Major Health Care Measures Struck From Trump Tax Bill – For Now 
The Senate parliamentarian struck down several major health care measures in Republicans’ tax bill, including Medicaid changes that the GOP was counting on to help pay for President Trump’s tax cuts. (Wilkerson and Payne, 6/26)

The Washington Post: $10.6B Medicare Scheme Is One Of The Largest Such Busts In U.S. History
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled charges against 11 Eastern Europeans they accused of running a sophisticated, $10.6 billion Medicare fraud scheme in what appears to be one of the largest such busts in government history. According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York, the group based in Russia and elsewhere submitted billions of dollars in false health care claims using personal information stolen from more than 1 million Americans in all 50 states. (Roebuck and Diamond, 6/26)

RFK JR. AND VACCINES

Politico: Kennedy’s Vaccine Panel Met For The First Time. Here’s What To Know
The first meeting of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked vaccine advisers concluded Thursday — setting the stage to change the childhood vaccine schedule and voting to stop recommending flu shots with an additive that has long been a target of the anti-vaccine movement. The meeting offered a glimpse into how the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will operate — and how federal vaccine policy is beginning to reflect Kennedy’s personal views. (Gardner and Gardner, 6/26)

The Washington Post: What Is Thimerosal, The Flu Vaccine Ingredient Targeted By RFK Jr.?
Federal vaccine advisers installed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to stop recommending influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a preservative that has been long criticized by anti-vaccine activists. Scientists and public health authorities have deemed thimerosal safe, and the vast majority of flu shots don’t have it. But the removal would probably make flu vaccines more expensive and harder to receive for some Americans, public health experts said. (Weber, 6/26)

NBC News: Anti-Vaccine Activist Presents Data To RFK Jr.'s Reshaped CDC Advisory Panel
A longtime anti-vaccine activist gave a presentation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee meeting Thursday about an issue that has long been considered settled science. It was perhaps the clearest sign of how meetings of the panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, have already changed drastically under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently fired all 17 members of the panel and replaced them with his own appointees. (Bendix and Edwards, 6/26)

ABC News: CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel To Study Child Immunization Schedule, Recommends RSV Shot For Babies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee voted on Thursday to recommend infants receive a newer monoclonal antibody shot for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 5-2 to recommend clesrovimab, made by Merck, for infants 8 months and younger who are not protected by a maternal vaccine. (Kekatos, 6/26)

ON CAPITOL HILL

AP: Supreme Court Lets States Block Medicaid Funding For Planned Parenthood
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can bar Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The federal government and many states already block using Medicaid funds to cover abortion. But the state-federal health insurance program for lower-income people does pay for other services from Planned Parenthood, including birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. (Mulvihill and Ungar, 6/26)

The Hill: Reproductive Rights Groups Fear SCOTUS Ruling Will Inspire Anti-Abortion Politicians 
Reproductive rights advocates are reeling from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of South Carolina in a legal case to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which they fear will give other states the green light to do the same. “Today’s decision is a grave injustice that strikes at the very bedrock of American freedom and promises to send South Carolina deeper into a health care crises,” said Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. (O’Connell-Domenech, 6/26)

MedPage Today: Experts Have Questions About FDA's New Priority Review Program
While there's little disagreement that speeding drug approvals would be a good thing, there are more questions than answers about the FDA's new national priority voucher program, experts told MedPage Today. Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, announced the creation of the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program .Essentially, companies that meet criteria for aligning with a set of national health priorities will receive a voucher that entitles them to a speedier review -- one that's been advertised as taking 1 to 2 months instead of 10 to 12 months. (Fiore, 6/26)

Stat: NIH Research Funding Gap Grew, Though Grant Reviews Resumed
At his confirmation hearing in March, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya assured the Senate health committee that he would restart grant reviews, after a months-long suspension by the Trump administration, and get all of the agency’s congressionally appropriated money out the door. When the key committees resumed meeting the next month, it appeared to be a positive step toward restoring the flow of billions of dollars in biomedical research funding to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and Parker, 6/27)

CBS News: Climate Movement Strikes Back With First-Of-Its-Kind Class Action Lawsuit Against EPA
When Donald Trump won reelection, Jennifer Hadayia knew she'd need a good lawyer. As the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, an environmental nonprofit advocacy organization that works to reduce the risks of air pollution on public health, she had fought the first Trump administration in court already on a variety of issues. (Wholf, 6/26)

AP: Gun Control Crusader And Former US Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Dead At 81
Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who successfully ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun control after a mass shooting on a New York commuter train left her husband dead and her son severely wounded, has died. She was 81. News of her death was shared Thursday by several elected officials on her native Long Island and by Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee. Details about her death were not immediately available. (Eltman, 6/26)

PUBLIC HEALTH

CIDRAP: Antibiotics Used In Food-Animal Production Linked To Resistance In People
New research suggests that a class of antibiotics commonly used in poultry and other food-producing animals, but not in people, could contribute to antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. The antibiotic class in question is ionophores, which are used to treat the parasitic infection coccidiosis in poultry and to promote growth and prevent disease in pigs and cattle. ... Regulated less strictly than medically important antibiotics, ionophore use accounts for 37% of antibiotics used in food-producing animals on the United States. (Dall, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Measles Cases Confirmed In Washington, Virginia
More measles cases have been reported in Washington state. Officials in Seattle-King County yesterday reported two measles infections in the same household, a child and an adult who were likely exposed while hosting an international traveler. (Soucheray, 6/26)

AP: A New Mexico County Detention Facility Has A Measles Outbreak
Five people who are incarcerated at a New Mexico county detention facility have measles, the state health department said Thursday. The Luna County Detention Center, located in the southwest New Mexico city of Deming, houses about 400 incarcerated people and has 100 staff members. State health officials say they are determining the vaccination status of people being held at the facility and are providing testing kits and equipment. As of Friday, the U.S. has 1,227 measles cases nationwide as of Tuesday, including active outbreaks in 12 states. (Shastri, 6/26)

AP: Duncan Hines Parent Conagra Brands Says It Will Phase Out Artificial Colors
Conagra Brands, the parent company of Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and other brands, is the latest big food company to say it’s discontinuing the use of artificial dyes. In a statement released Wednesday – the same day as a similar statement from Nestle – Chicago-based Conagra said it will remove artificial colors from its frozen foods by the end of this year. Conagra’s frozen brands include Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice and Birds Eye. (Durbin, 6/26)

CNN: Food Dyes: Removing Them Doesn’t Make Products Healthy 
In the crusade to reduce chronic disease and neurobehavioral issues in the United States, synthetic food dyes are a hot target. California began paving the way for legislation against petroleum-based synthetic dyes a few years ago, based on health concerns including a potentially increased risk of cancer and neurobehavioral issues in children and animals. (Rogers, 6/26)

AP: Philadelphia Schools Accused Of Failing To Properly Inspect Asbestos
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Philadelphia’s public schools with failing to properly inspect eight schools for damaged asbestos. The district agreed to have the criminal case deferred while a court keeps tabs on its response. Prosecutors said it was the first time a school district in the U.S. has faced such environmental criminal allegations. The district is charged with eight counts of violating the federal Toxic Substances Control Act for allegedly failing to perform inspections in a timely manner during a recent five-year period. (6/27)

CBS News: Mosquitos In Northern Colorado County Test Positive For West Nile Virus
This week, a sample of the mosquito population in Larimer County in Northern Colorado tested positive for West Nile virus. County health officials say this marks the beginning of heightened risk for residents, as warmer weather and rain lead to more mosquito activity. About 1 in 5 people infected may develop flu-like symptoms, including fever, headaches, body aches, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash. About 1 in 150 people who are infected develop more severe illness, which includes symptoms of high fever, headache, tremors, muscle weakness, vision loss and paralysis. (Mason, 6/26)

CBS News: Maryland LGBTQ+ Advocates Vow To Bolster Resources With 988 Lifeline Set To End
Maryland LGBTQ+ organizations are stepping up for youth as a national resource is set to end in less than a month. The Trump administration announced that the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will end its lifeline dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth by July 17. The lifeline has also been known as the Press 3 Option. Advocates are making sure the youth who rely on this service continue getting the help they need. (Valera, 6/26)

SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS

CIDRAP: Trial Of Jynneos Mpox Vaccine Begins In Infants, Toddlers, Pregnant Women
Bavarian Nordic said today that the first of two clinical trials of the use of its Jynneos (MVA-BN) mpox/smallpox vaccine has begun in vulnerable populations: infants and children 2 years old and younger, and pregnant or breastfeeding women. The first participants have been vaccinated in a study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of Jynneos in 344 infants aged 4 to 24 months. (Wappes, 6/26)

MedPage Today: RSV Vaccine Tied To Lower Dementia Risk
Two AS01-adjuvanted vaccines for different pathogens -- the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine (Arexvy) and the recombinant shingles vaccine (Shingrix) -- were tied to a lower dementia risk, an analysis of over 400,000 U.S. older adults showed. Compared with the flu vaccine, the AS01-adjuvanted RSV vaccine was associated with a 29% increase in time without a dementia diagnosis, with a restricted mean time lost [RMTL] ratio of 0.71 (95% CI 0.61-0.83) over 18 months, reported Paul Harrison, BMBCh, DM, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues. (George, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Analysis Shows 2023-24 COVID Vaccine Offered Strong Protection Against Critical Illness
A new study shows good 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in adults against medically attended COVID-19, especially against critical illness. The study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, is based on outcomes seen among US patients in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's VISION Network during the XBB and JN.1 Omicron subvariant waves. (Soucheray, 6/26)

CBS News: How A Magic New Treatment For Scoliosis Is Helping Kids In Delaware
Doctors at Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware are treating a common spine condition with something called "magic rods." For one little girl with scoliosis, the rods are making a big difference. ... Sadie's spine is being treated with a technology called MAGnetic Expansion Control — or MAGEC rods. After the rods are surgically implanted, they can be slowly expanded with internal and external magnets, Dr. Suken Shah with Nemours Children's Hospital said. (Stahl and Nau, 6/26)

Stat: Addiction Medication Access Lags For Black, Hispanic Patients 
Black and Hispanic people are “significantly less likely” to receive two medications used to treat opioid addiction, according to a new study. (Facher, 6/26)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Bloomberg: Wegovy-WeightWatchers Deal Added After Novo Drops Hims & Hers Partnership
Novo Nordisk A/S struck a deal with WeightWatchers to boost access to its Wegovy obesity drug, just days after axing a collaboration with telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc. WeightWatchers subscribers will be able to access Wegovy via CenterWell Pharmacy from July 1, Novo said Thursday. The drugmaker is also offering a $299 introductory price for self-pay patients who start on Wegovy, as well as for people who redeemed an earlier $199 offer and need a refill. (Kresge and Muller, 6/26)

Bloomberg: New UnitedHealth CEO Shakes Up Management At Optum Division
The leader of UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Optum Health care delivery unit has left the role, an early indication of management changes under Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth’s new chief executive officer. The division will now be led by Patrick Conway, who was recently promoted to CEO of the broader Optum division that includes Optum Health. Conway will add the title of Optum Health CEO, according to a company memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. (Tozzi, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Carlsmed Files For $100M IPO
Carlsmed, an artificial intelligence-enabled spine surgery solutions company, filed plans Thursday to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering. The company has applied to list its common stock on Nasdaq under the “CARL” ticker. The filing did not specify a price range or the number of shares for the proposed IPO. (Dubinsky, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Nest Health, Imagine Pediatrics Court Medicaid Insurers
Home-based primary care companies promise to do for kids what others are doing for older adults: keep them healthy and out of hospital emergency rooms. Start-up companies such as Nest Health, Imagine Pediatrics and Bluebird Kids Health are partnering with Medicaid managed care organizations to provide a variety of primary care services to low-income kids where they live. Easy access to care could help prevent more costly interventions down the road and save money as states face hundreds of billions of dollars in potential federal funding cuts to their Medicaid programs. (Eastabrook, 6/26)

STATE WATCH

CBS News: Dozens Protest Children's Hospital LA Decision To End Gender-Affirming Care
Dozens of people protested outside Children's Hospital Los Angeles and demanded that the medical center reverse its decision to shut down its gender-affirming programs. ... In an internal email shared with CBS News Los Angeles, the CHLA administration stated that it had to close its Center for Transyouth Health and Development and terminate its gender-affirming surgical program in July due to the "increasingly severe impacts of federal administrative actions and proposed policies." (Pozen, 6/26)

AP: Ohio’s $60B Budget Bill: What It Means For Taxes, The Browns, And LGBTQ+ Rights
Echoing the approach of Trump’s DOGE as one of that program’s architects runs for governor with Trump’s support, lawmakers boasted of the legislation’s 3% to 4% cuts to administrative agency budgets. Beyond that, it defunds, defangs, reassigns or abolishes bodies that punish election law violations, craft public school policy, monitor rare diseases, field complaints about Ohio’s state prisons and oversee state spending on Medicaid — the largest and most foundational portion of the state budget. (Carr Smyth, 6/26)

AP: Idaho Doctor And Patients Fight New Law Cutting HIV Medication Access For Immigrants
An Idaho doctor and four residents are challenging a new state law that halts some of the few public benefits available to people living in the U.S. unlawfully, including a program that provides access to life-saving HIV and AIDS medication for low income patients. The ACLU of Idaho filed the federal lawsuit Thursday night on behalf of Dr. Abby Davids and four people with HIV who are not named because they are immigrants without lawful permanent residency. (Boone, 6/27)

AP: Oklahoma Seeks To Exclude Soda, Candy From Food Stamp Purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased under the benefit for low-income Americans long known as food stamps. Stitt made the announcement during an event at the Capitol with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. (Murphy, 6/26)

AP: Michigan Wins Appeal In Legal Challenge To How It Handles Extra Blood Samples From Newborns
A yearslong effort to challenge Michigan’s practice of storing millions of dried blood samples from newborn babies has been turned upside down by a federal appeals court, which threw out key decisions in favor of parents who said the policy violated their rights. In a 3-0 opinion, the court found nothing unconstitutional about how the state Department of Health and Human Services handles leftover samples, which are called blood spots. (White, 6/26)

CBS News: Unvaccinated Students Not Allowed To Attend Newton Public Schools Starting This Fall
Students who are not up to date on their vaccinations will not be allowed back inside of Newton classrooms this fall, according to Anna Nolin, the superintendent of public schools. In a memo sent to the Newton School Committee last week, Nolin says the district's decision to reinforce state vaccination requirements comes after a recent chickenpox outbreak in the district. (Chaney, 6/26)

CBS News: Maryland Launches Effort To Reduce Gun Violence, Track Firearm Data
The Maryland Department of Health shared a detailed plan Thursday to reduce gun violence in the state and track firearm data. The effort comes as Maryland ranked 17th lowest among U.S. states for a five-year firearm fatality rate between 2019 and 2023, according to data from the department. (Lockman, 6/26)