First Edition: Thursday, March 5, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: As ICE Moved In, Minnesotans Set Up A Shadow Medical System. It’s A Lesson For Other Cities
Gabi has big brown eyes, pigtails, and a genetic condition that makes her bones brittle. They fracture easily, leaving the 2-year-old in such pain that her mother quit her job cleaning offices to stay home and cradle her in the one-bedroom apartment they share with six relatives. When federal immigration agents descended on their city, officers deported Gabi’s father and detained her aunt. (Allen and Wells, 3/5)

KFF Health News: Trump’s Cuts To Medicaid Threaten Services That Help Disabled People Live At Home
Leisa and Kent Walker recently received a disturbing notice: The private company managing their son’s Medicaid coverage intends to cut nearly 40% of what it spends for caregivers who help him live at home instead of in a nursing home. Sam Walker, 35, has severe autism and other disabilities. He is deaf and cannot speak. Sometimes when he’s frustrated, he hits himself or others. (Leys, 3/5)

KFF Health News: Listen: What To Do When Health Insurance Slips Out Of Reach
Health insurance could be out of reach for many Americans in 2026. About a million fewer people signed up for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage this year. The Congressional Budget Office told lawmakers that more could opt out in coming years after the GOP-led Congress let expire subsidies that helped many afford a plan. Meanwhile, plan premiums jumped, and new, stricter Medicaid eligibility rules kicked in. If you lost health insurance this year, there may be ways to see the doctor without breaking the bank. (Whitehead, 3/5)

FEDERAL FUNDING

The Hill: Republicans Grill Tim Walz, Keith Ellison In Heated Hearing
Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday tore into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) over their handling of a fraud scandal within Minnesota’s social services programs. President Trump has made the scam, and the fact that many of those convicted were of Somali descent, central to his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. And in his State of the Union address last month, he announced a broader “war on fraud.” (Rego, 3/4)

The New York Times: Trump Has Been Sued 198 Times For Withholding Funding. It Hasn’t Stopped Him. 
President Trump has tried to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding to coerce states, punish opponents, remake programs and impose his views. His targets have repeatedly sued to stop him, and the courts have repeatedly rebuked him — only for the president to try again and again. Take just these seven cases, all of them tied to the administration’s efforts to block funds from “sanctuary” communities, those that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. (Badger and Parlapiano, 3/3)

Bloomberg Law: Trump Administration Funding Delays Worry NIH Grant Recipients
The National Institutes of Health is months behind on dispersing the bulk of its fiscal 2026 money to grantees, and research advocates worry that without an update on the delay the Trump administration will claw back the funds or create multiyear grants that hamstring the recipients. Limited money from last month’s government funding law is being dispersed through the NIH and is largely limited to government salaries and continuing emergency activities, according to three people familiar with NIH grantmaking procedures. The grant money that is flowing out has come from carryover funds from a November stopgap funding measure. (Raman, 3/3)

PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

Stat: TrumpRx: High Expectations, But Limited Impact A Month After Launch
President Trump heralded his signature drug discount platform, TrumpRx, as “one of the most transformative health care initiatives of all time.” But a month after its launch, few drugs are available, data about how much the site is being used remains unknown, and the private deals underlying TrumpRx are still being worked out. The reality of the early days of the platform comes in sharp contrast to the soaring expectations set by the president, who cast a vision for unprecedented cuts to how much people pay for medications, pharmaceutical market experts and patient advocates said. (Payne, 3/5)

Modern Healthcare: GoodRx Employer Direct Offering Takes On Crowded PBM Market
Once contained to traditional pharmacy benefit arrangements, a proliferation of alternative offerings is reshaping the drug pricing market. Employers and patients, fatigued by rising prices and frustrated by insurance intermediaries, are turning to new marketplaces and vendors. Last month, drug pricing platform GoodRx announced its entry into the crowded field. These models are prompting some employers to rethink their reliance on the big, traditional pharmacy benefit managers CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts, respectively owned by insurers CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group and Cigna. (Tong, 3/4)

Fierce Healthcare: Hospitals Decry Drugmakers' Expanded 340B Reporting Policies
The hospital lobby is asking federal officials to head off expanded data collection policies some drugmakers are implementing for providers participating in the 340B drug discount program. The change was first broached by Eli Lilly and Company in January, and requires all types of covered entities to provide claims level data for all pharmacy and medical dispensations of most of the company’s drugs, including in-house pharmacy and contract pharmacy dispenses. It went into effect on Feb. 1, with exemptions for a handful of states where such policies are restricted by law. (Muoio, 3/4)

IMMIGRATION CRISIS

The New York Times: Contract For El Paso ICE Center Is Under Review, Homeland Security Says 
The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that officials were reviewing a contract for Camp East Montana, a detention center in El Paso that is facing growing scrutiny over its living conditions and is grappling with a measles outbreak. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said officials were examining the center and that the department conducts rigorous inspections of facilities to “ensure they are meeting our high standards.” (Salhotra and Ngo, 3/4)

The Washington Post: Plans For ICE Detention Center Spark Anger In Deep-Red Maryland County 
The Department of Homeland Security plans to begin housing as many as 1,500 immigrant detainees inside a converted warehouse as early as April. (Heim and Golden, 3/5)

VACCINES AND OUTBREAKS

Stat: In Vaccine Suit, DOJ Says RFK Jr. Can Choose Evidence, Experts
How far can health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. go in remaking public health policy in his image? Could he, say, call on Americans to maximize their exposure to measles in a bid to reach herd immunity? The Department of Justice seems to think so. In defending the health secretary’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and to the federal vaccine advisory committee in federal court on Wednesday, government lawyers said that Kennedy and other health officials have broad discretion to issue such guidance — and to choose the kinds of evidence to consider and the experts to consult. (Oza, 3/4)

CIDRAP: Vaccine Integrity Project Kicks Off Evidence Review Of Tdap Vaccine In Pregnancy
The Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) today said it will independently review the safety and efficacy of the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine in pregnancy. “For Tdap, the review will assess possible safety outcomes such as miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, pregnancy-related high blood pressure disorders, congenital anomalies, such as spina bifida, and newborn developmental outcomes, as well as reported data on effectiveness in preventing tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough) in pregnant adults and newborns,” the VIP press release said. (Van Beusekom, 3/4)

CIDRAP: RNA Vaccine Funding Cuts Threaten Decades Of Scientific Progress
Federal investment in RNA vaccine research has supported nearly three decades of scientific work spanning infectious diseases, cancer, and vaccine development, but recent and proposed funding cuts threaten to stall that progress, according to a cross-sectional study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Bergeson, 3/4)

CBS News: Colorado Officials Declare Measles Outbreak In Adams County After Third Person Connected To School Contracts Illness
Colorado health officials declared a measles outbreak in Adams County on Wednesday after a third person connected to Broomfield High School contracted the illness. The new case marks the third case among three unvaccinated people, two of whom are confirmed to be students at the school, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as a cluster of three or more related cases. (Erblat, 3/4)

CBS News: 2 Unvaccinated Sacramento County Children Diagnosed With Measles, Health Officials Say
Public health officials say they've confirmed two cases of measles in Sacramento County. On Wednesday, Sacramento County Public Health announced it had confirmed cases of measles in two unvaccinated children – with one of the cases being linked to South Carolina. (Padilla, 3/4)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

AP: Top FDA Official Seeks To Hire Friend Pushing New Antidepressants Warning
The Food and Drug Administration’s top drug regulator, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, is working to hire a researcher and friend who wants the agency to add new warnings to antidepressants about unproven pregnancy risks, The Associated Press has learned. Dr. Adam Urato, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and critic of antidepressant safety, is pressing the FDA to add a boxed warning to SSRIs, the drugs most commonly prescribed for depression. Urato’s petition says the medications can cause pregnancy complications, including miscarriages and fetal brain abnormalities that may lead to autism and other disorders in children. (Perrone, 3/4)

The Hill: RFK Jr. Puts Dunkin’ On Notice; Massachusetts Governor Says ‘Come And Take It’
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said Dunkin’ and other companies will need to prove that their ingredients are safe, prompting Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) on Wednesday to reply back, “Come and take it.” Kennedy, while at a rally at Brazos Hall last week in Austin, Texas, said, “We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it.'” He added, as the audience applauded, “I don’t think they’re going to be able to do it." (Mancini, 3/4)

PHARMA AND TECH

The New York Times: Most Patients Keep Weight Off With Fewer GLP-1 Shots, Study Finds
The doctor kept hearing the same story from his patients. After taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and finally shedding those excess pounds, some had gone a bit rogue. They began spacing out the shots instead of injecting themselves every week. And it seemed to be working, said Dr. Mitch Biermann, an obesity and internal medicine specialist at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. “By the time the third person told me they were taking it every second or third week and still maintaining their weight, I started recommending it to other patients,” he said. (Rabin, 3/4)

Fierce Healthcare: Eli Lilly Launches Its Direct-To-Employer Platform For GLP-1s
Eli Lilly has officially launched Employer Connect, its direct-to-employer platform for its obesity medications, after teasing the rollout late last year. The drugmaker said in an announcement that the program is aimed at supporting employer choice and enabling them to build the solution that works best for them and their workforces. It will launch with 15 independent program administrators as partners, which allows employers to select multiple models. (Minemyer, 3/5)

Bloomberg: MiniMed IPO Draws Analyst Debate Over Valuation, Growth Prospects
MiniMed Group Inc., a maker of diabetes management devices that will be separated from health giant Medtronic Plc, is spurring debate among analysts over whether its growth prospects justify the valuation it’s seeking in an IPO. The Northridge, California-based company, which is targeting a raise of as much as $784 million in an initial public offering that’s pricing Thursday, plans to expand the reach of its portfolio of insulin pumps and glucose monitoring devices within the global diabetes market, its filings show. (Pernell, 3/4)

Stat: Cognito Raises $105 Million For Alzheimer’s Treatment Device
Cognito Therapeutics on Thursday said it has raised $105 million as it awaits clinical trial results it hopes will catapult its Alzheimer’s treatment device to Food and Drug Administration clearance. The Series C round was led by Morningside Ventures, IAG Capital Partners, and Starbloom Capital, with participation from new investors New Vintage, Apollo Health Ventures, and Benvolio Group. The company has raised $233 million to date. (Aguilar, 3/5)

Stat: Jeffrey Epstein DNA At Harvard Involved In New Mystery
There’s a new mystery involving Jeffrey Epstein and a Harvard genome sequencing project that he participated in. Somebody appears to have recently altered the Personal Genome Project’s public profile page believed to belong to Epstein to indicate that he provided his consent to join the study on Jan. 31, 2026. That is one day after the Department of Justice released its latest tranche of files on the sex trafficker, and more than six years after he was found dead in a jail cell. (Molteni, 3/4)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

MedPage Today: These ER Docs Are Being Ousted After 35 Years. They're Not Going Quietly
For more than three decades, local physicians staffed emergency departments for an Oregon hospital system. In a few months, they will be replaced by an out-of-state corporate staffing firm. Leadership at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield decided last month to put Atlanta-based ApolloMD in charge of the emergency department at the area's only Level II trauma center, replacing Eugene Emergency Physicians (EEP) starting July 1. (McCreary, 3/4)

Bloomberg: FDA Push For 10-Hour Fake Brain Surgery Trial Raises Ethical Concerns
Katie Jackson desperately wants a new treatment for Huntington’s disease. Her husband died from the devastating brain disorder. And because the disease runs in families, her three children have a 50% chance of inheriting the condition. She’s pinned her hopes on a cutting-edge gene therapy from UniQure NV. But Jackson says Huntington’s patients have no desire to meet a new demand from the US Food and Drug Administration: to enroll in a new clinical trial where some people will undergo fake brain surgery without getting UniQure’s treatment. (Smith and Langreth, 3/4)

Modern Healthcare: Why Kaiser Permanente, Virtua Are Investing In Affordable Housing
Nonprofit health systems ranging from Kaiser Permanente and Advocate Health to Virtua Health and Barnes Jewish Hospital have made investments in their communities to lessen housing insecurity and boost patients’ health. A provision in the new tax law could make it attractive for more healthcare systems to invest in affordable housing, if their budgets can bear it. The law includes a permanent 12% increase in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. States receive the credits from the federal government and can offer them to developers to offset some of the construction costs of affordable housing projects. (Eastabrook, 3/4)

STATE WATCH

The New York Times: Rhode Island Priests Sexually Abused Hundreds Of Children, Report Finds 
A blistering report issued Wednesday describes decades of child sexual abuse in Rhode Island’s Catholic churches, documenting accusations against dozens of priests involving hundreds of victims. The report from Peter F. Neronha, the state’s attorney general, also lays out repeated failures by the Diocese of Providence to remove priests or bring in law enforcement in response to accusations. Instead, investigators working for Mr. Neronha found, the diocese chose to handle reports of abuse internally, primarily by moving offending priests to new parishes. (Russell, 3/4)

Verite News: Federal Funding For People In Poverty Heading To Anti-Abortion Centers Instead
The bulk of the money Missouri gives to its crisis pregnancy centers comes from federal funds meant to assist families experiencing poverty with basic necessities and child care, Republican Rep. Jason Smith said on the U.S. House floor in January. As many as $3 of every $4 for pregnancy centers in Missouri was from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 2024, and in the 2026 fiscal year, it will be $2 out of $3. The amount of TANF funding has steadily increased since 2022, from $4.3 million then to $10.3 million in fiscal year 2026. (Moseley-Morris, 3/4)

The Maine Monitor: Local Governments Across Maine Spent $3 Million In Opioid Settlement Funds Last Year
Local governments spent $3 million in opioid settlement funds last year on projects ranging from addiction treatment in jails to prevention workshops in schools, according to new data collected by the attorney general’s office and the University of Southern Maine. That leaves more than $19 million in funds that have yet to be spent, with another $50 million set to flow into their accounts over the next dozen years. The money comes from nationwide settlements reached with more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies that made or sold prescription opioids. (Bader, 3/4)

CBS News: Officers Kill Armed Man While Responding To Mental Health Call In Powder Springs, GBI Says
Powder Springs police officers have shot a man during a mental health call after officials say he pulled out a gun. The deadly shooting happened around 9 p.m. on Tuesday at a shopping center in the 3000 block of New MacLand Road. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the officers responded to "assist with a mental health-related call" and met 34-year-old Acworth resident Gustavo Guimaraes. (Raby, 3/4)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

The New York Times: Trader Joe’s Expands Recall Of Frozen Asian Foods Over Glass Risk 
Trader Joe’s is recalling four frozen food products because they may be contaminated with glass, the company said, part of a wider recall of nearly 37 million pounds of food distributed by Ajinomoto Foods. The grocer, which has corporate offices in Monrovia, Calif., and Boston, announced on Tuesday that it had recalled packages of Vegetable Fried Rice, Chicken Shu Mai and Japanese Style Fried Rice “out of an abundance of caution” because those products may contain “foreign material.” It had previously recalled Chicken Fried Rice, and added new batches for that product in the latest recall. (Diaz, 3/4)

The Washington Post: Flu Has Been Worse Than Covid This Winter. Here’s Why
Now that SARS-CoV-2 is no longer a novel virus sweeping through a population with little immunity, covid and influenza illnesses are becoming more similar, with a key difference: Coronavirus circulates year-round and ticks up in the summer, when flu is gone. Does that mean flu is now the woe of the winter, and covid is the scourge of the summer? It’s complicated and too soon to say. “We don’t know where covid is going. I really don’t think we know what is the next season going to look like,” said Manisha Juthani, Connecticut’s top public health official and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. (Nirappil, 3/4)

CNN: Men’s Sexual Health Can Predict Heart Issues
When a man already has high blood pressure or uncontrolled diabetes, the likely causes of ED are easier to pinpoint. But when the man is younger or otherwise appears healthy, I also look beyond the bedroom and start thinking about blood vessels — and the heart. Those late-night supersize fries and other choices you make today may not cause a heart attack tomorrow, but they can contribute to blood vessel changes that show up earlier as ED. (Brahmbhatt, 3/4)

GLOBAL WATCH

AP: Cuban Doctors Leave Honduras In Abrupt End To Medical Program
More than 150 Cuban medical staff climbed aboard a plane in Honduras on Wednesday, leaving the Central American country after it’s newly elected right-wing government abruptly cancelled the agreement. The departure of the medical staff comes as President Donald Trump has pushed to isolate the Cuban government and openly called for regime change. (González, 3/5)