Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Thursday, May 21, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Colorado Charts Its Own Course On Vaccines Amid Federal Pullback
In response to abrupt and politicized changes to federal vaccine policy, concerned Coloradans have taken several steps to shore up support for vaccine science. A bill passed by the state legislature in March then signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis allows Colorado to further uncouple itself from federal guidance.The law allows health officials to follow the recommendations of national medical groups when making decisions such as purchasing bulk vaccines for the Medicaid program. (Daley, 5/21)
KFF Health News: ICE Arrests Are Separating Families. Here’s How To Plan Ahead
Depression. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Developmental delays. The trauma of family separation can have serious health consequences for children. On WAMU’s May 13 “Health Hub” segment, KFF Health News correspondent Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez discussed what families without legal status can do if a parent is detained by immigration agents, as well as strategies to keep children out of foster care. (Orozco Rodriguez, 5/21)
US PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE
AP: RFK Jr. Fires Leaders Of Group That Sets Guidelines For Health Screenings
The Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans. In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notified the two doctors who chaired the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms. (Neergaard, 5/20)
HEALTHCARE COSTS AND COVERAGE
Modern Healthcare: Providence Health Plan To Exit Medicaid, ACA, Employer Markets
Providence Health Plan will quit the Medicaid and job-based insurance market next year, along with exiting the health insurance exchanges. The insurance division of the Renton, Washington-based nonprofit health system hopes to maintain its Medicare Advantage operations by partnering with a national carrier, Providence President and CEO Erik Wexler said in a Wednesday news release. The company did not name the national insurer, but Wexler said it is hoping to finalize the agreement shortly. (5/20)
Becker's Hospital Review: CMS To Cap State Medicaid Payments To Save $775B: 7 Things To Know
CMS on May 20 proposed a rule that would cap certain state Medicaid payments and align them more closely with Medicare rates. The proposed rule would create new limits for Medicaid state-directed payments and certain fee-for-service payments to reduce Medicaid spending by more than $775 billion over 10 years, including $510 billion in federal savings, according to the agency. (Condon, 5/20)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The New York Times: A $5 Million Donation From Big Tobacco Preceded F.D.A. Vape Decision
The tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to a super PAC backed by President Trump last month, about one week before his administration rolled out a new policy that could prove lucrative to the tobacco industry. The donation, which came through a Reynolds subsidiary and brings to $8 million the total donated by the subsidiary to MAGA Inc., the Trump-backed super PAC, was revealed in a campaign finance report filed Wednesday night. The donation came on April 30. (Vogel and Jewett, 5/20)
Barron's: Trump’s Portfolio Managers Traded UnitedHealth Ahead Of Favorable Medicare Policy Change
President Donald Trump’s investment portfolio actively traded UnitedHealth Group as the stock was whipsawed by a federal policy proposal on Medicare rates earlier this year. The disclosure, released last week by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, lists more than 3,600 stock trades spanning a range of companies and industries during the first three months of the year. (Dunn, 5/19)
The Texas Tribune: Woman Detained By ICE Wrongfully Denied Surgery, Doctors Say
The 911 call came two days after immigration agents detained the 23-year-old Guatemalan woman in Minnesota as she was driving her mother and two young siblings to their jobs cleaning houses. “Excruciating pain,” the employee at the El Paso immigrant detention facility reported. (Kriel, 5/20)
SURGEON GENERAL
The New York Times: A Vacant Surgeon General’s Office Issues a Warning About Screen Time
The surgeon general’s office on Wednesday issued a warning about the dangers of screen time for young people, linking excessive time online to worse sleep issues, anxiety, depression, alcohol use and other health harms. The advisory calls on children and adolescents to “live real life” and go outside, and for parents to discuss boundaries around technology and to delay screen time for “as long as possible.” The report was produced by the office of the surgeon general, however, that post has remained empty since January 2025. (Blum, 5/20)
Politico: Radiologist By Trade, Farmer On The Side. How Trump’s Surgeon General Pick Uses A Tax Loophole In New Jersey.
Nicole Saphier joins a list of well-off residents who've taken advantage of a state law allowing steep discounts for land designated for agricultural use. (Han, 5/21)
EBOLA OUTBREAK
The Washington Post: White House Resisted Letting Doctor With Ebola Return To U.S.
The White House resisted allowing an American doctor exposed to Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of Congo to return to the United States, according to five people familiar with the Ebola response who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions, delaying the evacuation and care of Peter Stafford, who was ultimately transported to Germany. (Sun and Weber, 5/20)
CIDRAP: At Least 600 Ebola Cases Suspected As US Pledges To Fund 50 Treatment Clinics
There are now 600 suspected cases and more than 160 deaths in a growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, with numbers expected to rise. "Our absolute priority now is to identify all the existing chains of transmission," Chikwe Ihekweazu, MBBS, MPH, WHO emergencies chief, said today at a press conference. (Soucheray, 5/20)
Bloomberg: US Ebola Spending Plunged 99% In Five Years Since Last Outbreak
As the world’s leading public health officials gathered for emergency meetings in Geneva to discuss a deadly form of Ebola that’s likely circulated undetected for months in Africa, one group was missing from the table: a formal US delegation. In past outbreaks, the US often led surveillance, laboratory support and emergency response efforts through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the now-dismantled US Agency for International Development. The large field teams and hundreds of millions of dollars the US once deployed during health emergencies are also absent. (Nix and Inampudi, 5/20)
Bloomberg: US Enlists Small Biotech For Experimental Ebola Treatment
US officials are working with a small biotech company to provide an experimental treatment that may be used in patients exposed to Ebola, according to a person familiar with the matter. The closely held firm, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., is working with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, to deliver its drug for potential use in patients, said the person, who asked not to be identified. (Smith, 5/20)
NBC News: Detroit-Bound Flight Diverted To Canada After Congolese Passenger Boarded ‘In Error’ Amid Ebola Outbreak
An Air France flight bound for Detroit was redirected to Canada after a passenger from Congo boarded “in error” amid the Ebola outbreak in central Africa, officials said Wednesday. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the agency took “decisive action” by prohibiting the flight from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. (Kottke and Lo, 5/21)
MORE OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
The New York Times: 3 Die After Suspected Exposure To Unknown Substance In New Mexico
Officers from the state police and the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home in Mountainair, N.M., for what was initially reported as a possible drug overdose. They found four unresponsive people inside around 11 a.m., the state police said in a statement. Three of the four have died, authorities added. ... While responding to the incident, 18 emergency officials were exposed to the substance and began experiencing symptoms including nausea and dizziness, the state police said. Those officials, and the fourth person found inside the home, were taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital for quarantine and monitoring, the state police said, adding that two officials are in serious condition. (Zhuang, 5/21)
CIDRAP: Malaria Reintroduction Into US Is Possible: CDC Report
The United States eliminated malaria in the 1950s, but that doesn't mean this parasitic disease is gone for good, warns a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) The report points to a 2023 outbreak in which 10 people across four states—Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, and Texas—were infected with locally acquired mosquito-transmitted malaria. These cases were not associated with travel, which poses serious public health implications, as malaria can be a life-threatening or life-altering disease, especially for young children. (Boden, 5/20)
CIDRAP: Public Health Alert Gives More Detailed Information About Andes Hantavirus On Cruise Ship
A Public Health Alerts report today provides detailed information on 10 of the 11 cases of Andes hantavirus infection on passengers of the MV Hondius cruise ship, including the first passenger who contracted the disease after the index patient. (Wappes, 5/20)
Newsweek: Lyme Disease Warning As Map Shows Tick Bite Surge Across US
Scientists have issued fresh warnings about Lyme disease as tick bites continue to climb across the United States. Emergency room visits for tick bites have climbed to the highest levels for this time of year since 2017 in every U.S. region except the South Central states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in warning earlier this morning. (King, 5/20)
MedPage Today: No Infants Developed Measles After Utah Prophylaxis Regimen
After 11 infants were exposed to measles at a pediatric clinic in Utah, the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) helped administer intramuscular immunoglobulin (IMIG) as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) and ultimately developed a protocol for statewide use amid the ongoing outbreak. None of the infants' parents declined IMIG for their child, and there were no serious or localized systemic adverse events during administration or reported in follow-up calls, reported Anna Jones, MD, of DHHS and the CDC, and colleagues. Notably, none of the infants contracted measles during the 21-day monitoring period. (Henderson, 5/20)
CBS News: Why A Deadly, Massive Measles Outbreak In Bangladesh Has Some U.S. Health Experts Concerned
A measles outbreak in Bangladesh that has killed almost 400 people is spreading fast, and health experts say it could carry risks even for the U.S. Most of those killed by the measles outbreak in Bangladesh in recent weeks have been children. The country's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) says the number of suspected cases has surged to over 56,000, with regional media outlets saying many hospitals across the country are overwhelmed. (Ellery, 5/20)
ON CAPITOL HILL
The Washington Post: Barney Frank, Influential Congressman And Gay Rights Hero, Dies At 86
Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who brought his sharp intellect and irrepressible wit to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he led a sweeping overhaul of the financial industry after the Great Recession and advanced gay rights as one of the first openly gay congressmen in history, died May 19 at his home in Ogunquit, Maine. He was 86. His death was confirmed by his sister Doris Breay. Mr. Frank revealed last month that he had entered hospice care for congestive heart failure. (Langer, 5/20)
Stat: Democrats Mount New Attempt To End Medicare AI Prior Authorization Pilot
Senate and House Democrats introduced resolutions Wednesday to overturn a Medicare pilot that uses artificial intelligence to approve or deny care. The technology experiment has led to allegations of delayed care for seniors in at least one of the six states it is currently being implemented. (Trang, 5/20)
The Hill: Lawmakers Push To Expand Clinical Trial Access
A House Democrat and Republican on Wednesday highlighted their push to expand access to clinical trials, saying artificial intelligence could be one tool used to reach more underrepresented communities seeking additional treatment options. The Clinical Trial Modernization Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), is a bipartisan effort aiming to address some of the economic hurdles preventing patients from participating in clinical trials, which rely on community-based research to test the safety and effectiveness of medications, procedures and other health-related interventions. (Swai, 5/20)
GUN VIOLENCE AND MENTAL HEALTH
Los Angeles Times: Social Media, Manifesto Of San Diego Mosque Shooters Rooted In White Nationalism
The gunmen who killed three people at the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a 75-page document that preached hate, anti-Islam ideology and antisemitism and promoted violence and chaos, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told The Times. The manifesto was titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant” and made reference to Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people and injured 89 more in an attack on a mosque and an Islamic center in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, according to the sources. The FBI confirmed Tuesday that it is examining a manifesto, but did not verify the one circulating online that purports to be the attackers’ writings. (Winton and St. John, 5/20)
STATE WATCH
Military.com: Army Announces New Charges Against Fort Hood Doctor
New charges have been announced by the U.S. Army against Maj. Blaine McGraw, a former obstetrician gynecologist accused of sexual crimes and previously assigned to the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas. McGraw now faces a total of eight charges and 273 specifications that allegedly occurred on multiple occasions between 2019 and 2026. The total number of alleged victims in this case is now 96. It's an increase from Dec. 9, 2025, when the office announced four charges and 61 specifications against McGraw filed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). (Mordowanec, 5/20)
The Texas Tribune: Texas SNAP Participation Drops By 14% In The Past Year
The number of Texans receiving food assistance dropped 14% in a year, reflecting a national decline, the result not only of stricter new work requirements imposed last year by the Trump administration but also rising fears of deportation, according to advocates. (Langford and Keemahill, 5/20)
Wyoming Public Radio: New Program Could Bring Low-Cost Generic Drugs To Rural Hospitals
A new pilot program could bring a steady stream of generic drugs to some small hospitals in the Mountain West. Dozens of independent, rural hospitals in Montana, Nevada and Wyoming are eligible. (Merzbach, 5/20)
Chicago Tribune: Illinois Bill Would Create Board To Cap Prescription Drug Prices
With 11 days remaining in their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that would create a state panel empowered to review the costs of prescription drug prices and whether medicine is inaccessible to those who need it the most. (Gorner, 5/20)
North Carolina Health News: NC Lawmakers Debate Adult Care Home Inspections, Oversight
State lawmakers are proposing a bill they say would reduce administrative burden and redundancy for inspections in adult care homes, the places that manage the care for some of the state’s most vulnerable residents. (Fredde, 5/21)
Sentient: Iowa Senator Catelin Drey Knows Her State’s Cancer Crisis. She’s Living It.
In January, State Senator Catelin Drey stood at a podium on the Senate floor in front of her colleagues representing all corners of Iowa. She told them that she was about to speak candidly on a topic both “personal and political.” Behind her, legislators and staffers appeared to be half-listening, looking at their laptops and flipping through papers. When she said that she had been diagnosed with uterine cancer, their heads shot up in astonishment. Drey, 38, was just weeks into her first term as a state senator. (Elkadi, 5/18)
Bridge Michigan: Michigan's Aging Population Could Have Serious Consequences
An aging population, rising retirement rates and a stagnating labor market could have serious consequences for the state and its residents if left unaddressed, state demographers said Friday. Data presented to state lawmakers painted a stark picture of Michigan’s labor market, which officials say has seen little upward momentum since bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not just troubling news for state officials looking at a loss of tax revenues for future budgets, but also for schools that could continue to lose students and employers that may struggle to find workers. (Hermani, 5/20)
AP: Tennessee Death Row Inmate's Lawyers Fear Expired Lethal Injection Drugs
Attorneys for a Tennessee death row inmate say they are concerned the state may be planning to use expired lethal injection drugs at his execution on Thursday, a growing concern across the country as states work to keep most information about their drugs secret. Tony Carruthers’ attorneys twice asked the Tennessee Department of Correction last month whether it had secured the appropriate drugs for his execution date and for assurance the drugs had not expired. Assistant Attorney General John W. Ayers’ response did not directly answer but said the department will comply with its lethal injection protocol — which includes regular inventory of the drugs to monitor expiration dates. (Loller, 5/20)
PHARMACEUTICALS
Stat: After Decades Of Research, In Utero Gene Therapy Nears First Trial
While Tippi MacKenzie was a postdoctoral fellow in the early 2000s, she and her lab mates experimented with using the then-new technology of gene replacement therapy to try to treat inherited disorders in mice before they were born. Over and over it worked. They cured mice with hemophilia and mice with tyrosinemia. And the whole time, people kept telling her that gene therapy in human fetuses was just around the corner, just five years away. (Molteni, 5/20)
MedPage Today: Study Questions Methods Used In Alzheimer's Drug Analysis
A statistical approach used to support amyloid-targeting treatment for Alzheimer's disease may lead to overstated claims about amyloid-cognition relationships, an analysis suggested. The study focused on quantile aggregation, a statistical technique that divides trial data into quantiles, averages the results of each quantile, and looks for patterns across groupings. (George, 5/20)
Bloomberg: Pfizer Advances Pneumonia Shot After Getting Positive Results In Children
Pfizer Inc. said a new version of its bestselling Prevnar vaccine may provide infants with better protection against common strains of pneumonia than currently available immunizations. The experimental shot was designed to protect against 25 strains of a bacteria that causes pneumonia, five more than the company’s current vaccine. In a mid-stage trial, Pfizer tested it against Prevnar 20, which has been approved for kids since 2023. (Muller, 5/20)
LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH
The Wall Street Journal: Natural Food Colors Embraced By MAHA Linked To Health Problems
Artificial food dyes have long been suspected to be harmful to your health. But new research shows that some of the natural color additives being turned to as alternatives are associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and cancer. (Petersen, 5/20)
The Washington Post: Marathons And Ultramarathons May Be Linked To Colon Cancer. Here’s Why.
A small study found a surprisingly high incidence of precancerous polyps in young, extreme runners, sparking controversy and concern. (Reynolds, 5/21)
Stat: Papers Provide New Clues To Spotting Type 1 Diabetes Before Onset
The story of type 1 diabetes begins in the pancreas, long seen as a battleground between insulin-producing beta cells and misdirected immune defenders. Scientists have been searching for ways to spot this internal warfare early enough to prevent a lifelong disease that depletes the body’s source of insulin. (Cooney, 5/20)
HealthDay: Teens Swap Steroids For Creatine As ‘Looksmaxxing’ Trends Surge
U.S. teens trying to build up their muscles are turning from steroids to creatine supplements, a new study says. Creatine use rose by 90% among boys and a whopping 168% among girls between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024, researchers report in the August issue of the journal Annals of Epidemiology. This happened even as steroid use fell by more than half, researchers found. (Thompson, 5/20)
The Washington Post: How Brief Bursts Of Intense Exercise May Help Reduce Panic Attacks
The study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, looked into exercise as a form of exposure therapy for people who experience frequent and unexpected panic attacks. The researchers found that deliberately triggering some of the physical sensations of panic — a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating — via sprinting was more effective than relaxation therapy in reducing the severity and frequency of panic attacks. (Krietsch, 5/20)
