First Edition: Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Poison At Play: Unsafe Levels Of Lead Found In Half Of New Orleans Playgrounds
Sarah Hess started taking her toddler, Josie, to Mickey Markey Playground in 2010 because she thought it would offer a refuge from lead. After a routine doctor visit revealed Josie had lead poisoning, Hess quickly traced the source to the crumbling paint in her family’s century-old home in the Bayou St. John neighborhood. While it underwent lead remediation, the family stayed in a newer, lead-free house near Markey. “Everyone was telling us the safest place to play was outside at playgrounds, so that’s where we went,” Hess said. Josie became a Markey regular, playing on the swings and slides. (Baurick and Parker, 2/5)

KFF Health News: Newsom Walks Thin Line On Immigrant Health As He Eyes Presidential Bid
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eyeing a presidential bid, has incensed both Democrats and Republicans over immigrant health care in his home state, underscoring the delicate political path ahead. For a second year, the Democrat has asked state lawmakers to roll back coverage for some immigrants in the face of federal Medicaid spending cuts and a roughly $3 billion budget deficit that analysts warn could worsen if the artificial intelligence bubble bursts. (Mai-Duc, 2/5)

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The Wall Street Journal: Negotiators Say Talks To Restore ACA Subsidies Likely Dead
Top Senate negotiators said an effort to renew expired healthcare subsidies had effectively collapsed, likely ending the hopes of 20 million Americans that the tax-credit expansion could be revived and lower their monthly insurance premiums. Talks had centered on a proposal from Sens. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) to extend a version of the enlarged Affordable Care Act subsidies for at least two years, while cutting off higher-income people from participating and eventually giving enrollees the option of putting money into health savings accounts. It also would eliminate zero-dollar premium plans. But lawmakers from both parties now say the chances of a deal have all but evaporated. “It’s effectively over,” Moreno said Wednesday. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.)—the architect of an adjacent plan—agreed. While Collins declined to be as definitive, she did say that it was “certainly difficult.” (Hughes and Bhutani, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: ICHRA Market Growth May Hit Headwinds As ACA Premiums Spike 
The next big thing in health insurance might be stymied by the last big thing in health insurance. Insurers such as Centene and Oscar Health and venture capital-backed startups have been aggressively promoting individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, or ICHRAs, as a solution to rising employer health benefit costs over the past several years. But while companies like those are outwardly confident about the market’s prospects, there’s reason to believe they should be more worried. (Tong, 2/4)

PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

The New York Times: F.T.C. Settles With Express Scripts Over High Insulin Prices
The Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday that it had reached a settlement with Cigna’s Express Scripts, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers, over its role in driving up insulin prices. Express Scripts will not pay a fine or face a financial penalty as part of the deal and did not admit to any wrongdoing. But the company agreed to a range of changes to its business model. (Robbins and Abelson, 2/4)

Stat: New PBM Law Could Lead To Direct Sales Between Employers, Drugmakers
The pharmacy benefit manager reforms that President Trump signed into law on Tuesday could lead to employers buying drugs directly from drugmakers, just like the administration is encouraging individual consumers to do through its pending website TrumpRx. (Wilkerson, 2/4)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The New York Times: Trump Says He Ordered Withdrawal Of 700 Immigration Agents From Minneapolis 
President Trump said on Wednesday that he personally ordered the withdrawal of 700 law enforcement officers involved in the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota and that his administration could use a “softer touch.” (Ngo and Smith, 2/4)

Politico: NIH Looks To Turn Primate Research Center Into A Sanctuary
The National Institutes of Health wants to transition at least one of seven national primate research centers into an animal sanctuary, aiming to move away from animal testing in favor of alternative methods. The NIH-funded centers, hosted by universities and research institutions, conduct primate research on conditions and diseases that affect human health. They have been a primary target of animal rights organizations, like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (Gardner, 2/4)

NBC News: Trump Tried To Gut Science Research Funding. Courts And Congress Have Rebuffed Him
About a year ago, it seemed the sky was falling for American scientific research. The Trump administration last February cut thousands of workers at federal science agencies, squeezed the flow of grant money to universities and tried to slash funding for the overhead costs of research. In the months that followed, it targeted elite universities over allegations of antisemitism; clawed back grants on topics it saw as related to diversity, equity and inclusion; and proposed a budget with drastic cuts to agencies like NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). (Bush, 2/4)

NPR: How The New Food Pyramid Could Impact School Lunch And More
Putting together a school meal isn't easy. "It is a puzzle essentially," said Lori Nelson of the Chef Ann Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes scratch cooking in schools. "When you think about the guidelines, there's so many different pieces that you have to meet. You have to meet calorie minimums and maximums for the day and for the week. You have to meet vegetable subgroup categories." (Mills, 2/5)

AUTISM

MedPage Today: FDA Removes Warning Page About Dangerous Autism Treatments
The FDA removed a webpage that warned consumers about potentially dangerous products and therapies marketed as autism treatments. An archived version of the page said the agency had warned or taken action against companies that made improper claims that their products could treat or cure autism or autism-related symptoms. (George, 2/4)

MedPage Today: Autism Prevalence In Girls And Boys May Be Nearly Equal, Study Suggests 
A large longitudinal study challenged longstanding assumptions about the gender prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Among 2.7 million people born in Sweden between 1985 and 2022 and followed from birth up to age 37, 2.8% were diagnosed with autism at a mean age of 14.3 years, reported Caroline Fyfe, PhD, of the Karolinska Institutet in Solna, and co-authors. (George, 2/4)

VACCINES AND OUTBREAKS

San Francisco Chronicle: New California Measles Cases Tied To Disneyland Exposure
A cluster of new measles cases reported across California has been linked to a visit to Disneyland late last month, with public health officials warning that thousands of people may have been exposed. Four measles cases have been reported in California in the past five days, and three of the infected people visited Disneyland around Jan. 28, according to a notice issued Tuesday by Plumas County Public Health. (Vaziri, 2/4)

MedPage Today: Heart Attack, Stroke Risk Rises After Serious RSV, Study Says
Adults hospitalized with an acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection may face a sharp risk of cardiorespiratory events such as heart attack or stroke in the weeks afterward, according to a retrospective self-controlled case study. (Rudd, 2/4)

AP: WHO Says Preventative Cholera Vaccinations Can Restart After Nearly 4-Year Halt Because Of Shortage
Preventive cholera vaccination programs will restart globally after they were halted for nearly four years due to a vaccine shortage, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In a joint statement, WHO, vaccine alliance GAVI and the United Nations Children’s Fund said stocks of oral cholera vaccines in the global stockpile they manage had improved to nearly 70 million doses last year. The vaccines are distributed free to countries that need them, but they had to be used only in reaction to outbreaks rather than preventative campaigns after a shortage was announced in 2022 because of a surge in demand. (2/4)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

MedPage Today: More Evidence That Removing Fallopian Tubes Dramatically Reduces Ovarian Cancer Risk
Women who underwent opportunistic bilateral salpingectomy (OBS) with hysterectomy had almost an 80% lower risk of developing serous ovarian cancer versus hysterectomy alone, a large retrospective cohort study showed. (Bankhead, 2/4)

Newsweek: Breastfeeding And Pregnancy Now Linked To Unexpected Longevity Benefits
A study led by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) anthropology professor Molly Fox has found that pregnancy and breastfeeding are linked with stronger cognitive function in postmenopausal women. Specifically, the team reports that greater cumulative time spent pregnant and breastfeeding correlates with better global cognition, as well as verbal and visual memory, later in life. (Gray, 2/4)

Undark: The Science Of Surrogacy, Thrust Into A Global Spotlight
It was after seeing a friend go through multiple miscarriages that Kristin Spaans decided to help. With two children of her own, the now 38-year-old offered to become a surrogate and carry her friend’s baby — for which her friend is paying her just under $13,000, she said, on the low-end as far as typical compensation goes. The experience has not been without hiccups. Spaans needed a medical exemption to continue taking an SSRI for anxiety, and there were other delays. “Since surrogacy is such a process of trying to eliminate risk, they just take all the precautions,” she said. (Klotz, 2/5)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

AP: Crews Battle Fire And Evacuate Patients From Pennsylvania Hospital 
Emergency crews battled a blaze and evacuated patients from a hospital Wednesday night in Pennsylvania as fire engulfed part of the facility, according to officials. All patients, staff and visitors were safely evacuated from Lehigh Valley Hospital in Dickson City, according to a hospital spokesperson. Emergency responders continued to work at the scene early Thursday. (5/5)

Healthcare Dive: Prices Rise At Surgery Centers Acquired By Optum: Study 
Prices rose 11% at ambulatory surgery centers after they were bought by Optum, probably because the newly acquired providers were able to negotiate higher prices with insurers, according to a new study highlighting how vertical consolidation drives up healthcare spending. (Parduhn, 2/3)

Healthcare Dive: One-Quarter Of Medicaid Doctors Don’t Actually Treat Medicaid Patients: Study
More than one-fourth of doctors enrolled in Medicaid didn’t actually deliver care to any Medicaid beneficiaries in 2021, according to new research adding to worries about low physician participation in the safety-net insurance program. (Parduhn, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: DaVita-Elara Caring Deal Signals New Approach In Home Care
DaVita Kidney Care and private equity firm Ares Management are acquiring Elara Caring in a deal that could represent a new approach to growing the kidney and home care sectors. DaVita said this week it plans to spend $200 million for an unspecified minority stake in the home health and hospice company. The deal would bring together one of the nation’s largest kidney services providers by revenue and a major player in the home health and hospice sector. A spokesperson for Ares would not disclose the size of the private equity firm’s majority stake. (Eastabrook, 2/4)

Fierce Healthcare: Kaiser Permanente, Renown Health Launch Northern Nevada JV
Kaiser Permanente and Renown Health have wrapped the paperwork on a deal forming an insurance and outpatient care joint venture in northern Nevada. (Muoio, 2/3)

The Boston Globe: Dana-Farber, MGB Announce Major Gifts For Competing Cancer Visions
The arms race over the future of cancer care in Boston intensified on Wednesday when Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced the largest single gift in its 79-year-history, for its planned $1.68 billion, 300-bed cancer hospital. Dana-Farber, which wants to build the hospital on the site of Joslin Diabetes Center in the Longwood Medical Area as part of a partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, didn’t disclose the size of the gift. The donors, Josh and Anita Bekenstein and the Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine family, want to keep the amount private. (Saltzman, 2/4)

PHARMACEUTICALS

Stat: Vertex's CRISPR Sickle Cell Treatment Faces A Costly Bottleneck 
Vertex executives warned that Casgevy, its curative treatment for sickle cell disease, would be slow to reach patients. But few expected it to be this slow. (Mast, 2/5)

AP: Merck's Experimental Pill Enlicitide Sharply Lowered Cholesterol In A Large Study
A new kind of pill sharply reduced artery-clogging cholesterol in people who remain at high risk of heart attacks despite taking statins, researchers reported Wednesday. It’s still experimental but the pill helps rid the body of cholesterol in a way that today can be done only with injected medicines. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the pill, named enlicitide, could offer an easier-to-use option for millions of people. (Neergaard, 2/4)

NBC News: More Than 170,000 People In U.S. Are Taking Wegovy Pill, Novo Nordisk Says
Novo Nordisk said Wednesday that demand for its Wegovy pill got off to a strong start after it launched in the U.S. in early January. By Jan. 23 — less than three weeks after it became available — about 50,000 prescriptions were being filled each week, according to the drugmaker. In total, more than 170,000 people are taking the drug. Roughly 9 in 10 of those prescriptions were paid for out of pocket, rather than through insurance. (Lovelace Jr., 2/4)

Bloomberg: Novo Brings In New US Chief To Take On Rivals In Obesity Market
Novo Nordisk A/S hired a new US chief charged with turning around the company’s most important market where mounting pricing pressure and intensifying competition are eroding its grip on the obesity-drug boom. Jamey Millar joins the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy Thursday as executive vice president of US operations. He succeeds Dave Moore, who is leaving the company for personal reasons after just a year in the role. (Wass and Kresge, 2/4)

NPR: GLP-1 Obesity Drugs And Eating Disorders Are Not Well Understood Yet
Jason Krynicki will never forget how obesity made him a target for vicious bullying from the time he was little. Those memories haunt him even now, even though he weighs a willowy 127 pounds at age 43. "You try to eat, and in the back of your mind, your mind still goes back to what people said to you 20 years ago," Krynicki says, recalling how he was derided for his large appetite or the food he ate. Other kids — his doctors, even — called him fat, and worse. (Noguchi, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: Hims & Hers, Ro, Eli Lilly To Push GLP-1s In Super Bowl LX Ads
Hims & Hers is returning to the Super Bowl one year after its controversial ad sparked a backlash from lawmakers and pharmaceutical companies. The telehealth company, which offers medications and treatments for weight loss, hair loss and mental health, is returning to the Big Game with a 60-second spot on the economic gaps that exist within the healthcare delivery system. They aren’t the only healthcare company willing to dig deep into their pockets to get in front of viewers. Ad rates for a 30-second spot this year have surged to as much as $10 million, according to media reports. (Perna, 2/4)

STATE WATCH

The New York Times: New York City Partners With W.H.O. As U.S. Withdraws From Global Effort 
Two weeks after the Trump administration formally withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization, the New York City Health Department joined a W.H.O. network aimed at countering new pathogens and emerging outbreaks. (goldstein, 2/4)

Bloomberg: NYC Outdoor Death Toll Hits 17 As Frigid Temperatures Linger
Seventeen people have died outside in New York City since Jan. 19, as the region experiences an unusually long stretch of ultra-cold temperatures. At least 13 of the deaths were likely caused by hypothermia, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday. Three fatalities appear to be overdoses while the cause of one is unknown, he said. Since the middle of January, the city placed 1,100 people into shelter beds and has involuntarily transported 20 people “who were determined to be a danger either to themselves or to those around them” to city health-care facilities, according to Mamdani. (Nahmias, 2/4)

The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Lawmakers Sweep Their Own Study On Care For Trans Kids Under The Rug As They Push To Ban It
Few Utahns have witnessed the effects of withdrawing transgender kids’ access to care as Collin Kuhn, a clinical child and adolescent psychologist who specializes in helping their clients navigate challenges and questions related to gender. The difference between receiving care and not receiving care, they said, is “night and day.” (Stern, 2/4)

ProPublica: Idaho Aims To Improve Coroner System, Boost Child Autopsy Rates 
Idaho is taking steps to bolster its antiquated coroner system following stories by ProPublica that documented how lawmakers have repeatedly failed to fix problems that harm grieving families. An advisory panel created last year at the request of Gov. Brad Little is developing legislation to require autopsies in a variety of circumstances, including the unexplained death of a child. It would help coroners pay for those autopsies as long as they get a national certification that proves they can meet certain standards. (Dutton, 2/4)

The Texas Tribune: Despite Court Win, Texas Dementia Fund Still Paused
A Travis County judge on Wednesday ruled against two voters trying to challenge a new $3 billion dementia research fund, which still can’t go into effect despite Texas voters overwhelmingly approving it last November. (Langford, 2/4)

The Hill: Illegal Bio Lab In Las Vegas Home Raises Health Concerns
Several people became sick from an alleged bio lab running out of a Las Vegas home that also served as an Airbnb, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators at Nexstar’s KLAS obtained Tuesday. Metro police and the FBI searched the Sunrise Manor home on Saturday, Jan. 31, finding a “possible biological laboratory,” including “refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids,” police said. (Charns, 2/4)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

Newsweek: 18.7 Million Cancers Study Reveals Top Preventable Risk Factors
Nearly four in 10 cancer cases diagnosed around the world in 2022 can be traced back to risks people and societies have the power to change, according to a sweeping new global study. The analysis, published in Nature Medicine, examined 36 cancer types across 185 countries and linked today’s cancer diagnoses to how common certain risk factors were about a decade earlier. The time lag reflected the reality that cancers often take years to develop after exposure. (Gray, 2/4)

AP: New Study Reveals Deadly Impact Of Wildfire Smoke Pollution In The US
Chronic exposure to pollution from wildfires has been linked to tens of thousands of deaths annually in the United States, according to a new study. The paper, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, found that from 2006 to 2020, long-term exposure to tiny particulates from wildfire smoke contributed to an average of 24,100 deaths a year in the lower 48 states. “Our message is: Wildfire smoke is very dangerous. It is an increasing threat to human health,” said Yaguang Wei, a study author and assistant professor in the department of environmental medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. (Pineda, 2/4)

NBC News: Popular 'Pink Noise' Sound May Worsen Sleep Quality, Study Finds
Pink noise, a staticky sound that’s supposed to help people fall asleep, may actually worsen your rest, a new study found. Pink noise — like white noise — contains all the frequencies humans can hear, but it plays lower frequencies more prominently. Sounds that are used for different types of brain stimulation or relaxation are assigned a color based on how their noise spectrum matches with a colored light spectrum. White noise plays all frequencies at the same intensity, and white light combines all the visible light colors. (Ozcan, 2/4)