First Edition: Friday, March 14, 2025

KFF Health News: Barbershop Killing Escalates Trauma For Boston Neighborhood Riven By Gun Violence
On days when the sun was shining and the air was warm with a gentle, cooling breeze, Ateiya Sowers-Hassell liked to keep the salon door open. Labor Day was one of those days. Sowers-Hassell was tending to two clients at Salvaged Roots, the natural hair salon and spa in the Four Corners section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood where she works as a stylist. She was in a groove, soothing music playing in the background, when gunshots boomed through the air. (Giles, 3/14)

KFF Health News: Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections In California, But Newsom Could Balk
When patients walked into Planned Parenthood clinics, a consumer data company sold their precise locations to anti-abortion groups for targeted ads. ... Progressive California lawmakers have proposed a number of bills aimed at bolstering privacy protections for women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to such intrusions by anti-abortion groups, conservative states, and federal law enforcement agencies as President Donald Trump declares the nation “will be woke no longer” and flexes his executive power to roll back rights. (Sánchez, 3/14)

KFF Health News: California Borrows $3.4 Billion For Medicaid Overrun As Congress Eyes Steep Cuts
California’s Medicaid program has borrowed $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund — and will likely need even more — to cover ballooning health expenses for 15 million residents with low incomes and disabilities. The state Department of Finance disclosed the loan to lawmakers in a letter late Wednesday, noting funds were needed to make critical payments to health care providers in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. (Mai-Duc, 3/13)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Cutting Continues
The Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. (Rovner, 3/13)

KFF Health News: Can House Republicans Cut $880 Billion Without Slashing Medicaid? It’s Likely Impossible
The prospect of deep Medicaid cuts has become a flashpoint in Congress, with leaders of both parties accusing their counterparts of lying. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Feb. 27 that a Republican budget measure would “set in motion the largest cut to Medicaid in American history,” and that Republicans are hiding the consequences. (Czopek and Sherman, 3/13)

Politico: HHS Braces For A Reorganization
The Trump administration is readying to slash the Department of Health and Human Services workforce again, according to seven people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the changes. The announcement could come soon, three of the people said. (Reader, Cirruzzo and Cancryn, 3/13)

The Washington Post: Judges Tell Trump Officials To Offer Fired Workers Their Jobs Back
Two federal judges on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to immediately offer jobs back to thousands of fired probationary workers as they imposed separate, broad roadblocks on the administration’s efforts. The rulings — in Maryland and California — mark the most significant challenge so far to Trump’s campaign to shrink and reshape the sprawling, 2.3-million-person bureaucracy. (Rizzo and Mettler, 3/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins To Slash Nearly 2,000 Jobs After Losing $800 Million In Federal Grants
More than 2,000 positions related to global health are being cut from the Johns Hopkins University after the Baltimore institution saw $800 million in federal grants disappear, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Hopkins’ medical school; the Bloomberg School of Public Health, including its Center for Communication Programs; and JHPIEGO, the university’s health initiative that focuses on global public health, will be affected by the cuts. USAID was the main funder for both JHPIEGO and CCP. (3/13)

Roll Call: Fears Grow About Plan To Cut Pentagon Medical Research Fund
A legislative proposal to cut in half a Pentagon-funded medical research account, subtracting hundreds of millions of dollars in this fiscal year alone, would jeopardize the fight against deadly diseases, experts said this week. (Donnelly, 3/13)

The Hill: Senate Committee Approves Marty Makary As FDA Commissioner
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted Thursday to advance Marty Makary’s nomination as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He will likely be confirmed in the full Senate. Makary, a prominent surgeon and public policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, aligned himself with the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda during his recent Senate confirmation hearing. (O’Connell-Domenech, 3/13)

The Hill: Jay Bhattacharya Moves Closer To NIH Director Confirmation
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to advance Jay Bhattacharya’s nomination as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday. He now faces a glide-path to confirmation in the full Senate. Bhattacharya will work with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his planned overhaul of public health agencies. (O’Connell-Domenech, 3/13)

Politico: Weldon’s History Of Vaccine Skepticism Helped Tank His CDC Nomination
A key Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee shared concerns about CDC director nominee Dave Weldon’s vaccine views with the White House before his nomination was pulled Thursday morning. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was so troubled about Weldon’s vaccines stance that she shared her concerns with the White House, and she was not surprised that his nomination had been pulled. (Gardner, Gardner and Cirruzzo, 3/13)

The New York Times: Dr. David Weldon On The Withdrawal 
The former pick to head the C.D.C. issued a statement following the withdrawal of his nomination. (3/13)

ABC News: Schumer Announces He'll Vote To Keep Government Open, Likely Avoiding Shutdown 
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday. In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer conceded a government shutdown is the worse outcome. "I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option," he said. (Parkinson, Peller, Pecorin and Scott, 3/13)

CNN: After Canceling Meeting Of Independent Advisers, FDA Issues 2025-26 Flu Vaccine Recommendations
The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued recommendations for the composition of influenza shots for the upcoming respiratory virus season, but without input from its independent vaccine advisers. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had been scheduled to meet Thursday to weigh in on the composition of the flu shots, but that session was canceled without explanation in late February. (Dillinger and Goodman, 3/13)

The Washington Post: Five Years Since The Pandemic Began, Covid May Now Be Endemic, Experts Say
Five years after the pandemic began, covid-19 is now more consistent with an endemic disease, U.S. health experts said. It has become similar to influenza — an endemic disease — in terms of the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, experts said. The coronavirus, which causes covid, is now less deadly, though it is more transmissible and is expected to continue experiencing waves, some of which could be severe, they said. ... There is no clear threshold for when a disease transitions from pandemic to endemic, but the endemicity of covid is largely agreed upon in the medical community, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. (Bever and Gilbert, 3/13)

CIDRAP: Study: MIS-C May Be Triggered By Latent Epstein-Barr Virus
A new study suggests that kids who develop MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), a severe complication following COVID-19 infections, may do so because COVID reactivates a latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in their bodies. The study appears in Nature. (Soucheray, 3/13)

CIDRAP: Vermont Reports Measles Case; Europe Warns Of Highest Case Count In 25 Years
The Vermont Department of Health has said a school-aged child in Lamoille County is confirmed to have measles, the first case in 2025. “The child became sick after returning with their family from traveling internationally in recent days,” the department said in a statement. “The risk to the public is believed to be low, as the child has been isolated from most community settings while they have been contagious. Investigation is ongoing.” (Soucheray, 3/13)

The New York Times: Where U.S. Measles Outbreaks Are Spreading
As new cases are reported, our maps and illustrations show the spread of the virus and how infections can run through a community. (Corum and Rosenbluth, 3/13)

CBS News: How Disease Detectives Are Hunting For Viruses At Major U.S. Airports
In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough. The CDC's Traveler Genomic Surveillance Program tests wastewater from airplanes, looking for pathogens that may have hitched a ride with passengers on long-haul international flights. (Cauchi and Gounder, 3/13)

Military.Com: VA To Step Up Rollout Of New Electronic Health Records System In 2026
The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to bring its new Federal Electronic Health Records system to nine more medical centers in 2026 than previously announced, VA officials said earlier this month. The program, which has suffered multiple setbacks since it was first introduced in the Pacific Northwest in late 2020, was to restart at four sites in Michigan in 2026. However, following meetings between the VA, medical center personnel and Oracle Health, the company that designed the system, more sites will be added in locations that will be determined following an in-depth analysis, according to the VA. (Kime, 3/13)

North Carolina Health News: Martin County Seeks Operator To Bring Rural Hospital Back To Life 
For the past 19 months, officials in rural Martin County have been working on an experimental plan to resurrect the community’s shuttered hospital. Martin General, the 43-bed facility that for seven decades served generations of residents in the Eastern North Carolina county, closed its doors in August 2023. (Baxley, 3/14)

Modern Healthcare: Cigna Names Brian Evanko President, Eric Palmer To Leave Company
Cigna is reshuffling its top leadership by promoting Brian Evanko to president and chief operating officer and elevating Ann Dennison to executive vice president and chief financial officer, the company announced Thursday. Eric Palmer, president and CEO of the Evernorth Health Services subsidiary since 2020, will end his lengthy tenure at Cigna on April 26, the insurer said in a news release. (Berryman, 3/13)

The Texas Tribune: In Lawsuit Settlement, Texas Tech’s Med School Promises It Won’t Consider Race In Admissions
A group led by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, is claiming victory after it got a commitment from Texas Tech’s medical school not to consider race in admission decisions, which the school continues to deny ever doing. (Priest, 3/13)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: An Ohio Medical School Cut Its Black History Month Funding. ACLU Is Pushing Back.
The ACLU of Ohio sent a letter to the president of Northeast Ohio Medical University, saying the school’s decisions to stop funding Black History Month to comply with federal directives is “a disturbing overcorrection.” The ACLU also accused the school of intending to deny “university funding to any student organization whose mission pertains to race, unless those organizations agree to revise their governing documents to eliminate references to race.” (Hancock, 3/13)

Modern Healthcare: Arkansas Bans Physician Noncompete Agreements
Arkansas healthcare employers will no longer be able to block physicians from working for a competitor as the state becomes the latest to limit the use of noncompete agreements. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a bill earlier this month that augments existing state law by voiding noncompete provisions in physician contracts that would prevent them from joining a rival organization. The law will take effect in mid-July. (Kacik, 3/13)

Politico: California Lawmakers Demand Answers On Medicaid Shortfall
California lawmakers are calling for answers after the governor’s office floated a loan to bail out the state’s Medicaid program, bringing renewed scrutiny on the state’s coverage of undocumented immigrants. The $3.44 billion loan, first floated to lawmakers Wednesday, will cover obligations for the state program, known as Medi-Cal, through March, but it’s raising questions about a bigger budget hole that may need to be filled later on. Lawmakers said on Thursday they were caught off guard by the news and still don’t understand the extent of the shortfall. (Bluth, 3/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Partners With SIRUM On Affordable Prescription Drugs
Maryland is partnering with SIRUM, a nonprofit redistributor of surplus medicine, to expand access to affordable prescription drugs to state residents, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. “Getting the medicine you need at an affordable rate should be a right, and it should not just be a privilege,” Moore said. (Jones, 3/13)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri House Votes To Repeal Voter-Approved Paid Sick Leave 
The Missouri House passed legislation Thursday to repeal the paid sick leave that voters approved in November. Members of the House voted 96-51 to pass the measure. It now goes to the Senate. (Kellogg, 3/13)

CBS News: Michigan Nursing Home Nurse Accused Of Practicing Without A License After Patient's Death
A 55-year-old Warren, Michigan, nurse is facing charges after a patient died at an Oakland County nursing home and rehabilitation center. Antonio Serraon is charged with one count of placing misleading or inaccurate information in medical records or charts and one count of unauthorized practice of a health profession, both of which are felony charges. (Buczek, 3/13)