First Edition: Thursday, April 2, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, A Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines
This week, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention posted online its first large tranche of advanced genetic data from measles viruses spreading last year. Scientists with knowledge of the operation expect the agency to post heaps more in weeks to come, revealing whether the U.S. has lost its hard-won measles elimination status. The CDC withheld the data for months as a team hit hard by mass layoffs and resignations sorted through the information. (Maxmen, 4/2)

KFF Health News: State-Run Insurance Plans For Foster Kids Leave Some Of Them Without Doctors
Ollie Super has moved in and out of cancer treatment since she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a toddler in foster care. Now 8, the second grader is dealing with it again. Her cancer came back late last year. Ollie’s parents, who adopted her in 2020, tried to sign her up for a clinical trial using CAR T-cell therapy — which genetically reprograms a patient’s white blood cells to help them fight cancer — at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, an hour-and-a-half drive from their home in Eden. Her mother, Britany Super, described it as Ollie’s “last option.” (Jones, 4/2)

KFF Health News: After Man’s Death Following Insurance Denials, West Virginia Tackles Prior Authorization
Six months after a West Virginia man died following a protracted battle with his health insurer over doctor-recommended cancer care, the state’s Republican governor signed a bill intended to curb the harm of insurance denials. (Sausser, 4/1)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The New York Times: C.D.C. Pauses Testing For Rabies And Pox Viruses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has temporarily paused testing for rabies and pox viruses, the family of viruses that includes smallpox and mpox, according to an update to the agency’s website on Monday. The C.D.C. offers testing for dozens of pathogens to assist state and local public health laboratories that are not equipped to conduct them. The organization began evaluating its tests in late 2024 as part of an agencywide review. (Mandavilli, 4/1)

Stat: Trump Administration Prepares 100% Tariffs On Some Imported Drugs
The Trump administration has prepared an order that would impose a 100% tariff on imports of patented medications and their active ingredients, according to a draft obtained by STAT. (Payne, 4/1)

MedPage Today: Speeding Up Approvals, Getting More Drugs OTC Among FDA's Top Priorities
The FDA is continuing its quest to speed up drug approvals and make more drugs available over the counter (OTC), FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, said Wednesday. "We want to challenge the assumption that it takes 10 to 12 years for a drug to come to market," Makary said during a press conference with reporters. "We believe it can be done faster without cutting any corners on safety. We'd like to modernize the agency with technology, while maintaining our gold-standard thresholds for approving drugs, devices, food, cosmetics, and tobacco." (Frieden, 4/1)

Stat: FDA Commissioner Makary Praises Staff In Speech 
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary recounted his agency’s achievements and acknowledged a “challenging start” to his tenure in a speech to staff on Wednesday afternoon. (Lawrence, 4/1)

IMMIGRATION CRISIS

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Appears Skeptical Of Trump’s Effort To End Birthright Citizenship 
The Supreme Court appeared poised Wednesday to uphold the legal principle that almost everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, as justices heard arguments in a major case that raises fundamental questions about who is considered American. The justices seemed ready to hand President Donald Trump a significant defeat in his push to end birthright citizenship, as the president sat watching the first part of the proceedings in the the public gallery — a historic first. Trump is the only sitting chief executive known to have attended arguments before the high court. (Jouvenal, 4/1)

The New York Times: Medical Examiner Rules That A Rohingya Refugee’s Death Was A Homicide 
The medical examiner in Buffalo has ruled that the death of a nearly blind man left alone by Border Patrol agents on a frigid night was a homicide, a finding that could lead to criminal charges. Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, died in February after the agents dropped him off outside a closed Tim Hortons doughnut shop. His death triggered outrage in Buffalo and around the nation. (Ley, 4/1)

The Washington Post: Trump Endorses Republican Plan To End DHS Shutdown
President Donald Trump endorsed a plan Wednesday to end the nearly seven-week-old shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by going around Democrats to fund parts of the agency. Trump urged Republicans to send him a party-line bill by June 1 to fund two agencies within the department — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol — using the reconciliation process. (Beggin and Meyer, 4/1)

ON CAPITOL HILL

AP: New Bill To Lower Insulin Costs Gives Hope To Diabetes Advocates
Two-year-old Bain Brandon has Type 1 diabetes and needs insulin to live. But even with health insurance, the price tag isn’t cheap. A one-month supply of insulin vials and a three-month supply of backup pens for the Mississippi toddler cost his parents $194 last week, according to his mom, 29-year-old Marlee Brandon. They can afford it right now — but she worries about the future. “One day, Bain will be an adult, and he won’t be able to be on our insurance anymore,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how much and how expensive it is.” (Swenson, 4/2)

Fierce Healthcare: Hospitals Want Congress To Refine Long-Term Care Hospital Pay
Hospital associations have laid out their policy wish list for Congress regarding long-term care hospitals (LTCH), calling for refinements to various requirements around patient criteria and stay length that affect payments. The changes outlined by the lobbying groups, including the American Hospital Association, would relieve the “severe stress” the subsector is facing and head off facility closures that have mounted in recent years, they said. Failing to stem the loss of LTCH beds “will exacerbate growing hospital and post-acute capacity concerns in markets throughout the country,” they said. (Muoio, 4/1)

CBS News: Booker Urges Supreme Court To Allow Roundup Cancer Lawsuits To Proceed
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday backing cancer patients in a high-stakes case that could determine whether thousands of lawsuits over the weedkiller Roundup can proceed — and drawing a direct contrast with the Trump administration's position. The filing, known as an amicus brief, supports a plaintiff who alleges Monsanto failed to warn consumers about cancer risks tied to Roundup, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. (Maguire, 4/1)

PHARMA AND TECH

NPR: Eli Lilly Obesity Pill Foundayo Gets The FDA Green Light
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the second GLP-1 pill to treat obesity, this time from drugmaker Eli Lilly. The new pill, Foundayo, is taken once a day and will compete with the pill form of Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, which was approved by the FDA in December. (Lupkin, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: A Look At Oracle Health Amid Mass Layoffs
Oracle began laying off thousands of employees Tuesday, including at Oracle Health, the unit it formed following its acquisition of electronic health records company Cerner Corp. The company is eliminating about 30,000 roles, which represents 18% of the company’s workforce, CNBC reported. Many of the affected employees took to social media and LinkedIn to announce they’d been laid off and were open to work. Oracle declined comment, as it has about past layoffs. (Famakinwa, 4/1)

Becker's Hospital Review: Meta Gets Into Health Wearables With AI Glasses
Meta is entering the health wearables market with AI glasses designed to keep tabs on what you eat. The Meta AI glasses are now available for people with prescription lenses and come with hands-free food tracking as part of a software update. Via a voice prompt or photo, wearers can log what they eat, with the glasses extracting nutrition details and logging them into the Meta AI app. (Bruce, 4/1)

AP: Virtual Replicas Of Patients' Hearts Help Doctors Tackle Irregular Heartbeat
Scientists created virtual replicas of patients’ diseased hearts so precise that blocking a dangerous irregular heartbeat in these digital “twins” showed doctors how to better treat the real thing. One of the first clinical trials of these custom models suggests it might improve care for ventricular tachycardia, a notoriously difficult-to-treat arrhythmia that is a major cause of sudden cardiac arrest, blamed for about 300,000 U.S. deaths a year. (Neergaard, 4/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Howard Teens Develop Device To Help Those With Dementia
Millions of people with dementia work hard to complete everyday tasks, from taking medication to locking the door. For families, keeping track of these small but essential routines can be exhausting, and missing a step can have serious consequences. Seeing a need through community and family, four juniors from Mount Hebron High School — Saanvi Kakarlapudi, 16; Ahana Roy, 16; Amitha Sabbani, 16; and Tanvi Anand, 17 — developed MindLink, a wearable device designed to act as an automatic to-do list. (Yelenik, 4/1)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Bloomberg: US Companies Add 62,000 Jobs, Led By Health Care, ADP Says
US companies added more jobs than expected last month, suggesting the labor market may be stabilizing. Private-sector payrolls increased by 62,000 in March after a similar advance in the prior month, according to ADP Research data out Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 40,000 advance. (Niquette, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Why US Healthcare Spending Growth Is Slowing: Brookings Institute
The combination of technology and alternative care options is slowing the growth rate of healthcare spending. In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said healthcare expenditures rose 7.2%, to $5.3 trillion, in 2024. Healthcare spending accounted for 18% of gross domestic product in 2024, less than the 21.2% the agency projected. Advances in care delivery, reduced pricing on some treatments and payer restrictions on care utilization drove down spending, according to a recent study by public policy organization Brookings Institute. (Hudson, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Leapfrog Group To Expand Ambulatory Surgery Center Rating System
The Leapfrog Group will expand its rating system for ambulatory surgery centers. Starting in July, Leapfrog plans to use publicly reported Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data to compare safety and quality measures across nearly 4,000 ASCs, similar to how the independent watchdog group rates hospitals, according to a Tuesday news release. Leapfrog’s ASC rating system has historically been tied to its annual survey, which has fewer participants than the thousands of facilities that report data to CMS. (Kacik, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Carelon Behavioral Health Ghost Network Lawsuit Moves Forward
Carelon Behavioral Health lost its motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the company maintained an inaccurate provider network, a federal district court ruled Tuesday. Three New York State Health Insurance Program beneficiaries sued the Elevance Health subsidiary in April 2025, alleging its directory of mental health providers were not all in-network as advertised. Carelon filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in August. (Tong, 4/1)

AP: Judges Delay Luigi Mangione's State And Federal Trials
Luigi Mangione‘s state and federal trials in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson were both postponed on Wednesday, with the state case delayed until September and the federal case pushed back to October. Judge Gregory Carro rescheduled the state trial from June 8 to Sept. 8, acting hours after the judge in the federal case, Margaret Garnett, moved jury selection in that matter from Sept. 8 to Oct. 5. Opening statements and testimony in the federal case will begin on Oct. 26, Garnett said. Carro did not elaborate on his decision. (Sisak and Neumeister, 4/1)

Chicago Tribune: West Suburban Hospital Owner Says He Wants To Re-Open
The owner of the now-shuttered West Suburban Medical Center said Wednesday he hopes to reopen the hospital this summer – but a state lawmaker who represents the area is questioning whether that plan will become a reality. (Schencker, 4/1)

The CT Mirror: UConn Health To Take Over DCF-Run Psychiatric Facility
The University of Connecticut Health Center Board of Directors voted on Tuesday to move forward with a plan to take over adolescent psychiatric services from the state-run Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center – South Campus in Middletown. (Tillman, 4/1)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Drones To Carry Blood To St. Louis For Organ Donations
A new drone flight corridor for the aerial delivery of blood samples from Springfield to St. Louis became active on Wednesday — although the drone's ceremonial inaugural flight was rained out. St. Louis-based Mid-America Transplant says the corridor is the country's first drone pathway dedicated to health care. Blood samples from potential organ donors will be flown by drone from Springfield to St. Louis, where they'll be tested to determine their suitability for donation. (Suntrup, 4/1)

STATE WATCH

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Cuts Push Iowa To Increase Health Insurance Taxes
States are staring down tough budgetary decisions as a result of the Medicaid cuts and policies in the tax law President Donald Trump enacted last year. Part of Iowa’s answer is a new, retroactive tax on health insurance companies. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a bill last Thursday to raise the tax rate on Medicaid managed care contractors from 0.925% to 3.5%, dating back to Jan. 1 and running through Sept. 30, to generate funds to pay for Medicaid. After that, it will drop down to 0.95%. (Tepper, 4/1)

CBS News: New 2026 Texas SNAP Rules Now In Effect. Here's What Recipients Can No Longer Buy
Texans who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will no longer be allowed to purchase sweetened drinks and candy beginning this Wednesday, April 1. In 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service prohibit those purchases using SNAP to "help ensure the health and well-being of Texans." (Brown and Myers, 4/1)

The Colorado Sun: Polis Planning Executive Order To Address Sugary Drinks In Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis wants to prohibit Coloradans from using food-assistance benefits to purchase soda and other sugary drinks that are bad for their health. But getting buy-in from other state leaders to put the ban in place now hinges on the governor’s broader plan for curbing soda drinking not just for low-income people, but for all Coloradans, starting with those attending taxpayer-funded events. (Brown, 4/1)

The New York Times: DNA Confirms Ted Bundy Killed Utah Teen In 1974, Investigators Say 
Mr. Bundy had confessed to killing Laura Ann Aime before he was executed in 1989. Investigators said DNA testing provided conclusive proof. (Levenson, 4/1)

The Texas Tribune: South Texas Woman Loses Wrongful Arrest Suit In Abortion Case
A Trump-appointed federal judge in South Texas this week dismissed a lawsuit filed by a woman in the Rio Grande Valley who alleged that her rights were violated after prosecutors charged her with murder in a controversial case that made global headlines after she self-induced an abortion. (Kriel, 4/1)

AP: Warm Winters Mean There's More Nitrate Pollution In Drinking Water
When pollution gets bad enough in the rivers supplying Iowa’s largest city with drinking water, it costs Des Moines around $16,000 a day to run a special system to filter out dangerous nitrates. It’s a fact of life in the agriculture-dependent state — and climate change is making the water quality problem even worse. The nitrates come from fertilizer and pesticides that make their way into the soil and then waterways like the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. It’s not usually a problem in winter, but this year Iowa’s capital had to filter in January and February — just the second time that’s happened in more than 30 years. (Walling, 4/1)

Kansas City Star: Wastewater At 4 KC-Area Schools Detected Potent Opioids 
Results of a voluntary wastewater monitoring program showed a highly potent opioid was found in two dozen Missouri schools, four of them in the Kansas City region. (Bauer, 4/1)

VACCINES AND OUTBREAKS

WUSF: Florida’s Plan To End Vaccine Mandates Hits A Road Bump 
Florida aimed to become the first state in the nation to end all vaccine mandates. But lawmakers failed to agree on a path forward. (Sheridan, 4/2)

CIDRAP: End In Sight For South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak; Chicago On Alert After Potential Airport Exposure
The largest measles outbreak in the United States seems to be winding down. The South Carolina Department of Public Health says the state has now gone two full weeks without a new infection. Also, no one in the state is in quarantine or isolation for measles at this time, according to Brannon Traxler, MD, MPH, South Carolina’s chief medical officer. There have been 997 reported cases of measles in South Carolina since the outbreak began in the Upstate region in October of last year. (Boden, 4/1)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccines, Boosters May Help Mitigate Long-COVID Risk In Cancer Patients
COVID-19 vaccination and boosting appeared to play an important role in protecting cancer patients against long COVID during the Omicron wave, researchers reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Dall, 4/1)

CIDRAP: RSV Vaccination Coverage Remains Low Among Older US Adults
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination coverage among older US adults remained low through the end of the 2024–25 respiratory virus season, according to a new study published in Vaccine. In 2024, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended RSV vaccination for adults aged 60 to 74 years who are at increased risk of severe RSV and for all adults aged ≥75 years. (Bergeson, 4/1)

CIDRAP: Berlin Sees Rapid Rise In Locally Acquired Mpox Clade 1b Cases
A rapidly expanding cluster of mpox caused by clade 1b virus has been identified among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Berlin, Germany, according to a rapid communication published last week in Eurosurveillance. Of the 35 identified cases from December 2025 to last month, 34 were most likely acquired locally. The sharp increase in locally acquired infections marks a shift from historic patterns in which most mpox cases in Europe were largely travel-related. (Bergeson, 4/1)