First Edition: Monday, March 31, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: ‘They Won’t Help Me’: Sickest Patients Face Insurance Denials Despite Policy Fixes
Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company. Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder. In 2023, Ekirch was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy, a condition that makes her limbs and muscles feel as if they’re on fire. Now she takes more than a dozen prescriptions to manage chronic pain and other symptoms, including insomnia. (Sausser, 3/31)

KFF Health News: Montana’s Small Pharmacies Behind Bill To Corral Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Montana’s small, independent pharmacies say they’re getting increasingly squeezed on reimbursements by pharmacy benefit managers — and are pushing an ambitious bill to rein in what they say are unfair practices by the powerful industry negotiators known as PBMs. “Who in their right mind would subject themselves to this sort of treatment in a business relationship?” said Mike Matovich, a part owner of eight small-town pharmacies in Montana. “It’s such a monopoly. We can be the best pharmacy in the world, and they can still put us out of business.” (Dennison, 3/31)

KFF Health News: Readers Shop For Nutritional Information And Weigh Radiation And Cancer Risks 
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (3/31)

KFF Health News: Journalists Talk Public Health Data Under Trump, Therapists' Discontent With Insurers
KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed how mental health therapists are finding it difficult to work with insurance companies on WOSU Public Media’s “All Sides with Amy Juravich” on March 27. KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen discussed the effects of President Donald Trump’s policy changes on the collection and sharing of important scientific health data on Big Picture Science on March 24. (3/29)

TOP VACCINE OFFICIAL OUSTED

The Wall Street Journal: FDA’s Top Vaccine Official Forced Out 
The Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official has been pushed out, according to people familiar with the matter. Dr. Peter Marks, who played a key role in the first Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed to develop Covid-19 vaccines, stepped down Friday. He submitted his resignation after a Health and Human Services official earlier in the day gave him the choice to resign or be fired, people familiar with the matter said. “It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote in a resignation letter referring to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Whyte, 3/28)

The Guardian: Biotech Group Warns Exit Of Top FDA Vaccine Official Will ‘Erode Scientific Standards’
The US biotech industry’s main lobby group issued a rare warning following the forced and abrupt resignation of the nation’s top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying the loss of his experienced leadership would “erode scientific standards” and affect the development of transformative therapies to fight disease. The statement, issued on Saturday by John Crowley of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), followed the news a day earlier that Dr Peter Marks had resigned over what he called “misinformation and lies” from health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. It was an uncommon admonition from a sector that has largely been silent amid the second Donald Trump presidential administration’s first months in office. (Vargas, 3/30)

Stat: Trump Taps Sara Carter Of Fox News To Be Next National Drug Czar 
President Trump has selected Sara Carter, a conservative journalist and Fox News contributor, as the nation’s next drug czar. Carter’s selection comes as a surprise: Her background is not in drug policy, public health, or law enforcement, and she has never served in government. Her journalism in the past decade, however, has been staunchly pro-Trump, with a particular emphasis on border issues and former President Biden’s perceived failure to stem illegal immigration and the trafficking of illicit drugs. (Facher, 3/28)

Axios: RFK Jr.'s Emerging Vision For HHS: More Centralized Power
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says sweeping layoffs and restructuring in the department will bring order to a bureaucracy he claims is in "pandemonium." But experts say the overhaul also likely gives him far greater control over dozens of federal health agencies. (Reed, 3/31)

Stat: HHS Emergency Response Unit Given 48 Hours To Figure Out Its Fate 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to reshape the federal health department has left its roughly 1,000 emergency response workers in limbo, and with a daunting order: Sort out how you break up — this weekend. (Owermohle, 3/28)

The Washington Post: State, Local Governments Want To Hire Federal Workers Fired By Trump
Wisconsin, California and New York are among the states that have in recent weeks launched campaigns to reel in candidates from a fresh and massive pool of people newly on the job market: fired federal workers. Since President Donald Trump took office, tens of thousands of federal employees have been caught in his sweeping job cuts, which have been led by billionaire Elon Musk. State and local governments — largely led by Democrats — have taken up hiring former federal workers as their cause, with recruitment drives tailored to those who had once expected to spend their careers in service to the federal government. (Somasundaram, 3/30)

The Washington Post: Scores Of Child-Care Centers At Risk After Trump Officials Gut Federal Office
Families with children enrolled in scores of child-care centers in federal buildings hoped that the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate for federal employees would give a boost to these facilities and lead more to open after pandemic-era closures. Instead, the administration has eliminated an office responsible for overseeing that network and stopped providing accreditation to the centers, leaving them vulnerable to a drop in quality, higher costs or outright closure, former employees said. (Wiener, 3/30)

The New York Times: Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response In Myanmar 
The United States, the richest country in the world and once its most generous provider of foreign aid, has sent nothing. (Beech and Wong, 3/30)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Measles Cases Rise To 400 
The number of measles cases has risen to 400, a spike of 73 cases over the last three days, as the historical outbreak continues to rage on in West Texas, according to state officials on Friday. Of those, 41 patients have been hospitalized. As of Friday, most of the measles cases reported since January –– 270 –– were centered in Gaines County, about 90 minutes southwest of Lubbock on the New Mexico border. Earlier this week, state officials confirmed Lamb County, northeast of Lubbock, reported its first measles case. On Friday, two more counties, Andrews and Midland counties which are within an 80-mile radius of Gaines, reported their first cases. (Langford, Simpson and Klibanoff, 3/28)

ProPublica: The CDC Buried A Measles Forecast That Stressed The Need For Vaccinations 
Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered staff [last] week not to release their experts’ assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica. In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that has spread to 19 states, the records show. (Callahan, 3/28)

The Atlantic: Texas Never Wanted RFK Jr.’s Vitamin A Shipment For Measles
Kennedy made a show of shipping vitamin A to measles-stricken communities. The state’s public-health department didn’t take up the offer. (Florko, 3/28)

NPR: As Measles Cases Rise, Some Parents Become Vaccine Enthusiasts
As a measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico continues to grow, and other states report outbreaks of their own, some pediatricians across the U.S. say they are seeing a new trend among concerned parents: vaccine enthusiasm. "Our call center was inundated with calls about the MMR [measles, mumps, rubella] vaccine," says Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine, a pediatrician in Broward County, Fla. She says parents are asking if their child is up to date on their vaccinations. Or "should they get another vaccine? Should they get an extra one? Can they get it early?" (Godoy, 3/30)

NBC News: One Dose Of Experimental Drug Nearly Wipes Out Stealthy Cholesterol In 'Remarkable' Trial
A single dose of an experimental drug dramatically reduced levels of a deadly form of cholesterol, often thought to be untreatable, for up to one year. Lipoprotein(a) is a type of cholesterol that lurks in the body, undetected by routine tests and undeterred by existing drugs, diet or exercise. The findings, cardiologists say, are a critical step toward treating the millions of Americans genetically predisposed to abnormally high levels of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a). (Edwards, 3/30)

CNBC: Novo Nordisk's Diabetes Pill Rybelsus Slashes Cardiovascular Risk
Novo Nordisk on Saturday said its diabetes pill Rybelsus showed cardiovascular benefits in a late-stage trial, paving the way for it to become a new treatment option for people living with diabetes and heart disease. (Constantino, 3/29)

The New York Times: ‘A Tiny Bit Of Math’ Might Improve Your Heart Health, Study Suggests 
Many people use a smartwatch to monitor their cardiovascular health, often by counting the number of steps they take over the course of their day, or recording their average daily heart rate. Now, researchers are proposing an enhanced metric, which combines the two using basic math: Divide your average daily heart rate by your daily average number of steps. The resulting ratio — the daily heart rate per step, or DHRPS — provides insight into how efficiently the heart is working, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association. (Richtel, 3/29)

Modern Healthcare: Chevron Ruling Could Lower Costs Of Hospital Fraud Litigation
Health systems could spend less money and time fighting fraud allegations if their legal challenges to federal oversight are successful. Supreme Court cases, including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, along with a federal lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of whistleblower cases are poised to revamp healthcare fraud enforcement. Decisions in these cases, combined with the Trump administration's renewed emphasis on deregulation, could narrow the scope of healthcare fraud investigations and ease federal oversight, healthcare lawyers said. (Kacik, 3/28)

Modern Healthcare: Why Health Systems Say Microhospitals Are A Worthy Investment
More microhospitals are popping up nationwide as health systems try to increase access to care without pouring money into large-scale projects. Hospital operators have touted the model as cheaper to build and requiring less capital to operate than a traditional hospital, while still providing critical services to patients in areas with care gaps. Services can also be customized based on what a market needs, operators say. (Hudson, 3/31)

Crain's Grand Rapids Business: How Corewell Health’s Nursing Program Eases Staffing Shortages 
An initiative Corewell Health launched four years ago with Grand Valley State University to bring more nurses into the profession has been meeting expectations amid a persistent staffing shortage. Since starting in 2022, hundreds of GVSU nursing students have gone through the scholarship and mentorship program that provides a talent pipeline for Corewell Health, which committed to invest more than $19 million over six years to support 500 students who pursue a nursing degree at the university. (Sanchez, 3/27)

MSNBC: Florida Considers Easing Child Labor Laws After Pushing Out Immigrants
As Florida officials enable Trump’s mass deportation policies, lawmakers in the state are looking to children to take on some of the jobs that have typically been done by immigrants. Making its way through the state Senate is a new law, Senate Bill 918, that aims to loosen child labor laws and allow teenagers to work overnight shifts. S.B. 918 also “includes a number of changes including eliminating working time restrictions on teenagers aged 14 and 15 if they are home-schooled and ending guaranteed meal breaks for 16 and 17 year olds,” CNN reported. (Jones, 3/27)

Stat: Amgen Loses Battle With Colorado Over Prescription Drug Affordability Board
In a blow to the pharmaceutical industry, a U.S. court judge ruled that a Colorado state board can proceed with plans to place limits on the prices paid for medicines, the first such decision to support the controversial attempts by some states to control their prescription drug spending. (Silverman, 3/28)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Lawmakers Send Governor Bill Requiring Training To Buy Many Guns
A bill that would ban the manufacture and drastically restrict the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms that can accept detachable ammunition magazines in Colorado is now headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk after it cleared its final legislative hurdle Friday. (Paul, 3/28)

AP: How A New Georgia Bill Could Change The Fate Of Domestic Abuse Survivors In Prison 
Between 74% and 95% of incarcerated women have survived domestic abuse or sexual violence, according to the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Many were tried without fair opportunities to prove the scope of the abuse and how it led them to act in self-defense, while others were coerced into crimes, according to advocates, who add that certain laws disproportionately criminalize abused women. At other times, they say, people simply don’t believe women’s stories, with women of color like Favors who survive abuse especially likely to end up in prison. But under the Georgia Survivor Justice Act, which passed the state House overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and still awaits Senate consideration ahead of the session’s end this week, abuse survivors could secure early release from prison. (Kramon, 3/30)

St. Louis Public Radio: Some Abortions Resume At St. Louis Planned Parenthood 
More than four months after Missouri voters approved a measure that gave residents the right to an abortion, Planned Parenthood has begun offering the procedure at one of its St. Louis clinics. Clinic officials announced Friday that staff this week have started offering patients procedural abortions, sometimes known as surgical abortions. (Fentem, 3/28)

CIDRAP: FDA Approves At-Home Test For Sexually Transmitted Infections
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the first at-home, over-the-counter test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis. The Visby Medical Women's Sexual Health Test is a single-use test intended for women with or without symptoms. The test, which includes a sample collection kit and a powered testing device that communicates testing results to an app, can be bought without a prescription and deliver results within 30 minutes. (Dall, 3/28)

CIDRAP: US Flu Continues To Decline But Will Likely Persist In Weeks Ahead
US flu indicators declined for the sixth week in a row, but levels remain elevated nationally, and activity is expected to continue for the next several weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update. Nationally, the percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness, at 3.3%, remains above the national baseline for the seventeenth consecutive week, but five areas of the country are now below their regional baselines. (Schnirring, 3/28)

NBC News: Bird Flu Infections Have Been Mounting In Cats
Bird flu wasn’t on Tim Hanson’s mind when he fed his cats specialty pet food containing raw chicken. “You go to the pet shop and it was the premium raw food,” he said. “It was finely ground to a consistency that I thought was beneficial to my cats.” But in early February, one of his cats, Kira, developed a fever and stopped eating. A test ordered by a veterinarian came back positive for bird flu. Within days, Kira’s condition had deteriorated — she became lethargic and had trouble breathing. After several trips to the vet and emergency room in Portland, Oregon, where Hanson lives, he made the painful decision to put Kira down.  (Bendix, 3/30)

NBC News: Scientists Warn Of Severe Honeybee Losses In 2025
Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025, entomologists at Washington State University said Tuesday. The university said in a news release that in the past decade, honeybee colony losses have averaged 40% to 50% annually. But this year, a combination of nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases and possible pesticide exposure during the previous pollinating season led to higher losses, the release said. The implications could be huge. About 35% of the world’s food depends on pollinators, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (Lavietes, 3/26)

The Washington Post: As Avoidable Deaths Slowed Globally, They Rose In The U.S. 
From 2009 to 2019, avoidable mortality increased by an average of 33 deaths per 100,000 people across the United States, according to an article published in JAMA last week. In the same decade that avoidable deaths increased in the United States, they dropped by an average of nearly 23 deaths per 100,000 across all other countries in the study. Among countries in the European Union, there was an average decrease of 25 avoidable deaths per 100,000 people from 2009 to 2019. (McMahan, 3/31)

AP: Mexico Bans Junk Food Sales In Schools
A government-sponsored junk food ban in schools across Mexico took effect on Saturday, officials said, as the country tries to tackle one of the world’s worst obesity and diabetes epidemics. The health guidelines, first published last fall, take a direct shot at salty and sweet processed products that have become a staple for generations of Mexican schoolchildren, such as sugary fruit drinks, packaged chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts. (3/29)