Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Friday, June 5, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: ‘We Live With Fear’: In Congo, Doctors Face Ebola With Little Protection
Harrowing scenes are unfolding at health facilities at the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A 25-year-old midwife and a doctor in his early 30s are sick with Ebola symptoms, including fevers and severe joint pain, said their colleague Elisabeth Furaha, the medical director at SOFEPADI’s Karibuni Wa Mama Medical Center in the northeastern province of Ituri. (Maxmen, 6/5)
KFF Health News: Upcoming Billing Change Could Make Pregnancy Pricier
Having a baby in the United States is about to get more complicated. Under new billing codes that take effect in January, doctors who manage maternity care will start charging à la carte for visits and services related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. It’s an about-face from recent years, when doctors have often received a single “bundled” payment for maternity care they provided. Although OB-GYNs strongly back the change and have pushed for it for years, some patient advocates and employers say it’s an open question whether the new system will result in better care or increased patient costs. (Andrews, 6/5)
KFF Health News: Millions Of Kids Could Lose Insurance As GOP Healthcare Cuts Start To Bite
More than 1 million children have lost insurance since President Donald Trump took office in 2025. Another million could lose it amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and new Medicaid eligibility rules. On WAMU’s Health Hub on June 3, KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner explained how fear and confusion complicate access to health coverage. (Rovner, 6/5)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Medicaid Work Rules Surprise States
New rules out this week from the Trump administration for implementing work requirements for adult Medicaid recipients surprised many state officials. The rules make it more difficult for states to determine who should be exempt from the requirements, including by stipulating that having a serious condition such as HIV or cancer does not automatically excuse an enrollee from having to engage in 80 hours per month of paid work, volunteering, or school attendance. (Rovner, 6/4)
PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES
Stat: Supreme Court Backs Generic Drugmaker In 'Skinny Labeling' Case
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Hikma Pharmaceuticals did not infringe patents held by Amarin in a decision that makes generic drugmakers less vulnerable to lawsuits over so-called skinny labels. The ruling overturned a lower court decision that sided with Amarin. Generic drugmakers had argued that, if the Supreme Court also ruled in favor of Amarin, they would be discouraged from making and selling lower-cost versions of brand-name medicines, which would maintain higher prices for prescription drugs. (Silverman, 6/4)
Bloomberg: Roche Chair Accuses US Government Of Drug Price ‘Blackmail’
Roche Holding AG Chairman Severin Schwan accused the US government of using heavy-handed tactics over drug prices and warned it could have a negative long-term impact on Europe. The Swiss drug company agreed a pact with President Donald Trump’s administration to lower drug prices for some Americans in late 2025, in exchange for a three-year reprieve from threatened tariffs. Roche was one of several pharma companies that made similar pledges after being targeted by Trump’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) drug pricing policy. (Kinzelmann, 6/4)
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Fierce Healthcare: 2M Children Dropped Out Of Medicaid, CHIP Since January 2025
There are 2 million fewer children enrolled in either Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program compared to January 2025, according to a new report. The Children and Families at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy operates a state-by-state enrollment tracker that identified the declines through April, and warned that enrollment drop-offs at this scale should alarm policymakers. Federal data finds a 4% decline, equating to about 1.5 million children, per the report. (Minemyer, 6/4)
The Washington Post: House Bill Rolls Back Food Aid For Pregnant Women, Children
By a vote of 213-210, the House passed an appropriations measure to fund the Agriculture Department among other agencies. The bill, which the Senate has yet to consider, aims to cut about 1.5 percent from overall federal agriculture spending in fiscal 2027, according to Republicans. ... Under the legislation, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — more commonly known as WIC — would lose $141 million in funding for fruit and vegetable benefits for the nearly 5.4 million children and pregnant and postpartum women enrolled, according to an estimate from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (Alfaro, 6/4)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive: FDA Launches Study Of Abortion Pill Safety As Opponents Push For Limits
The Food and Drug Administration has launched a safety study of the abortion pill, also known as mifepristone, a step that could pave the way for the Trump administration to restrict how it is distributed and used. The effort is expected to take about six months, administration officials said, meaning it likely won’t be completed before the midterm elections. ... Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, ousted last month, had promised lawmakers he would launch a mifepristone study but told others in the administration that he needed new data systems for the effort. The current study is using existing drug-safety surveillance systems at the agency, according to the administration officials. (Essley Whyte, 6/4)
The New York Times: In A First, Scientists Precisely Edit Human Embryo Genes
Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an achievement that could open the way to babies engineered with particular characteristics. The prospect has fueled controversy for years. On the one hand, the technology might one day enable parents to safely repair disease-causing mutations in embryos. But it might also be used to select desired traits — a practice that some ethicists have argued is nothing short of eugenics. (Zimmer, 6/4)
AP: Melinda French Gates Increases Women's Health Donations
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates will expand her giving to improve women’s health globally, pledging another $215 million to support contraceptive access and maternal care, as well as initiatives aimed at middle-aged women, including further study of menopause. The new funding announced Thursday pushes French Gates’ donations for women’s health over $600 million in the past two years. (Gamboa, 6/4)
EBOLA OUTBREAK
Stat: HHS Confirms Americans With High-Risk Ebola Exposures Will Have Access To Experimental Therapy
Americans who have high-risk exposures to Ebola in the current outbreak in Central Africa will have access to an antibody treatment that has shown great promise in animal testing but hasn’t yet undergone a clinical trial to show whether it is efficacious in people, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Thursday. The antibody treatment, known as MBP-134, is made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an agency within HHS that helps develop medical countermeasures for rare and emerging diseases, and biological threats. (Branswell, 6/4)
The Hill: CDC's Jay Bhattacharya Defends Donald Trump's Ebola Response
Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Jay Bhattacharya defended the Trump administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak Thursday, writing in The Wall Street Journal that the measures being taken are scientifically stronger than those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bhattacharya said the COVID-19 public health response measures such as “lockdowns,” school closures, and mask and vaccine mandates “made little scientific sense.” (Weixel, 6/4)
WISN: Milwaukee Health Dept. Monitoring 3 'Low-Risk' Travelers For Ebola As A Precaution
The City of Milwaukee Health Department says it is monitoring three "very low-risk individuals" as a precaution for Ebola, as of June 4. A spokesperson described the three people as "travelers," coming back from Africa. (Schmitz, 6/4)
CIDRAP: Ebola Spreads To Area Under Islamic State Control As Cases Mount
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached Mambasa, a part of the country run by Islamic State militants, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Health workers do not travel to the area, which is chaotic and violent, making containment and contact tracing impossible, sources told the paper. (Soucheray, 6/4)
The New York Times: How Gold Is Driving The Spread Of Ebola
For over a century, gold has been the lifeblood of Mongbwalu, a remote hill town in Ituri province that draws people looking for work from across Congo and beyond. But now Mongbwalu is at the epicenter of the devastating Ebola outbreak sweeping this region, and gold is helping to drive it. Experts now believe that the outbreak, already the third largest on record, began in Mongbwalu as early as February. Yet the authorities failed to detect it until May 15. By the time a crisis was declared, the Bundibugyo virus had already been spreading for weeks through Mongbwalu’s gold mines. (Walsh, 6/5)
ABC News: Aid Organization Says Trust Is Key In Combatting Ebola Outbreak As Cases Grow
As a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread, an aid organization says trust is key to beating back the virus. At the time of publication, 363 cases of Ebola and 62 deaths have been confirmed, according to the Congo Ministry of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with more than 4,200 contacts under follow-up. In neighboring Uganda, 16 cases and one death have been confirmed, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health. (Kekatos, Jovanovic and Magee, 6/4)
Al Jazeera: What Are The Ebola Vaccines Under Research, And When Will They Be Ready?
Here is what we know about the three different vaccines: The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) will receive $3.2m to develop a vaccine using a method that introduces a harmless, naturally weakened animal virus to deliver genetic instructions that the body can decode. Moderna will receive $50m for tests and trials using the flexible mRNA technology that helped the company deliver quickly on its Moderna vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Oxford will receive $8.6m to develop a vaccine based on the same technology that it used to develop the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The method similarly deploys a modified version of a chimpanzee cold virus to deliver the vaccine to the body. The vaccines will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (Lawal, 6/4)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The Washington Post: ICE To Stop Reporting Deaths Of Newly Released Detainees, Internal Memo Says
As the number of immigrants dying in government custody rises, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is shrinking the scope of which deaths it will be required to report. In a memo sent to agency employees Thursday and reviewed by The Washington Post, acting director David Venturella said ICE is eliminating its requirement to report deaths that occur within 30 days of people being released from its custody. (MacMillan, 6/4)
The Hill: Trump Cuts Funding To Hawaii's Medicaid Fraud Unit
The Trump administration is cutting off $3 million in federal funding to Hawaii’s Medicaid fraud control program after it failed to bring a single indictment or conviction over the past four years. In a letter sent to Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General March Bell said his agency would not recertify the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), a body that investigates and prosecutes fraud by healthcare providers. Without a certified fraud control unit, the state’s Medicaid funding could be at risk. (Weixel, 6/4)
MedPage Today: New Change To PEPFAR Will Slash CDC's Presence Abroad
A major change to how the popular President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program operates took effect on June 1, which experts warn will result in a massive decline in the U.S.'s public health presence abroad. Historically, the U.S. State Department brokered Congress-appropriated dollars for PEPFAR programs and CDC would receive approximately $2 billion in PEPFAR funds annually for the agency's programs around the world. (Robertson, 6/4)
The Hill: Sen. Cassidy Blames RFK For Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) directly blamed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a resurgence in vaccine-preventable illnesses Thursday. On the social media platform X, Cassidy shared a New York Times article reporting on hospitals seeing a resurgence in vaccine-preventable illnesses, with doctors telling the outlet they’re frequently seeing illnesses they used to rarely encounter. “A terrible outcome from RFK and others promoting vaccine skepticism,” wrote Cassidy. (Choi, 6/4)
Stat: Tiny HHS Office Tasked With Protecting Research Participants’ Safety Is Running On Fumes
Departures and budget cuts left Office of Human Research Protections with 10 staffers to oversee 13,000 institutions. (Molteni, 6/5)
Stat: Drug Companies, Patient Groups Urge FDA To Pause Commissioner’s Voucher Program
Leaders at the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday listened to criticisms and recommendations for how to move forward with a speedy drug review program put in place by former FDA commissioner Marty Makary. The listening session, held on the FDA’s White Oak Campus, featured 17 speakers representing patient groups, drug companies, and academic organizations. Some had positive feedback, particularly those whose drugs have already been approved through the program. But most asked the agency to pause the program, and then bring it back through normal regulatory procedures that require public feedback. (Lawrence, 6/4)
MILITARY HEALTH
Military Times: Pentagon Balks At Court Order Allowing HIV-Positive Persons To Serve
The Department of Defense has filed a motion to block a June 2 court order that required it to allow recruits with asymptomatic HIV to enlist or commission into the U.S. military. Attorneys for the Pentagon filed a motion Wednesday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reconsider its Tuesday decision in the case, Wilkins v. Hegseth, which lifted a stay on prohibiting HIV-positive people whose infections are controlled by medication and who otherwise qualify from serving while the case continues. (Kime, 6/4)
Military Times: Draft Defense Bill Would Halt Cuts, Closures Of Military Health Facilities
House lawmakers want to stop any reductions in service or closures of military hospitals or clinics by the Department of Defense, according to draft legislation under consideration this week in the Armed Services Committee. The panel’s personnel subcommittee has proposed limiting the DoD’s plans to restructure the military health system and called for reversing any changes the department has made to 41 military treatment facilities. (Kime, 6/3)
CANCER RESEARCH
The New York Times: Early Research Suggests A Path To Predict And Prevent Lung Cancer
Scientists have made a discovery that may help prevent some people from developing lung cancer, which kills more people worldwide than any other cancer. A team of more than 80 researchers working across four continents have identified a set of proteins in the blood that accurately predict lung cancers more than five years before diagnosis. The scientists also found early evidence that an existing anti-inflammatory drug could significantly reduce lung cancer risk in people with elevated concentrations of these proteins, which they linked to inflammation. (Agrawal, 6/4)
FiercePharma: Patient Deaths Raise Questions About ADC's Cancer Drug Zynlonta
Three times as many deaths in the study arm versus the control arm in a trial of ADC Therapeutics' Zynlonta have raised questions about the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), which has been on the market since the FDA granted it accelerated approval in 2021. (Dunleavy, 6/4)
Stat: For Pancreatic Cancer Patients, An Exciting Drug Can Feel Out Of Reach
Positive results for daraxonrasib have taken the oncology world by storm. With so much interest and demand, patients are scrambling to get access. (Silverman, 6/4)
Fierce Healthcare: Thyme Care Expands Services For Cancer Survivors
Due to advances in cancer treatment and early detection, the population of cancer survivors continues to grow, reaching more than 18 million individuals in the U.S. By 2035, that number is projected to exceed 22 million. But many cancer survivors have ongoing medical and mental health needs after cancer treatment ends. Value-based cancer care navigation company Thyme Care has expanded its cancer survivorship program, called Next Chapter Care, to provide a personalized, longitudinal approach to survivorship support. (Landi, 6/4)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Modern Healthcare: Lifepoint Health Buys 8 Hospitals From ScionHealth
Lifepoint Health completed its acquisition of eight ScionHealth hospitals. The transaction expands Lifepoint’s national acute-care network to 68 hospitals. Lifepoint plans to retain current employees and maintain services at the facilities, the Brentwood, Tennessee-based system said in a Tuesday news release. (Kacik, 6/4)
Healthcare Dive: WVU Health System Takes Next Step Toward Buying Independence Health
The deal should further expand WVU Health System’s footprint in southwestern Pennsylvania and central Appalachia. WVU Health System already has a presence in the area. It owns hospitals in Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Maryland; Ohio and West Virginia. (Halleman, 6/4)
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Acquires Amsurg, Expands Ambulatory Surgery Center Reach
Ascension has acquired ambulatory surgery provider Amsurg. The deal means the St. Louis-based provider will operate about 300 ambulatory surgery centers across more than 30 states, offering gastroenterology, orthopedics and other services. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, though previous estimates placed the acquisition value at $3.9 billion. (Hudson, 6/4)
Modern Healthcare: Epic Seeks To Dismiss SelfRx From Health Gorilla Lawsuit
Epic Systems seeks to remove one of the companies included in its case against Health Gorilla and others that alleges they fraudulently schemed to acquire patient records. Epic seeks a voluntary dismissal, with prejudice, of its claims against SelfRx, according to a Wednesday court filing. Epic filed its lawsuit against data broker Health Gorilla in January. The company alleges that Health Gorilla and several health tech companies including SelfRx engaged in a fraudulent scheme to acquire patient records. Epic accuses the companies of obtaining the records to sell to attorneys looking for individuals to join mass-tort or class-action lawsuits. (Famakinwa, 6/4)
STATE WATCH
The New York Times: Court Reverses Convictions Of Paramedics In Elijah McClain’s Death
An appeals court in Colorado on Thursday reversed the homicide convictions of two paramedics in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was pinned down by police and died after being injected with ketamine. The Colorado Court of Appeals also ordered new trials for Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, citing errors in jury instructions related to the charge. (Walker, 6/4)
Bloomberg: Muni Tobacco Bonds See First Default As Nassau County Misses Payment
The municipal bond market’s $80 billion tobacco bond sector had its first-ever default after a Nassau County, New York, agency failed to make a $36 million principal payment on June 1. The junk-rated debt, backed by settlement payments that states receive from tobacco companies, were issued in 2006 as part of a $431 million deal. (Braun, 6/4)
Spotlight PA: Reports Show That Roughly Half Of Pennsylvania Child Deaths Have Not Been Reviewed Since 2020
Many Pennsylvania counties are failing to review the death of every child in their area, despite a 2008 state law that requires them to do so. The problem, advocates and program participants say, is a lack of both state assistance in collecting data and time for volunteers to run the local panels. Gov. Josh Shapiro wants the legislature to approve $2.5 million to improve this work, but it’s unclear if the request will be considered a priority this year. (White, 6/4)
NBC News: Rare Type Of Lyme Disease Found For The First Time In New York
There’s a new type of Lyme disease in New York state. Almost all cases of the tick-borne illness in the United States are caused by corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. But B. burgdorferi is actually one of two Lyme disease-causing species in the U.S. The other, Borrelia mayonii, is far rarer. Until now, it has ever been detected only in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Both types are spread by deer ticks. (Sullivan, 6/4)
Bloomberg: Raw Milk Linked To Bacterial Outbreak Sickening Nearly 60 People In Idaho
Dozens of people in Idaho contracted a bacterial infection after drinking raw milk, including eight that had to be hospitalized, state public health officials said, underscoring the danger of the increasingly popular beverage. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is investigating two outbreaks, with nearly 60 people falling ill after drinking untreated milk, it said in a June 3 statement. At least 45 people tested positive for campylobacteriosis, a common foodborne illness that can cause bloody diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting. Not everyone who is sick was tested. (Inampudi and Nix, 6/4)
PUBLIC HEALTH
CIDRAP: WHO Attributes 866 Million Yearly Illnesses, 1.5 Million Deaths Around The World To Contaminated Food
Today, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates two new outbreaks of foodborne illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) released global data estimating the annual number of illnesses and deaths tied to unsafe food at 866 million and 1.5 million, respectively. The WHO report, published in The Lancet Global Health, also found that, despite children younger than 5 years making up only 9% of the population, this age-group represents nearly one third of all cases of foodborne illness—especially deadly diarrheal diseases. (Van Beusekom, 6/4)
