First Edition: Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Immigrants With Health Conditions May Be Denied Visas Under New Trump Administration Guidance
Foreigners seeking visas to live in the U.S. might be rejected if they have certain medical conditions, including diabetes or obesity, under a Thursday directive from the Trump administration. The guidance, issued in a cable the State Department sent to embassy and consular officials and examined by KFF Health News, directs visa officers to deem applicants ineligible to enter the U.S. for several new reasons, including age or the likelihood they might rely on public benefits. The guidance says that such people could become a “public charge” — a potential drain on U.S. resources — because of their health issues or age. (Seitz, 11/6)

KFF Health News: Wielding Obscure Budget Tools, Trump’s ‘Reaper’ Vought Sows Turmoil In Public Health
When President Donald Trump posted a satirical music video on social media in early October depicting his budget director, Russell Vought, as the Grim Reaper lording over Democrats in Congress, public health workers recognized a kernel of truth. Vought has exerted extraordinary control over government spending this year, usurping congressional decisions on how the nation’s money is used. His push for more layoffs during the government shutdown is only the latest blow, following months of firings, canceled grants, and withheld funds. (Maxmen, 11/7)

KFF Health News: Concerns Over Fairness, Access Rise As States Compete For Slice Of $50B Rural Health Fund
Echo Kopplin wants South Dakota’s leaders to know that money from a new $50 billion federal rural health fund should help residents with limited transportation options. Kopplin, a physician assistant who works with seniors, low-income people, and mental health patients in the rural Black Hills, shared her thoughts at a meeting hosted by state officials. (Tribble and Zionts, 11/7)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The State Of The Affordable Care Act
Open enrollment for health plans under the Affordable Care Act began Nov. 1, yet it remains unclear how much the estimated 24 million Americans who purchase from the ACA marketplaces will be expected to pay in premiums starting in January. Unless Congress acts to extend tax credits added to the program in 2021, most consumers will be expected to contribute much more out-of-pocket; in some cases, double or triple what they are paying in 2025. (Rovner, 11/6)

PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

The Independent: Dr Oz Says Drug Exec Who Fainted In Oval Office Is Recovering: ‘He’s Doing Much Better’ 
Dr Oz says that the drug executive who collapsed in the Oval Office is doing “much better,” after the man fainted on live television. The unnamed businessman was attending an official meeting at the White House, where Donald Trump told reporters that a deal had finally been reached between the government and the manufacturers of weight-loss drugs. Now, Dr. Mehmet Oz says that he has spoken with the businessman following his collapse. “He is doing much better,” Dr Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, told Newsmax. “I actually just corresponded with him so he’s doing okay.” After that, the former TV doctor shared some advice with viewers. He urged them to step in immediately if they thought someone was about to faint. (Scott, 11/7)

Stat: RFK Jr. Reverses Course On GLP-1s, Befuddling Many MAHA Faithful 
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was uncharacteristically chummy with pharma executives at the White House on Thursday as he cheered the Trump administration’s plan for lowering obesity medication prices. Kennedy has railed against drugmakers in the past, and his lifestyle-focused Make America Healthy Again movement has opposed Medicare coverage of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. (Cueto, 11/6)

FOOD AID AND SNAP

NBC News: Judge Orders Trump Administration To Deliver Full SNAP Benefits To States By Friday
A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to deliver SNAP payments in full to states by Friday. The order, which U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued Thursday afternoon, followed two weeks of chaos and confusion about the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, during the government shutdown. (Bendix, 11/6)

The New York Times: Down to $1.18: How Families Are Coping With SNAP Cuts
In New Jersey, a single mother struggled to figure out how to feed her two young sons with $50. In Oklahoma, a 61-year-old woman questioned whether driving to a food pantry was worth the gas money. And in Colorado, a woman grabbed food from a Walmart dumpster. For the 42 million people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the country’s largest anti-hunger program, it has been a chaotic, nerve-racking week. (Adelson, Gahan, Medrano, Morales, Rao, Simmons and Williams, 11/7)

ABC News: Some SNAP Recipients Say They Have To Choose Between Rent And Food Amid Halt In Benefits
Over the last week, Martina Santos said she feels like she's been living a nightmare. The 67-year-old from the Bronx, New York, is one of the nearly 42 million Americans who saw their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits lapse on Nov. 1. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would partially fund the program using emergency funds, officials said it could take "a few weeks to up to several months." Additionally, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that no benefits will be distributed until the government reopens. (Kekatos, 11/6)

ON CAPITOL HILL

USA Today: Nancy Pelosi Is Retiring After A Groundbreaking Career. Here Are Her Top 10 Moments.
While it has President Barack Obama’s namesake, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi was the chief architect of “Obamacare.” Pelosi helped orchestrate the landmark Affordable Care Act, getting the sweeping health care reform legislation passed in Congress and to Obama’s desk. The law enacted the most significant overhaul to the U.S. healthcare system since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 by expanding health care coverage through Medicaid and a new health insurance marketplace. (Morin, 11/7)

The Hill: Mike Johnson Refuses To Promise House Vote On Extending ObamaCare Subsidies
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday he would not offer Democrats a House vote on extending expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as part of a deal to end the government shutdown. Asked at a press conference if he could assure Democrats in the House that they would get a vote on extending the subsidies, Johnson said, “No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation.” “I’m not promising anybody anything. I’m going to let this process play out,” he continued. (Brooks, 11/6)

Modern Healthcare: Prior Authorization, Telehealth Bills Gain Steam Despite Shutdown
The bitter standoff over government funding in Congress has not stopped some health policy bills from attracting greater bipartisan support. Legislation that would regulate health insurance companies’ prior authorization requirements and measures to expand telehealth coverage under Medicare are the most notable examples of bills that have gained backers during the historic standoff on Capitol Hill. The Senate has been nearly frozen since the government shut down on Oct. 1, and the House left Washington Sept. 19 and hasn’t returned. (McAuliff, 11/6)

RURAL HEALTH

The Hill: All 50 States Apply For $50B Rural Health Transformation Fund
All 50 states have submitted applications for their share of a $50 billion pot of money to transform rural health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz said Thursday. Wednesday was the deadline for states to submit a detailed application for the first tranche of the five-year fund created to help rural providers offset the cuts to Medicaid and other health programs contained in the tax cut law. (Weixel, 11/6)

LGBTQ+ HEALTH

The 19th: Supreme Court Order On Passports Will Cause 'Irreparable Harm,' Advocates Say
The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to bar transgender people from changing the gender markers on their passports, it announced in an order Thursday. The order is the latest in a back-and-forth on the policy as the country debates the right for its transgender citizens to live openly. (Sosin, 11/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Supreme Court Upholds Nursing Home Misgendering Law
Nursing home employees who deliberately and repeatedly refer to transgender patients with a name or pronoun different from the one they prefer can be charged with a crime under state law, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, overturning a lower-court ruling that had declared the law unconstitutional. The 2017 statute “properly regulates discriminatory conduct aimed at vulnerable seniors who typically constitute a captive audience, residing in long-term care facilities that have become, in effect, their homes,” Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote in the court’s lead opinion. (Egelko, 11/6)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

CNN: Multiple People At Joint Base Andrews Fall Ill After Suspicious Package Delivered With White Powder, Sources Say
A suspicious package was delivered to a US military base in Maryland on Thursday which caused multiple people to fall ill and be taken to the hospital, CNN has learned. ... Several people were transported to the on-base Malcolm Grove Medical Center after the package was opened, which contained an unknown white powder, two sources familiar with the investigation said. (Britzky and Campbell, 11/6)

MedPage Today: Public Health Workers March To HHS, Demand RFK Jr.'s Removal
Hundreds of public health workers and their allies, flanked by photographers shading their eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun, marched from the National Mall toward HHS headquarters at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building on Wednesday. Their mission: Demand HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation. (Firth, 11/6)

Becker's Hospital Review: FDA Grants 6 More National Priority Vouchers
The FDA awarded six additional products a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, bringing the total number of recipients to 15, according to a Nov. 6 news release. The pilot program aims to reduce drug review timelines to as short as two months for therapies addressing key public health priorities, affordability or domestic manufacturing, according to an Oct. 16 FDA podcast episode. (Jeffries, 11/6)

Military.com: VA Expands Psychedelic Therapy Trials For PTSD Treatment 
The Department of Veterans Affairs has confirmed it is expanding psychedelic-assisted therapy trials for veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment resistant depression, and anxiety disorders. Nine VA facilities, in the Bronx, Los Angeles, Omaha, Palo Alto, Portland (Oregon), San Diego, San Francisco, West Haven, and White River Junction; are participating in the multi-year studies, each designed to test the safety and clinical impact of psychedelic compounds used under strict supervision. (Hultz, 11/5)

Roll Call: Addiction, Mental Health Agency Eviscerated Under Trump 
​The Trump administration’s plan to revamp the entire Health and Human Services Department, which Congress has rejected, has nevertheless led to the gutting of a 33-year-old agency that had been leading the nation’s response to the drug and mental health response epidemic. (Hellmann, 11/6)

AP: Coal Miners With Black Lung Fight Trump On Rollback Of Health, Safety Protections
Lisa Emery loves to talk about her “boys.” With each word, the respiratory therapist’s face softens and shines with pride. But keep her talking, and it doesn’t take long for that passion to switch to hurt. She knows the names, ages, families and the intimate stories of each one’s scarred lungs. She worries about a whole community of West Virginia coal miners — including a growing number in their 30s and 40s — who come to her for help while getting sicker and sicker from what used to be considered an old-timer’s disease: black lung. (Mason, 11/7)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Stat: Medicare Picks Tech Firms To Run Prior Authorization Pilot 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has selected the six technology companies that will administer artificial intelligence-powered prior authorization programs for Medicare, STAT has learned. The pilot, called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) model, is a CMS effort to reduce waste and abuse within the taxpayer funded health insurance program that spent more than a trillion dollars in 2024. (Trang, 11/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: 86,000 UC Workers Plan Historic Strike Over Pay, Staffing
In what could become one of the largest labor actions in the University of California’s history, more than 86,000 nurses, health care professionals and campus workers — including those at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley — plan to walk off the job this month, accusing the university of neglecting its lowest-paid employees while rewarding those at the top. UC officials have sharply disputed those claims, arguing that the unions’ wage and benefit demands go beyond what the university can responsibly afford. (Vaziri, 11/6)

MedPage Today: Nurse Recruitment Agency Challenges Trump's $100K Visa Fee
A staffing agency that works with international specialty nurses is suing President Trump and his administration over an executive order that slaps a $100,000 price tag on H-1B visa applications. Attorneys for Global Nurse Force argued in an Oct. 3 complaint that if the fee requirement remains in place the company would be forced to close its U.S. operations, costing it millions of dollars in revenue. Patients would also be hurt by the fees, the lawsuit argued. (Firth, 11/6)

Minnesota Public Radio: Allina To Consolidate Labor And Delivery In Southern Minnesota; Faribault Birth Center To Close 
Allina Health is closing its Faribault birth center and putting its resources into building up the birth center 15 miles away at its hospital in Owatonna, following Mayo Clinic Health System’s decision to discontinue its labor and delivery services there. (Work, 11/6)

The CT Mirror: Replacing Whiting Forensic Hospital Could Cost $700M. Now What?
Patients at Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown have a long list of complaints about their living quarters: unhygienic conditions and mice, the closure of the woodworking shop and vegetable garden, frustrations about staff behavior and a lack of privacy. State leaders are working to address some of those shortcomings. But it’s been a deliberate process. (Otte and Tillman, 11/6)

Fierce Healthcare: Cigna, Magic Johnson Partner To Tackle Mental Health Using Music
Cigna is joining forces with basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson to support mental health using the power of music. The insurer and Johnson will release a collaborative album later this month titled "Magic Sounds," which includes multiple tracks that lean on techniques like binaural beats and autonomous sensory meridian response to support relaxation, focus and stress management. (Minemyer, 11/7)

PHARMA AND TECH

ABC News: Texas Asks Judge For Restraining Order Against Tylenol Maker To Stop It From Advertising That Drug Is Safe
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked a federal judge to issue a restraining order against the makers of Tylenol to force them to immediately stop advertising to consumers that in consultation with a doctor the pain reliever is safe for pregnant women and young children to use. Paxton made the request in a Thursday filing, one week after he sued the drug's makers, Johnson & Johnson and its corporate spin-off Kenvue, claiming that they deceptively marketed the over-the-counter medication to pregnant women despite alleged links to autism and other disorders. (McDuffie, 11/6)

Bloomberg: Bayer Weighs Roundup’s Demise Over Thousands Of Cancer Lawsuits
Earlier this year, a Georgia jury punished Bayer AG to the tune of almost $2.1 billion after a man who had used Roundup, the German company’s glyphosate-containing weedkiller, developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It was only the latest slapdown by a jury. Bayer has coughed up more than $10 billion in legal costs over a product it inherited last decade with its $63 billion acquisition of agrochemical producer Monsanto. Its legal battles are far from over, too, with Bayer facing more than 60,000 outstanding claims from US plaintiffs who say the chemical caused their cancer. (Loh, Warren and Janicki, 11/6)

Bloomberg: Neuralink Rival Synchron Raises $200 Million For Brain Implant
Synchron Inc. raised $200 million to advance its work building brain implants that doctors can insert through blood vessels, avoiding the costly and high-risk surgeries necessary to install devices made by other rival companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. With the new funds, the company’s valuation is nearly $1 billion, a Synchron spokesperson said. That makes it the second-most valuable brain implant company after Neuralink, which investors think is worth more than $9 billion. (Swetlitz, 11/6)

AP: Last Monkey From Mississippi Highway Escape Is Captured By Authorities
The last monkey on the loose among several that escaped after a Mississippi highway crash has been found and captured, authorities said Thursday. A resident who lives near the crash site called authorities to report the animal’s location and it was then “successfully recovered,” the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said in a statement to The Associated Press. (11/6)

STATE WATCH

WUSF: Florida Bill Could Lead To Suits Over Vaccine Ads 
House and Senate Republicans on Wednesday filed proposals that could lead to lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers that advertise in Florida. The identical bills (HB 339 and SB 408), filed by Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, and Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, would allow people to sue manufacturers if they are harmed by vaccines advertised in the state. (11/6)

WUSF: Uthmeier Lawsuit Accuses Planned Parenthood Of False Advertising About Abortion Drugs 
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing Planned Parenthood of falsely advertising that abortion medication is “safer than Tylenol.” (11/6)

The Baltimore Sun: The Arc Baltimore Expands Services Into Anne Arundel County
The Arc Baltimore — a nonprofit that supports people with developmental disabilities — is expanding its services beyond its traditional base of Baltimore City and Baltimore County into Anne Arundel County, effective immediately. (Byrne, 11/6)

PUBLIC HEALTH

Bloomberg: Social Media Giants Must Stand Trial On Youth Addiction Claims
Meta Platforms Inc., ByteDance Ltd., Alphabet Inc. and Snap Inc. must face trial over claims that they designed social media platforms to addict youths, a judge ruled, clearing the way for the first of thousands of cases to be presented to juries. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl late Wednesday ruled against the companies on their last chance to avoid trial. Kuhl trimmed a negligence allegation from one case, but allowed other claims to proceed after lawyers have spent years pouring through evidence and dueling over legal theories. (Mekelburg and Spoto, 11/6)

CIDRAP: Analyses: High-Dose Flu Vaccine Better Protects Against Hospitalization, Infection Than Standard-Dose
Two new analyses conclude that high-dose influenza vaccine is more effective against hospitalization and infection than the standard-dose version. (Van Beusekom, 11/6)

CIDRAP: Intranasal Vaccine Against H5 Avian Flu Provokes Broad Immune Response In Adults In Phase 1 Trial
A phase 1 randomized controlled trial of an experimental intranasal vaccine against multiple H5N1 avian flu strains generated a broad immune response in US adults, researchers reported today in Nature Communications. The findings come the same day as the Mexican Ministry of Health reported the death of a 3-year-old Durango girl from H5N1 infection, highlighting the need for prevention. (Van Beusekom, 11/6)

NPR: Bird Flu Surges Among Poultry Amid A Scaled Back Federal Response
As birds fly south for the winter, they're carrying with them some unwelcome cargo: the H5N1 virus, or bird flu. In the past 30 days, the virus has struck 66 poultry flocks, leading to the deaths of more than 3.5 million turkeys, chickens and ducks, a steep increase compared to the summer months. The virus can spread easily when infected wild birds mix with commercial or backyard flocks. (Stone, 11/6)