Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: After Booting 760K People From ACA Plans, Trump Administration Has Added Some Back
Late last month, the Trump administration announced that it had cut 760,000 people from the Affordable Care Act rolls, claiming fraud and improper enrollments and touting billions in potential taxpayer savings. Not all of those kicked off were fraudulently enrolled, KFF Health News has learned. Insurance industry sources said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has reinstated a small number of people whose coverage should not have been canceled. More could follow in the coming weeks if enrollees discover they are uninsured when they go to use their coverage. (Appleby, 10/16)
KFF Health News: Next Governor To Face Thorny Choices After California’s Rapid Medicaid Expansion
In March 2025, when California ran out of Medicaid funds to pay doctors and hospitals, the state borrowed $3.4 billion to keep the program afloat. It was, as a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom insisted, nothing new. Indeed, a handful of times over the years, the state had taken out internal, short-term loans to sustain its healthcare program for the poor and disabled. The unprecedented move came a few months later, when Newsom and Democratic state lawmakers agreed to pay down the loan — which grew to $4.4 billion — over 10 years instead of later in the year. California’s healthcare safety net, it seemed, was buckling. (Mai-Duc, 10/16)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Early Voting Begins
This week, Trump administration officials announced their latest efforts to trim what they identified as duplicative and ineligible enrollees from government health programs. They tied the efforts to the administration’s broader crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse — just as some states are opening polling stations for early voting. The outcome of the midterm elections is expected to affect how and whether Congress addresses several healthcare issues during the lame-duck session, not the least of which is government spending. (Carey, 10/15)
GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC
AP: Teen Shooter Kills 4 At Bend, Oregon, Elementary School, Police Say
A 16-year-old shot his way through locked doors to get into an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher. He was then shot by a person at the scene who followed him inside, authorities said. The suspect was found dead inside the school minutes after the shooting was first reported, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. The three children killed were aged 5, 8 and 11. Another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, were injured and taken to the hospital in critical condition, he said. The attacker used a pump-action shotgun that was purchased by his mother, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting. (Durkin Richer, Tucker and Johnson, 10/16)
The New York Times: Trump Cancels Planned Livestream Of Fort Hood Shooter’s Execution
President Trump on Thursday canceled the Pentagon’s planned livestream of the execution of the Army officer who was convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting. Pentagon officials said last week that the execution of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, would be broadcast via livestream, a decision Mr. Trump initially said he supported. Mr. Trump added that only immediate families of Mr. Hasan’s victims could watch the execution in person. (Rogers, Pager, Ismay and Jaffe, 10/15)
MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Modern Healthcare: HHS, CMS Sued Over 2027 ACA Exchange Sales Freeze
Federal regulators’ efforts to block new marketers from selling health insurance exchange policies in 2027 have landed them in court. Agent and broker trade group the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals sued the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Thursday, alleging the agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 by failing to ask for public comments before banning new marketers from selling policies on HealthCare.gov for 2027. The lawsuit also alleges the agencies lack the statutory authority to implement the freeze. (Tepper, 10/15)
Stat: HHS Employees View Latest Performance Reviews With Suspicion
Changes to the annual performance review process are the latest flashpoint in tensions between federal workers across the Department of Health and Human Services and the Trump administration, federal employees told STAT. (Manto, 10/16)
AP: Kennedy's HHS Presses Ahead With Peptides Plan
U.S. health officials are moving ahead with a plan to allow specialty pharmacies to produce certain peptides, a class of largely unregulated injections that have become popular among followers of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other wellness influencers. Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services submitted a peptides “interim access policy” to the White House for review, according to a posting Thursday on a government website. The plan was sent to the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews federal rules and regulations with the potential for significant economic impact. (Perrone, 10/15)
Politico: RFK Jr. And His Allies Are Standing By Russell Brand As The Comedian’s Rape Trial Begins
Actor Russell Brand appeared at a Make America Healthy Again Summit in Washington two weeks ago, standing onstage with Mehmet Oz and snapping a photo with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This week he’s on trial in London on charges that he raped or sexually assaulted six women. Tony Lyons, the head of the MAHA PAC, was in the courthouse supporting him. (Paun, 10/16)
The Hill: FDA Allows Salt Substitutes In Bread, Cheese And Other Popular Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized a rule allowing manufacturers to use salt substitutes in dozens of standardized foods — including bread, sour cream, canned peas, cheese, mayonnaise and canned tuna, while still selling those products under their traditional names. The rule takes effect Dec. 14. The change applies to 139 food standards and is intended to help reduce sodium in the U.S. food supply. (Davis, 10/15)
The New York Times: ICE Called Him A Wanted Man. His Family Said He Had Been Dead Nine Years.
When immigration agents struck a man with an S.U.V. in Houston over the weekend, they said they were chasing an undocumented Mexican man facing deportation and multiple criminal charges. But the photo they shared of their target was of a man whose family says he died almost a decade ago. (Ulloa, 10/15)
ELECTIONS
The New York Times: 5 Takeaways From The Senate Debate In Maine: Collins Said She Did Not Regret Voting For Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The race’s fourth and final debate centered around whether Senator Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, was as independent as she claimed to be from President Trump. ... Ms. Collins was pressed on her votes to confirm specific members of the Trump administration, such as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She articulated her disapproval on his outlook on vaccines, but applauded his focus on chronic diseases and ultraprocessed foods. When pressed, she said she did not regret her vote for him. (Davies, 10/15)
Politico: Groups Supporting RFK Jr. Are Spending Nearly $2M In Iowa Governor, House Races
Make America Healthy Again groups are spending nearly $2 million ahead of the November midterms in an effort to elect candidates who have made Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s movement targeting chronic disease a centerpiece of their campaigns. The new spending is the most significant outlay from Kennedy-aligned groups since they helped Rep. Julia Letlow defeat Sen. Bill Cassidy in a Louisiana Republican primary in May. Cassidy had criticized Kennedy’s efforts to reduce the number of vaccines the government recommends. (Hooper, 10/15)
Boise State Public Radio News: LDS Church Donates $1 Million To Fight Abortion Initiative On November Ballot
On Wednesday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated $1 million to fight Proposition 1. If voters approve the initiative, it would restore reproductive rights in Idaho, allowing abortions up to fetal viability and in medical emergencies. (Luchetta, 10/15)
States Newsroom and Missouri Independent: Abortion Ballot Measures And The Challenge In Reaching Gen Z
Boise State University senior Cade Syvock opposes abortion. As president of the school’s chapter of the conservative group Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, Syvock helped coordinate anti-abortion protests on campus. But he’s not spending much time this fall campaigning against an Idaho ballot initiative that would restore abortion access. (Moseley-Morris and Spoerre, 10/15)
Bloomberg: Healthcare Costs, Health Insurance Premiums Are Key Issues For Midterm Voters
For more than six months, Stefanie Wheat-Johnson’s jaw has throbbed in pain. The 44-year-old mother of three needs a root canal, but her health plan doesn’t include dental work. Paying cash at her local Texas clinic will cost $3,600 — money Wheat-Johnson and her husband Eric simply don’t have. The couple, who make $60,000 per year after taxes, weighed their options, including asking for payment extensions on their utilities and even delaying rent payments to get her care. (Swetlitz, 10/15)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
NBC News: Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak: CDC Is Sending A ‘Disease Detective’ To Help Contain Deadly Virus
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending one of its scientists to Pennsylvania to help curb the state’s growing measles outbreak, a CDC spokesperson said Thursday. That person, a “disease detective” within the agency’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, is scheduled to arrive later this week. It’s the CDC’s first in-person assistance to the state after a social media feud in August between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. (Edwards, 10/15)
MPR News: Measles Cases Spike In Minnesota As Outbreak In Todd County Grows
Public health officials are urging anyone who has not been vaccinated against measles to get vaccinated as case numbers in the state climb. Since mid-September, the Minnesota Department of Health said there have been 25 cases of measles confirmed in two unrelated clusters amid a resurgence of the preventable disease. Six cases are in Fillmore County in southeast Minnesota, and 19 cases are in Todd County in central Minnesota. All involve unvaccinated people. (Work, 10/15)
CIDRAP: ‘I Ached So Much’: Man Describes Bout With Dengue Fever Contracted During Florida’s Outbreak
When Maurice Kurtz woke on September 19, he felt like a minivan had hit him. His temperature spiked to 101ºF, and he was intensely fatigued. He tried taking a walk but soon returned home because it felt so difficult. “I went around the block and, oh, I ached so much,” Kurtz, 73, of St. Petersburg, Florida, told CIDRAP News. “This was way beyond the tightness and aching I get from the most strenuous workouts I’ve ever done.” (Holohan, 10/15)
CIDRAP: Second Ebola Patient Identified In Kenya
Kenyan health officials have reported a second Ebola case in the country, raising new concerns that the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could spread to neighboring countries. According to a press release from Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the patient is a 39-year-old man and a close family member of the first case-patient, a Kenyan national who had been living in the DRC and died on October 5 after returning to Kenya and testing positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. The relative fell ill on October 13 and has been under quarantine and close daily monitoring since. (Dall, 10/15)
The New York Times: Inside The Plague Research Labs At The Heart Of A Russian Mystery
A week after a 28-year-old researcher died from a mysterious infection while working in a Russian plague research laboratory, health officials around the world are still waiting for answers. Darya Shipilova, a lab worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, was initially reported to have contracted pneumonic plague, raising concerns about the kinds of research being conducted at the facility and the safety measures employed there. (Callaway, 10/15)
The Washington Post: Jackie, The Famous The Bald Eagle Mama In California, Died Of Bird Flu
A newly released report sheds new light on the death of Jackie, the famed bald eagle mother who died in August. An autopsy revealed that Jackie died of pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu. Jackie rose to fame from a webcam placed in the eagle’s nest 10 years ago near the shore of Big Bear Lake, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles. Millions of viewers tuned in the watch her love story with her partner, Shadow, as they fought year after year to keep their eggs and chicks safe from predatory ravens, heavy snowfalls and windstorms. (Kirkpatrick, 10/15)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Lake County News-Sun: Troubled Vista Medical Center Loses Fifth CEO In Three Years
Daisy Rodriguez became the fifth CEO to leave Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan over the past three years, stepping down on Oct. 6, but she says she remains committed as a consultant to helping the hospital climb out of its difficult financial situation. (Sadin, 10/15)
The Assembly NC: Staff Cite Supply, Maintenance, And Paycheck Issues At Randolph Hospital
Employees at Asheboro’s only hospital say conditions are deteriorating under its private equity-trained owner. (Still, 10/15)
MedPage Today: Are Med Students Cheating If They Use AI?
Despite assertions to the contrary, students who use artificial intelligence (AI) in medical school assignments or elsewhere are not cheating, according to one professor here at the Association of Health Care Journalists Fall Summit. "AI is not plagiarism," said Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez, PhD, who is also vice chair for research and education in computational biomedicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Working with AI "is doable, but it has to be done properly." (Frieden, 10/15)
PHARMA AND TECH
Modern Healthcare: Epic Systems To Launch Prescription Marketplace For Drug Prices
A new Epic Systems tool will allow providers and patients to compare medication prices at different pharmacies. Prescription Marketplace will let clinicians see what a pharmacy would charge patients for medications under insurance as well as cash-pay prices, the electronic health record vendor said in a Thursday news release. (Famakinwa, 10/15)
Modern Healthcare: Prime Therapeutics' Mostafa Kamal Defends Express Scripts Pact
Prime Therapeutics is pivoting to a new rebate model and fighting back against accusations of collusion. The pharmacy benefit manager, which is fourth in market share and owned by 19 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, announced this month it would begin selling a net cost drug pricing model to clients in 2028. Its customers come under these arrangements in 2029. (Tong, 10/15)
CIDRAP: Washable, Light-Chargeable Air Filter Shows Promise For Masks And Air Purifiers
An air filter that uses sunlight and indoor LED lights to charge has the potential to make face masks and air purifiers more efficient, longer lasting, lower maintenance, and less expensive, according to a new study published last month in Chem. (Bergeson, 10/15)
Boston Globe: Jury Weighs Dueling Accounts Of Scientist David Sabatini’s Downfall
Was world-renowned molecular biologist David Sabatini a manipulative mentor who coerced a younger colleague into sex and cultivated a hostile work culture at his research lab in Cambridge? Or was he the victim of a spurned former lover and a #MeToo movement gone too far? (Serres, 10/16)
STATE WATCH
The Washington Post: Inmates Describe Eating Mice And Bugs In Food Served At Aging D.C. Jail
Kevin Condray recalls feeling an unexpected crunch as he bit into a spoonful of rice and beans. In a sliver of light in his dim cell in the D.C. jail, as he tells it, he examined the wad he had just spit out of his mouth and saw a dead baby mouse. (Scott and Solano, 10/15)
The Washington Post: Teachers And Kids Carried In A ‘Human Elevator’ Amid Disrepair At D.C. Schools
They called it “Operation Human Elevator.” When an elevator broke down at Cleveland Elementary last school year, staff mobilized to find three colleagues to carry Carolyn Diaz up and down the stairs so the ESL teacher, who uses a wheelchair, could reach her students. The improvised accommodation went on for weeks until the elevator was repaired, Diaz recently told the D.C. Council. “A functioning elevator in a four-level public school is not a luxury. It is essential infrastructure,” Diaz said at a city hearing last week. (Hernandez and Flynn, 10/15)
Maryland Matters: Moore Backs Tying Maryland Drug Costs To Medicare Prices
Gov. Wes Moore offered his support for proposed legislation that would allow the state to more quickly reduce the price of some expensive drugs for non-Medicare recipients by piggybacking on the federally negotiated price limits under Medicare. And at a news conference Wednesday announcing the legislation, he promised to sign the bill, assuming it survives the 2027 legislative session. The current odds look promising. (Brown, 10/15)
MPR News: As Medicare Advantage Plans Disappear Across Minnesota, Seniors Face Difficult Choices
Daren Wysocki received a letter last week from Eagan-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. The heading was blunt: “Important notice: Your Medicare plan won't be offered in 2027.” The letter also outlined his options, including purchasing supplemental insurance or enrolling in another Medicare plan. (Zurek, 10/16)
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Health Agencies Provide Resources As Refugees Lose Medicaid Coverage
Local support groups in Iowa estimate that nearly 2,000 refugees are feeling the impact of new eligibility rules for Medicaid that took effect early October. The requirements restrict refugees without a green card from being eligible for coverage. (Curran, 10/15)
Oregon Universal Healthcare News: Is It A Tax? Oregon Universal Healthcare Board Seeks To Avoid The 'T' Word.
The Oregon panel working to craft a universal health care proposal for the state has bumped up against a thorny issue: what to call the payments that Oregonians will have to make to fund the plan. (Hawryluk, 10/15)
KCUR: Missouri's Midwife Rules Are So Strict, They're Pushing Providers And Patients Across State Lines
Lindsey Wilson spent years as a certified nurse-midwife in rural Missouri in the mid-2010s but, after moving away from the area and back again, Wilson chose to practice in Kansas because laws restricting the services she could offer proved too burdensome. (Taborda, 10/15)
The Washington Post: Matt Gaetz Accused Of Sex Trafficking Young Women, Lawsuit Says
Two women are accusing former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and two other men of involvement in a sex trafficking scheme involving recent high school graduates and drugs, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Does 1 and 2, allege that Gaetz and former Seminole County, Florida, tax collector Joel Micah Greenberg coordinated “recruitment, payments, drugs, and travel” to obtain “commercial sexual acts” from young women. The lawsuit also accuses former Florida state representative Chris Dorworth (R) of having “knowingly participated in these events” by making his home available for them. (Westfall, 10/15)
Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming First Lady’s Hunger Initiative Plans For The Future
Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon plans to continue working on her signature program, the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, after her husband leaves the governor’s office. The food security program provides grants to feed people in Wyoming communities and helps get locally grown fruits, veggies and beef into the bellies of Wyomingites. (Edwards, 10/15)
North Carolina Health News: Three Housing Pilots Offer NC Blueprints For Adults With Disabilities
When John Pendzich, 27, moved out of a group home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and into his studio apartment in downtown Raleigh, his life opened up. (Knopf, 10/16)
The New York Times: For Texas Schoolchildren, Minor Misbehavior Can Mean Criminal Charges
Over the past decade, school districts across Texas have sought to make classrooms safer by swelling the number of police officers on campuses and taking a tougher stance on misbehavior. But the crackdown has had an unexpected consequence: sweeping tens of thousands of elementary students and middle schoolers into the justice system. ... Most of the students were accused of minor offenses, like making threats, using cannabis vapes or lashing out at classmates or teachers, the analysis found. Few caused serious physical harm. (Hernandez, Lehrer-Small, Amari and Cima, 10/15)
The Marshall Project: Cuyahoga County Jail Struggles To Implement New CPR Policy
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department quietly changed its employee handbook earlier this year to require corrections officers to administer CPR in serious medical emergencies — so quietly that many jail staff remain unaware of the change months later. (Livingston and Hailer, 10/15)
AP: FIT Student Was Raped, Died After Being Given Fentanyl, Prosecutors Say
A man raped a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology after giving her fentanyl that left her unconscious and ultimately killed her, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The student’s friend also took the drug and nearly died. Moises Freire, 19, of the Bronx, was charged with participating in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy and distributing a deadly drug with intent to commit rape. Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, was also charged in the drug conspiracy. (Sisak and Neumeister, 10/16)
The New York Times: Tim Janus, One Of The World’s Greatest Competitive Eaters, Has Died
Tim Janus, one of the world’s highest-ranked competitive eaters who, at various competitions, consumed four pounds of tiramisu in six minutes, 10.5 pounds of ramen in eight minutes, 71 tamales in eight minutes, 7.7 pounds of boneless Buffalo wings in 12 minutes and 141 pieces of nigiri in six minutes, died in Boston on Sept. 16. He was 49. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer in 2022, said his sister, Tess McNair. (Risen, 10/14)
PUBLIC HEALTH
NBC News: Study Finds No Link Between Ultra-Processed Food And Colorectal Cancer
A large study released Thursday found no link between colorectal cancer and ultra-processed food, raising questions about what role these foods play, if any, in rising rates of the cancer among younger people. (Bendix, 10/15)
Chicago Tribune: Water Could Be Responsible For Making Plastic Harmful, Study Says
Plain old water could be responsible for making plastics harmful to people, according to a new study that portends significant consequences for human health. The study, published Thursday in the prominent scientific journal Nature, found chemical reactions between water and six types of fossil fuel-based plastic created particles that damaged red blood cells and proteins in laboratory tests. (Hawthorne, 10/15)
AP: The Rise And Fall Of America's Deadly Love Affair With The Cigarette
Cancer stick. Coffin nail. Cowboy killer. Those are nicknames, through the decades, for the cigarette — the once-glamorous desideratum of American society that has been tied to tens of millions of U.S. deaths. The cigarette is not an invention of the United States. And while Marlboro is a top-selling international brand, more than 100 countries make cigarettes. The largest manufacturer is in China. (Stobbe, 10/15)
The Washington Post: 110 Years Ago Today, Margaret Sanger Opened The First U.S. Birth Control Clinic
When Margaret Sanger opened the United States’ first birth control clinic 110 years ago Friday, women weren’t yet guaranteed the right to vote, and sharing information on contraception was a crime. Sanger’s mother, weakened by 11 births and seven miscarriages, had died at 50 of tuberculosis. Watching her mother suffer, and her own experience as a nurse, motivated Sanger to travel to Europe to study birth control methods and bring what she learned back home. (Westfall, 10/16)
GLOBAL WATCH
The New York Times: Mexico Bans Violent Content On Social Media For Children
Mexico banned violent and sexual content on social media for children and teenagers on Wednesday, joining a global movement on regulating technology but drawing questions about the government’s approach and legality. (Wagner, 10/14)
AP: Acute Malnutrition In Afghanistan At 'Unprecedented' Level After Aid Cuts
“More people are suffering from hunger than ever before,” John Aylieff, Afghanistan country director for the World Food Program, told The Associated Press. He said 19 million people — nearly 40% of the population — would be facing acute hunger, “the life-threatening type of hunger,” in the next few months. Even more worrying is that acute malnutrition, which kills if left untreated, is spiraling. (Becatoros and Qahar Afghan, 10/16)
