Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Monday, July 14, 2025
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: In Rush To Satisfy Trump, GOP Delivers Blow To Health Industry
Doctors, hospitals, and health insurers for weeks issued dire warnings to Republican lawmakers that millions of people would lose health coverage and hospitals would close if they cut Medicaid funding to help pay for President Donald Trump’s big tax and spending bill. But Republicans ignored those pleas, made even deeper cuts, and sent the legislation on July 3 to the White House, where Trump signed it the next day. (Galewitz and Armour, 7/14)
KFF Health News: Vested Interests. Influence Muscle. At RFK Jr.’s HHS, It’s Not Pharma. It’s Wellness
On his way to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped by the home of podcaster Gary Brecka. The two spent time in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and tried some intravenous nutrition drips that Brecka, a self-avowed longevity and wellness maven, sells and promotes on his show, “The Ultimate Human.” Then the podcast taping started, and Kennedy — who was also on the mic — took aim at Big Pharma’s influence on federal health policy. (Armour, 7/14)
KFF Health News: Journalists Tally State And Local Health Care Implications Of GOP Megabill
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed measles cases on CBS News’ “CBS News 24/7” on July 9. Gounder also discussed the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in medical facilities on CBS News’ “CBS Mornings Plus” on July 8. (7/12)
MENTAL HEALTH
The Hill: Here Are The Most And Least Stressed Cities In The US: Study
A recently published study from finance site WalletHub ranked 182 U.S. cities from most to least stressed, with Detroit taking the crown for most and South Burlington, Vt., winning in the least stressed category. The study determined its rankings through five different dimensions — work, financial, family, and health/safety stress. A higher number denotes a lower level of stress. (Sanders and Tanner, 7/12)
Stat: GAO: Evidence 'Inconclusive' For Involuntary Mental Health Treatment
In the last decade, the federal government has provided $146 million to organizations that provide outpatient care to people with serious mental health conditions like psychosis. The people were ordered to undergo treatment so they wouldn’t be a threat to themselves or society. Did it work? (Broderick, 7/14)
Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota Law To Require Mental Health Warnings On Social Media
Beginning next summer, Minnesotans scrolling social media sites will get a pop up warning. Before they can proceed to photos, articles or posts, they’ll have to click through the warning, acknowledging the site could pose a hazard to their mental health. (Ferguson, 7/14)
NPR: Doctors Give 'Social Prescriptions' For Fitness, Arts And Socializing
For more than 30 years, Frank Frost, worked as a long-distance truck driver, ferrying industrial chemicals across the U.K. "I worked away from home six days a week, working up to 12-15 hours a day," says Frost, now 76. "My only exercise was looking for a fast food outlet in the evening when I'd parked up," he says. He gained weight and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his 50s. His doctors put him on insulin injections and told him to lose weight and move more. (Chatterjee, 7/14)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
The New York Times: Arizona Resident Dies From Plague, Officials Say
A resident of Coconino County, Ariz., died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in the county in almost two decades, officials announced on Friday. The resident went to Flagstaff Medical Center recently and died the same day despite attempts to provide “lifesaving resuscitation,” according to a statement on Friday from Northern Arizona Healthcare, which runs the hospital. (Fahy, 7/12)
The Washington Post: What To Know About The Pneumonic Plague After Death In Arizona
Pneumonic plague is the only form that can be spread from person to person, rather than animal to person, through airborne droplets, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this has not been documented in the United States since 1924. Slightly more common is airborne infection from sick animals. The pneumonic form is also the deadliest: It is always fatal when left untreated, according to the World Health Organization. The bubonic plague, the most common type, has a fatality rate of 30 to 60 percent. (Vinall, 7/12)
The Hill: Chuck Schumer Presses RFK Jr. To Declare Measles Emergency
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to immediately declare a public health emergency for measles, blaming the senior Trump administration official for failing to respond to the rapid resurgence of the disease. Schumer accused Kennedy in a bluntly worded letter Friday of walking “our country into the nation’s largest measles outbreak in 33 years, leading cases to hit a record high a full 25 years after this country eliminated the disease.” (Bolton, 7/11)
CIDRAP: Kansas, North Dakota, New Jersey Record More Measles Cases
Three states have reported new measles cases over the past few days, including Kansas, with four more cases, all linked to an outbreak in the southwestern part of the state. (Schnirring, 7/11)
Chicago Tribune: Measles Outbreak In Southern Illinois Declared Over
As national cases of measles soar and federal health officials engage in vaccine skepticism, Illinois so far this year has seen only one small outbreak of the highly infectious disease that health officials say was quickly brought under control. (Olander, 7/13)
CAPITOL WATCH
Bloomberg: FDA Offers To Trade Faster Drug Reviews For Lower US Prices
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said his agency may fast-track new drugs from pharmaceutical companies that “equalize” the cost of their medicines between the US and other countries, an unusual proposition from the regulator that’s long avoided contentious pricing debates. ... Price adjustments may give companies another way to obtain “national priority vouchers,” the reward that comes as part of a new program the FDA announced last month that would slash review times for companies it says are backing national interests. (Cohrs Zhang and Hornblower, 7/11)
Stat: Rise Of Vaccine Skeptics Inside HHS Alarms Public Health Experts
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent much of his confirmation process before becoming the nation’s health secretary reassuring lawmakers that he would not undermine public confidence in vaccines and seeking to distance himself from the anti-vaccine group he founded, Children’s Health Defense. As health secretary, he has installed former prominent members of that group and other vaccine skeptics in positions at the department he runs or agencies it oversees. (Cirruzzo, 7/14)
CBS News: HHS Facing Billion-Dollar Backlog Of Delayed Grants After DOGE
The Department of Health and Human Services has asked some laid-off staff if they could return to work temporarily, as the department grapples with a backlog of grants that has swelled to more than a billion dollars in the wake of hurdles set up by DOGE. Multiple HHS officials, who were not authorized to speak to the press, said the laid-off staff asked to return to work include a handful of employees who managed grants in the department's Administration for Children and Families, or ACF. (Tin, 7/11)
Politico: FDA Funding Clash Looms Between Senate, House
Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the FDA, Senate appropriators unanimously advanced a funding bill Thursday that maintains the agency’s funding in fiscal 2026 at roughly the same level as in fiscal 2025. The Senate Appropriations Committee bill, which advanced by a 27-0 vote, funds the agency at $7 billion, comprised of $3.6 billion in taxpayer funds and $3.4 billion in user fee revenues. (Gardner and Lim, 7/11)
FUNDING AND RESEARCH CUTS
The Hill: Hospitals Across Nation Brace For Medicaid Cuts Under ‘Big, Beautiful’ Law
Hospitals are bracing for the impact from the Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s sweeping spending and tax cut law. While most of the cuts won’t happen immediately, rural facilities in particular say they likely will have to make difficult financial decisions about which services they can afford to keep and which may need to be cut. Hospitals loudly raised alarms about the legislation, but their warnings went unheeded, and now they say they will bear the brunt of the changes. (Weixel, 7/13)
Chicago Tribune: Safety Net Hospitals Face Potential Service Cuts, Layoffs
Christine Mertzelos is trying to avoid having her leg amputated. Twice a week, a hospital van carries her from her home in Wrigleyville to the wound clinic at Humboldt Park Health, where a diabetic ulcer on her ankle is cleaned, treated and dressed. At one point, the ulcer wrapped nearly all the way around her lower leg — a situation that can lead to amputation if not controlled. The ulcer, however, has shrunk significantly. (Schencker, 7/13)
The Hill: Planned Parenthood Clinics Face Closure Amid Funding Cuts
Planned Parenthood stands to lose a huge portion of its federal funding under President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which could result in the closure of up to 200 clinics, according to the organization. Not only will many Americans lose access to abortion care if those clinics close, but millions of people treated by the provider may delay or go without primary health care. “It’s going to pretty devastating if that happens,” said Nisha Verma, senior adviser of reproductive health policy and advocacy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (O’Connell-Domenech, 7/12)
The Hill: Senate Republicans Wary Of PEPFAR Funding Cuts
Senate Republicans remain wary of eliminating the popular and successful global HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR, as they face down a July 18 deadline to vote on President Trump’s first tranche of rescissions requests. In his rescissions request to Congress last month, Trump asked that $900 million budgeted for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) be cancelled. The House has already passed Trump’s rescissions, and now the Senate must make the final move. (Choi, 7/12)
CNN: WHO Recommends Twice-A-Year HIV Prevention Shot As Concern Looms Over Funding For Global HIV Fight
The World Health Organization is now recommending that countries include an HIV drug newly approved for prevention, lenacapavir, as a tool in their efforts to fight HIV infections – especially for groups most at risk and in areas where the burden of HIV remains high. (Howard, 7/14)
PUBLIC HEALTH
CIDRAP: Companies Start Flu Vaccine Shipments Ahead Of 2025-26 Season
Amid the sultry summer months, a few signs of fall become apparent, such as the appearance of school supplies on stores shelves after the Fourth of July. Another is doses of flu vaccine on the move, and three of the companies that supply doses for the US market announced this week that shipments have begun. Meanwhile, the 2024-25 season is still in the rearview mirror, a period that marked the first high-severity season since 2017-18. Hospitalizations for flu were the highest since the 2010-11 season, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Schnirring, 7/11)
CBS News: COVID Cases Likely Rising In Half Of States, CDC Estimates
Cases of COVID-19 are now likely growing in 25 states, according to estimates published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, as this year's summer wave of the virus appears to be getting underway. The agency's modeling suggests that the uptick is in "many" Southeast, Southern and West Coast states, the CDC said in its weekly update. COVID-19 activity nationwide, however, is still considered "low," based on data from wastewater samples, although that is up from "very low" the week before. (Tin, 7/11)
The Washington Post: Researchers Link Severe Disasters And Loss Of Health Care Facilities
Counties that undergo severe climate-related disasters often suffer reduced access to critical health care infrastructure in the years that follow, a study suggests. The analysis, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, looked at what happened to hospitals, pharmacies and ambulatory — or outpatient — care facilities after climate-related disasters. (Blakemore, 7/13)
Newsweek: Children Consuming Common Sweeteners Face Higher Early Puberty Risk
Common sweeteners found in foods and drinks may significantly increase the risk of early puberty in children, new research shows. The findings come from a large-scale study that was presented on today at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco. (Gray, 7/13)
The New York Times: Hair Loss Medication Finasteride Comes With Fertility Issues For Some
Finasteride, sometimes sold as Propecia, is the most widely used prescription medicine for male-pattern baldness. Prescriptions have reportedly tripled in recent years alongside the rise of direct-to-consumer telehealth companies popular among young men. For many, the medication comes with no issues and can provide newfound confidence, but it does carry side effects. ... Finasteride is prescribed at higher doses to treat enlarged prostates and has been known to mildly affect sperm counts. (Brown, 7/11)
CIDRAP: Probe Into Deadly Egg-Related Salmonella Outbreak Ends After 134 Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday declared its investigation into a multistate Salmonella outbreak tied to organic and cage-free brown eggs over after 134 people fell ill and 1 died. The outbreak has grown by 55 cases and three affected states since the CDC first reported the event on June 6. Ten states have confirmed cases. The death, in a patient from California, is also new. (Wappes, 7/11)
AP: Walmart Recalls 850,000 Water Bottles After Two Consumers Suffer Vision Loss From Ejecting Caps
Walmart is recalling about 850,000 stainless steel water bottles because the lid can “forcefully eject” and unexpectedly strike consumers — resulting in permanent vision loss for two people to date. The recall covers Walmart’s “Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles,” which have been sold at the chain’s stores across the country since 2017. According to a notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, these products pose “serious impact and laceration hazards.” (7/11)
SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS
Politico: Brain-Repair Research 2.0
The Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a program Thursday to advance brain-repair research and develop treatments for brain injuries and devastating neurological diseases like stroke and Alzheimer’s. Why it matters: The program, called the Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue, or FRONT, aims to find cures for these neurodegenerative and other traumatic diseases long regarded as irreversible by leveraging stem-cell technology to regenerate brain tissue and restore brain function. (Nguyen, 7/11)
NBC News: Premenstrual Disorders Linked To Higher Risk For Heart Disease, Study Finds
Premenstrual disorders are associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a large, long-term study has found. New research analyzing patient health data from more than 3 million women in Sweden over a 20-year period found that those who were diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) had an 11% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease at some point, compared to women who did not have a diagnosis. (Srinivasan, 7/11)
MedPage Today: Menopause Hormone Therapy Users May Lose More On Weight Loss Injectable
Menopause hormone therapy (MHT) was tied to a weight-loss boost in postmenopausal women taking a weight loss agent, a real-world study found. Among 120 women with overweight or obesity, MHT users lost 19.18% of their total body weight with tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) compared with a 13.96% loss in women not on such therapy after an average of 18 months (P=0.002), said Regina Castaneda, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. (Monaco, 7/13)
MedPage Today: More Protein May Help Stave Off Muscle Loss From GLP-1 Treatment
Eating more protein may help offset some of the loss of lean mass during semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) treatment, an observational prospective study suggested. After 3 months of treatment, 47.5% of weight lost by adults with obesity taking the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) was lean mass compared with 35.7% treated with diet and lifestyle intervention as measured by dual emission x-ray absorptiometry (P=0.39), reported Melanie Haines, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. (Monaco, 7/13)
MedPage Today: GLP-1 Therapy Helps Amplify Bariatric Surgery Weight Loss, But Timing Matters
In order to maximize weight loss, a GLP-1 receptor agonist may be needed both before and after bariatric surgery, a retrospective analysis found. In 568 patients who underwent bariatric surgery, those who also used a GLP-1 receptor agonist during the preoperative and postoperative period experienced significantly greater weight loss -- a 33% total weight loss and 17.9-point change in BMI -- compared with surgery alone, reported Angela Rao, MD, of Stanford Health Care in California. (Monaco, 7/13)
Stat: GLP-1 Drugs For Addiction: Confidence Grows In New Treatment Option
To make sense of the reds and greens dancing across a computer monitor displaying a scale image of a human brain, one requires a vivid vocabulary. At this upscale addiction treatment facility, “neurofeedback therapy” and “quantitative electroencephalogram” are part of the holistic, no-expenses-spared treatment philosophy on offer. (Facher, 7/14)
CIDRAP: Study Hints DoxyPEP Use Coincides With Rise In Tetracycline-Resistant Gonorrhea In US
A genomic analysis of US gonorrhea isolates shows a dramatic increase in tetracycline resistance. In a letter published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and the University of Georgia reported that their analysis ... show that the percentage of isolates carrying the tetM resistance gene rose from 10% in 2020 to more than 30% in 2024. The tetM gene confers high-level resistance to tetracycline antibiotics. (Dall, 7/11)
CIDRAP: Increased Vaccine Uptake In US Kids Linked To Reduced Antibiotic Prescriptions
An increase in uptake of routine childhood vaccines among US children over 15 years was associated with a decrease in antibiotic prescriptions and antibiotic-treated sinus infections, according to an ecological study published today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (Dall, 7/11)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Data Breaches In 2025 Lower Than 2024 But Still High
A record-high number of organizations reported healthcare data breaches in 2024 — and the first half of 2025 forecasts another challenging year for cyberattacks. As of Friday, the Health and Human Services Department’s Office for Civil Rights has listed 378 breaches affecting 500 or more individuals in the first six months of 2025. That’s fewer than the 408 reported through June in 2024, but more than all years previous. (Broderick, 7/11)
Crains Chicago Business: Walgreens, Sycamore Partners Deal Approved By Shareholders
Walgreens Boots Alliance shareholders gave the thumbs-up to the company’s private-equity buyout by Sycamore Partners, with about 96% of votes cast approving the sale, the Deerfield-based retail pharmacy giant announced this morning. Under the terms of the roughly $10 billion merger agreement, Walgreens shareholders will receive $11.45 per share in cash at closing. (Asplund, 7/11)
Modern Healthcare: CenterWell's Sanjay Shetty Takes Cautious Approach To Growth
CenterWell’s efforts to buy The Villages Health is the latest step in its cautiously optimistic growth plan amid economic uncertainty. The Humana subsidiary’s recent stalking horse bid to buy The Villages Health System as it restructures under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection would add 10 senior primary care and specialty offices to the company’s portfolio. A stalking horse bid is the initial bid on a bankrupt company’s assets that sets the floor price for other potential buyers. (Eastabrook, 7/11)
STATE WATCH
ABC News: Texas Floodwaters Can Increase Health Risks That Could Last For Months: Experts
Central Texas is continuing to recover from one of the deadliest floods in the state's history, which killed more than 120 people, many of whom were children. While there is an economic toll from floods due to the damage it causes to property, commerce and transportation, there is a risk to public health as well. Although rainwater is not harmful, flooding increases the risk of injury, illness and death. Heavy rainfall can cause waterways to overflow and overwhelm sewer and septic systems, environmental health experts told ABC News. (Kekatos, 7/11)
The Hill: Judge Reverses CFPB Rule Erasing Medical Debt From Credit Reports
A federal judge in Texas reversed a Biden-era rule on Friday that permitted medical debt to be wiped from credit reports, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan, a 2019 appointee of President Trump, said the rule by the previous administration exceeds the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). ... The Biden administration estimated that the action would remove nearly $50 billion of medical debt from the credit reports of roughly 15 million Americans. (Fields, 7/12)
The CT Mirror: Many More People Are On Medicaid In CT Than A Decade Ago
The number of people receiving Medicaid in Connecticut has grown sharply over the last decade. In Connecticut, Medicaid operates under the name HUSKY and insures about one-quarter of the state’s population. The number of people served through any Medicaid-funded coverage steadily grew over the last decade, rising 61% from 2012 to 2023. (Daou, 7/11)
AP: Charges Dropped Against Utah Doctor Who Trashed COVID Vaccine Doses
The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction. Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey and dispose of government property; and aiding and abetting in those efforts. (Thiessen, 7/12)
AP: DuPont Agrees To $27M Settlement In Polluted Water Lawsuit In New York
Chemical maker DuPont has agreed to a $27 million settlement to resolve a nearly decade-long lawsuit over the contamination of an upstate New York village’s water supply. The deal was announced Wednesday by lawyers representing residents of Hoosick Falls, located northwest of Albany, just as the case was headed to trial in federal court this week. The settlement brings the total recovered in the class action suit brought in 2016 to more than $90 million, lawyers for Rochester-based firm Faraci Lange said. (7/11)
Inside Climate News: N.C. Has Allowed A Likely Carcinogen Into Three Rivers Serving 900,000 People
Boxy, gunmetal gray buildings loom over a labyrinth of ducts and tubes and catwalks, beyond which 100 train cars loll on their tracks. Smokestacks wait to exhale. This is StarPet, a mammoth factory in north Asheboro that manufactures PET polymers, derived from fossil fuels and used in polyester fibers and plastic bottles. (Sorg, 7/13)
AP: North Carolina's First Standalone Children's Hospital To Be Built In A Raleigh Suburb
North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital will be built in a bedroom community near the state capital, the project’s health systems announced Thursday, creating a campus estimated to bring 8,000 jobs to the area. UNC Health and Duke Health announced in January an agreement to jointly build the proposed 500-bed pediatric hospital and linked facilities in the state’s Research Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. (7/11)
North Carolina Health News: Abortion For Fetal Anomalies Is Legal In NC — But Access Can Be Out Of Reach
After several ultrasounds and consultations with specialists, J made the wrenching decision to terminate her pregnancy in February 2024. To do it, she had to leave her home in eastern North Carolina and travel four hours to Richmond, Virginia. (Crumpler, 7/14)
NBC News: Arizona Man Is Killed While Inside A Hyperbaric Chamber That Caught Fire
A hyperbaric chamber caught fire in Arizona, leading to the gruesome death of a 43-year-old man inside the highly pressurized, oxygen-filled compartment, authorities said Thursday. Police officers and firefighters in the resort community of Lake Havasu City rushed to the 1800 block of Mesquite Avenue at about 10:50 p.m. MST on Wednesday answering calls for a "reported medical emergency for a burn patient," city officials said. (Li, 7/11)
