First Edition: Monday, June 16, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: ‘Not Accountable To Anyone’: As Insurers Issue Denials, Some Patients Run Out Of Options
By the time Eric Tennant was diagnosed in 2023 with a rare cancer of the bile ducts, the disease had spread to his bones. He weighed 97 pounds and wasn’t expected to survive a year with stage 4 cancer. Two years later, grueling rounds of chemotherapy have slowed the cancer’s progress, even as it has continued to spread. But chemotherapy has also ravaged Tennant’s body and his quality of life. (Sausser, 6/16)

KFF Health News: A Revolutionary Drug For Extreme Hunger Offers Clues To Obesity’s Complexity
Ali Foley Shenk still remembers the panic when her 10-year-old son, Dean, finished a 20-ounce box of raisins in the seconds the cupboard was left unlocked. They rushed to the emergency room, fearing a dangerous bowel impaction. The irony stung: When Dean was born, he was so weak and floppy he survived only with feeding tubes because he couldn’t suck or swallow. He was diagnosed as a baby with Prader-Willi syndrome — a rare disorder sparked by a genetic abnormality. He continued to be disinterested in food for years. (Sibonney, 6/16)

KFF Health News: CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects And Wastes Money, Researchers Say
Dozens of HIV experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received emails on Wednesday revoking notices they received 10 weeks ago that laid them off. Damage to their projects may be permanent, however, and ongoing restrictions on their research will harm lives, multiple HIV scientists at the CDC told KFF Health News on condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. The researchers were laid off in early April, just before they put the finishing touches on in-depth, national surveys about HIV. (Maxmen, 6/13)

KFF Health News: Journalists Assess RFK Jr.'s Remaking Of Vaccine Committee And Trend Of Kids Caring For Elders
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed on “CBS Mornings Plus” on June 10 how Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of members of the CDC vaccine advisory committee could affect public health. Freelance journalist and KFF Health News contributor Leah Fabel discussed child caregivers on Minnesota Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” on June 4. (6/14)

MEDICAID AND THE GOP 'MEGABILL'

Stat: GOP Tax Bill Would Severely Cut Hospitals' Medicaid Payments: Report 
Hospitals would bear the brunt of federal health care funding cuts in the Republicans’ tax bill, and they’d be hurt hard in states with both predominantly Democratic- and Republican-led governments, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Wilkerson, 6/14)

AP: The GOP's Big Bill Would Bring Changes To Medicaid For Millions
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been clear about his red line as the Senate takes up the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act: no Medicaid cuts. But what, exactly, would be a cut? Hawley and other Republicans acknowledge that the main cost-saving provision in the bill – new work requirements on able-bodied adults who receive health care through the Medicaid program -- would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. All told, estimates are 10.9 million fewer people would have health coverage under the bill’s proposed changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. That includes some 8 million fewer in the Medicaid program, including 5.2 million dropping off because of the new eligibility requirements. (Askarinam, 6/15)

AP: Medicaid Enrollees Fear Losing Benefits Under Work Requirements
It took Crystal Strickland years to qualify for Medicaid, which she needs for a heart condition. Strickland, who’s unable to work due to her condition, chafed when she learned that the U.S. House has passed a bill that would impose a work requirement for many able-bodied people to get health insurance coverage through the low-cost, government-run plan for lower-income people. “What sense does that make?” she asked. “What about the people who can’t work but can’t afford a doctor?” (Mulvihill, 6/15)

FUNDING AND RESEARCH CUTS

Stat: NIH Indirect Cost Reforms Are Proposed By Coalition Of Universities 
Facing billions of dollars in proposed cuts to research overhead payments from the Trump administration, a coalition of academic groups has devised plans it believes could be more sensible, measured ways to revamp how the federal government pays for scientific research. (Wosen, 6/13)

BorderBelt: Domestic Violence Organizations In The Border Belt Brace For Federal Cuts
Beth has always enjoyed cooking. But the kitchen at the home she shared with her ex-boyfriend for 10 years had become a war zone. He would criticize her every move, said Beth, who declined to share her real name because she feared for her safety. Anything could set him off — utensils, the water temperature — and he would yell and beat her, she said. (Perez-Moreno, 6/15)

'MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN'

Stat: RFK Jr. To Link Ultra-Processed Food To Diabetes In HHS Ad Campaign
The links between ultra-processed food and higher risk of diabetes will be the focus of the first wave of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s national “Take Back Your Health” campaign, according to a notice posted on a government site for contractors. The notice invites public relations agencies to pitch strategies for the launch of the ad campaign, “a wake-up call to Americans that eating processed foods dramatically increases the risk of diabetes and chronic disease.” (Todd, 6/13)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

CBS News: CDC Urges Summer Camps To Check For Measles Immunity, As U.S. Nears Record
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now urging summer camp operators to check for documentation of immunity from measles through vaccination or prior infection for all children, staff and volunteers, amid a deadly year of outbreaks that is now near record levels. "Measles can spread quickly in summer camps because campers and staff spend a lot of time together in close contact with each other. Measles is more than just a rash — it can cause serious complications or even death," the CDC warned in a "checklist" for operators of summer camps published this week. (Tin, 6/13)

CIDRAP: US Measles Total Approaches 1,200 Mark
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today in its weekly measles update reported 29 more cases, bringing the national total to 1,197 cases and coming within 77 cases of matching the total from 2019, which was the most since the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000. So far, 35 states have reported cases, one more than a week ago, which likely reflects Arizona’s first cases of the year. (Schnirring, 6/13)

The Colorado Sun: Measles Case In Boulder May Have Exposed Flatiron Flyer Riders
Colorado on Friday confirmed its 15th measles case of the year, in a fully vaccinated adult from Boulder who several times may have exposed passengers riding on the Flatiron Flyer bus between downtown Denver and Boulder. (Ingold, 6/14)

CBS News: New COVID Variant NB.1.8.1 Could Be More Than 1 In 3 Cases, CDC Projects
The new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which was linked to a large surge of hospitalizations in parts of Asia, could now make up more than 1 in 3 cases across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected this week. Last month, the CDC's airport surveillance program had detected cases of the variant in arriving international travelers from several countries. The agency now says that nearly half of the COVID infections detected in that program the last week of May were the NB.1.8.1 variant. (Moniuszko, 6/13)

The New York Times: Many Older People Embrace Vaccines. Research Is Proving Them Right
Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out of pocket. Her doctor and several pharmacies turned her down because she was below the recommended age at the time, which was 60. So in 2016, she celebrated her 60th birthday at her local CVS. (Span, 6/14)

PHARMA AND TECH

Stat: 23andMe Is Won Back By Anne Wojcicki And Will Become A Nonprofit 
A nonprofit led by Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and long-time CEO of genetic data firm 23andMe, won a last-minute bidding war to buy most of the company’s assets for a price of $305 million, the company said in a press release. (Herper, 6/13)

Stat: Second Patient Dies After Getting Sarepta's Duchenne Gene Therapy
Sarepta Therapeutics said Sunday that it was halting shipments of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy for patients who can no longer walk, following the death of a second person who received the treatment. (Joseph, 6/15)

MedPage Today: Novel Lupus Drug Clears Phase II Hurdle
A small-molecule oral drug shaping up as a first-in-class to treat various forms of lupus performed well in a phase II trial, despite -- or perhaps even because of -- missing its primary endpoint, a presentation here suggested. (Gever, 6/14)

Fox News: Heart Attack And Stroke Risk Could Drop With Experimental Drug, Study Finds
A new daily pill could provide an easier, more convenient way to lower cholesterol and reduce heart attack and stroke risk. The experimental medication, called Obicetrapib, underwent a Phase 3 clinical trial at Monash University in Australia. The trial included more than 2,500 people averaging 65 years of age. All had either been diagnosed with heart disease or had genetically high cholesterol, according to a university press release. (Rudy, 6/15)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Modern Healthcare: Providence Layoffs To Hit 600 Positions
Providence is cutting 600 full-time positions this week as the health system reorganizes operations. Most of the affected roles are administrative ones, but some patient care jobs were affected as well, according to a Thursday news release. Providence employs 125,000 people across seven states. Renton, Washington-based Providence cited financial pressures as the reason for the layoffs, including payer denials, high costs for supplies and pharmaceuticals, high labor costs and potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. (Hudson, 6/13)

Modern Healthcare: Amazon Restructures Leadership At One Medical, Health Services
Amazon is restructuring its healthcare division and another high-profile executive is departing the company. As part of the restructuring, Amazon’s Vice President of Health Partnerships and Marketing Aaron Martin is planning to leave the company later this summer after assisting with the transition, according to a person familiar with the situation. (Turner, 6/13)

Military.com: Nursing Staff Shortages Disrupt Infusion Clinic Operations At Walter Reed 
Staffing shortages continue to plague the U.S. military's flagship hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, leading to the disruption of services this month in the nephrology infusion clinic at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. A Walter Reed spokeswoman said Thursday that two nurses at the clinic, which provides infusion services for kidney, some gastroenterology and other department patients, went on emergency leave, forcing hospital leaders to shift staff from other areas of the hospital to support clinic operations. (Kime, 6/13)

Charlotte Ledger: Ambulance Companies Seize Wages, State Tax Refunds To Cover Bills
When Christy Owca’s 17-year-old son flipped his Jeep in a crash in 2019, she was grateful that an ambulance got him to the hospital quickly and that his injuries turned out to be minor. So when the first bill from Gaston County’s ambulance agency came, she didn’t think twice about paying the $61 fee. But more bills kept coming. Then came statements from her health insurance company, each showing a different amount she owed just for the ambulance ride. (Crouch, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: How L.A. General Finds Names For Its John Doe Patients
He had a buzz cut and brown eyes, a stubbly beard and a wrestler’s build. He did not have a wallet or phone; he could not state his name. He arrived at Los Angeles General Medical Center one cloudy day this winter just as thousands of people do every year: alone and unknown. Some 130,000 people are brought each year to L.A. General’s emergency room. Many are unconscious, incapacitated or too unwell to tell staff who they are. (Purtill, 6/15)

Chicago Tribune: An ‘Unwanted Fraternity’: Dads With Babies In Northwestern NICU Gather To Support One Another
Bo Wheeler tried to remain stoic for his family. He kept calm when his wife’s water broke 28 weeks into her pregnancy and their twins, Max and Vivi, were delivered via emergency cesarean section, weighing less than 2.5 pounds each. He worked to stay positive during the four months that followed, even as his son struggled in the neonatal intensive care unit with seizures, a brain bleed and his breathing. (Schencker, 6/14)

STATE WATCH

The 19th: Rep. Melissa Hortman, Killed In Targeted Attack, Was A Champion For Minnesotan Families 
Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House speaker who championed the passage of ambitious progressive policies in the state, was assassinated early Saturday in what Gov. Tim Walz called “an act of targeted political violence.” (Panetta, 6/14)

Minnesota Public Radio: Senator John Hoffman Awake After Surgery
In a statement shared by Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, State Sen. John Hoffman’s wife says he is stable but not “out of the woods” after being shot nine times on Saturday at his home in Champlin. “John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods. He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” Yvette Hoffman said on Sunday. (Richert, 6/15)

Los Angeles Times: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Halts Transgender Care
Under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will shutter its longstanding healthcare program for trans children and young adults this summer, according to emails reviewed by The Times. The Center for Transyouth Health and Development began telling its nearly 3,000 patient families of the closure on Thursday, saying there was “no viable alternative” that would allow the safety-net hospital to continue specialized care. (Sharp, 6/12)

Modern Healthcare: Corporate Practice Of Medicine Law In Oregon Enacted
As private equity investors and large companies such as Amazon and UnitedHealth Group acquire doctors’ offices at a rapid pace, states are considering tougher measures to stem what one senior legislator described as “relentless” consolidation in the healthcare sector. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) enacted a statute on Monday to strengthen the Beaver State’s longstanding “corporate practice of medicine” law. The new law effectively bars private equity firms and other companies from controlling physician offices and mandates that doctors own at least 51% of their practices. (McAuliff, 6/13)

The Wall Street Journal: This Virginia County Slashed Overdose Deaths In Half. The Secret To How Is Hiding In Plain Sight.
When Officer Chelsea Johnston came across a wanted felon one evening in May, Johnston jerked her cruiser in front of him, sprinted after him and tackled him to the ground. Still catching her breath, Johnston motioned for someone to step out of the cruiser: Joy Bogese. “Thank God,” the man said. “It’s you.” (Wernau, 6/15)

Chicago Tribune: Two Chicago-Area Women In Desperate Search For Kidney Donor
Katie Pappas had kept a secret for weeks from her students at northwest suburban Timber Trails Elementary. The 40-year-old health teacher’s kidney was failing, and she spent around eight to 11 hours every night tethered to a dialysis machine. (Johnson, 6/14)

AGING

The Washington Post: Genetic Variant Tied To Doubled Dementia Risk For Older Men
A common genetic variant is linked to a doubled dementia risk for older men, a recent analysis in Neurology suggests. The study used data from Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE), which followed elderly patients in the United States and Australia with no history of cardiovascular disease, dementia or cognitive decline between 2010 and 2017. (Blakemore, 6/15)

The Washington Post: Nurse Practitioners Step In As Senior Population Explodes
On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight people in all. Pregnant with her second child, she schleps a backpack instead of a traditional black bag to carry a laptop and essential medical supplies — stethoscope, blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter. (Arvin, 6/15)

The Wall Street Journal: The Friendly Caller Who’s Helping Seniors Feel Less Lonely
What if you had a friend who never tired of hearing you tell old stories? Someone who was available anytime you wanted to talk Residents of a nonprofit senior living community in Riverdale, N.Y., took part in a recent pilot study to determine whether calls from a virtual companion named Meela would alleviate depression and loneliness. (Jargon, 6/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Study Finds That Small Joyful Moments Can Make A Difference
The simplest tasks of joy and awe — listening to laughter, admiring a flower on a neighborhood walk, doing a nice thing for a friend — can measurably improve people’s emotional well-being and attitudes toward life, according to a new UCSF study. So-called micro-acts of joy can have remarkably outsize effects on people’s moods, and in particular on their belief that they can control their own happiness, said Elissa Epel, a UCSF professor who has long studied the effects of stress on aging and overall health. (Allday, 6/14)

CANCER

Newsweek: Cancer Rates Rising In Americans Under 50—Three Age Groups Most At Risk
A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that the incidence of 14 different cancer types increased among people under the age of 50. Newsweek spoke with leading oncologists about new findings published in Cancer Discovery, which revealed that between 2010 and 2019, more than two million cancer cases were diagnosed in people aged 15 to 49 in the United States. (Notarantonio, 6/14)

Stat: To Prevent Ovarian Cancers, Fallopian Tube Removal Is On The Rise
To Rebecca Stone, the single most important fact about ovarian cancer is that it’s usually a misnomer. The most common kind — responsible for 70% of cases and 90% of deaths — often has its silent beginnings not in the ovary, but in the fallopian tube. This isn’t just an interesting factoid; as a gynecologic oncologist at Johns Hopkins, Stone sees it as a reason to evangelize. (Boodman, 6/16)

ABC News: Ananda Lewis Chose 'Natural' Cancer Care Over Conventional Treatment. Many Others Do Too -- And It's Risky
Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and TV host, died last week from breast cancer at age 52. After revealing in 2020 that she had been battling breast cancer for more than two years, Lewis announced she was foregoing conventional treatment in favor of holistic methods such as juicing, herbal remedies and detox regimens. Lewis' cancer had already reached an advanced stage by the time it was detected -- delayed in part by her long-standing fear of mammograms and concerns about radiation exposure. (Hackshaw, 6/15)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

CNN: ‘Whole Again’: Man Receives Double Hand Transplant After Nearly 17 Years 
There’s a video on Luka Krizanac’s phone that captures him making coffee at home on an espresso machine. It’s the type of video anyone might take to show off a new gadget to friends or recommend a favorite bag of beans. But the normalcy is exactly what makes it extraordinary for Krizanac – because just a few months ago, he didn’t have hands. (McPhillips, 6/13)

The Guardian: ‘I Feel Like A Drug Dealer’: The Parents Using Black-Market Melatonin To Help Their Children Sleep
The first time I gave him a gummy, I thought, ‘Oh my God, have I killed him?’ He just passed out in front of the TV. That never happens.” Jen is remembering giving her son, David, six, melatonin to help him sleep. She got them from a friend, a paediatrician who gave them to her own child. “It was sort of hilarious. She had half a tub of gummies, and her husband met my husband in a car park near a roundabout to hand them over, like some underhand black-market deal.” Her tone is light, but in fact she and her husband were becoming increasingly desperate for sleep. “They were like gold dust.” (Cosslett, 6/15)

The New York Times: Norma Swenson, ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves’ Co-Author, Dies At 93 
She was a proponent of natural childbirth when she joined the group that produced the candid guide to women’s health. It became a cultural touchstone and a global best seller. (Green, 6/15)