First Edition: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s A Chemtrail? New Conspiracy Theory Takes Wing At Kennedy's HHS
While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace spotted a gray plane overhead that he believed was releasing chemicals to make him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous. He shared his concern with reporters, acknowledging it sounded a little like “The X Files,” a science fiction television show. (Armour, 10/16)

KFF Health News: An Age-Old Fear Grows More Common: ‘I’m Going To Die Alone’
This summer, at dinner with her best friend, Jacki Barden raised an uncomfortable topic: the possibility that she might die alone. “I have no children, no husband, no siblings,” Barden remembered saying. “Who’s going to hold my hand while I die?” (Graham, 10/16)

VACCINES

The New York Times: Trump Rattles Vaccine Experts Over Aluminum
Federal health officials are examining the feasibility of taking aluminum salts out of vaccines, a prospect that vaccine experts said would wipe out about half of the nation’s supply of childhood inoculations and affect shots that protect against whooping cough, polio and deadly flu. The review at the Food and Drug Administration began after President Trump listed aluminum in vaccines as harmful during a press briefing about the unproven link between Tylenol and autism. (Jewett, 10/15)

Bloomberg: Pfizer CEO Says Vaccine Approvals Tougher Amid US Policy Overhaul
Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said that vaccines are harder to get approved right now as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks to overhaul the country’s immunization policies. “It’s not harder to get drug approvals right now, it’s harder to get vaccine approvals,” Bourla said Wednesday during a wide-ranging conversation with CNBC that waded into his company’s US investments, deal with the Trump administration and the country’s current regulatory environment. (Peterson and Muller, 10/15)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

AP: Senate Democrats Ready To Reject Government Funding Bill Again Over Health Care
Senate Democrats are poised for the 10th time Thursday to reject a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become as it has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate floor. House Republicans have left Washington altogether. (Groves and Jalonick, 10/16)

Stat: CMS Backs Off Pause On Medicare Doctor Payments Amid Shutdown
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said late Wednesday that it was not pausing all Medicare payments to doctors, after a statement earlier in the day stated it would. Instead, the agency will only wait to process claims that are related to programs that have expired, such as some telehealth or rural services. (Payne and Bannow, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid DSH Payments Are Getting Cut. Here's What To Know
Hospitals that treat large numbers of low-income uninsured patients at long last are confronting a Medicaid cut that had been kicked down the road for more than a decade. The government shut down Oct. 1 when Congress failed to enact fiscal 2026 appropriations bills to finance federal operations. Simultaneously, a number of key healthcare policies expired because of the deadlock, including a provision to delay a reduction in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital, or DSH, payments. (Early, 10/15)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Decimates Birth Control Office In Layoffs
The Trump administration has targeted a federal office that oversees a $300 million family planning program for layoffs, raising fears that it is effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception for millions of low-income women, according to three people with knowledge of the events. The decimation of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs — part of a larger effort by President Trump to fire federal employees during the government shutdown — threatens a program that has existed for over 50 years and also offers testing for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, as well as basic infertility care. (Kitchener, 10/15)

The Hill: Union: Nearly 1 In 4 CDC Staffers Laid Off In 2025
Nearly a quarter of staffers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been removed from the agency through reduction in force (RIF) notices this year, according to the union representing federal workers. With the most recent round of layoffs this past weekend, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2883 estimates roughly 3,000 of the more than 13,000 employees that the CDC had at the start of the year have received RIF notices. (Choi, 10/15)

CBS News: After CDC Cuts, Former Officials Say "We're Not Prepared" For Daily Public Health Or Emergencies
Days after hundreds of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees were laid off, former CDC officials are warning it has left the agency more unprepared to keep Americans healthy and safe. While 1,300 CDC employees initially received reduction-in-force notices on Friday, about 700 were later notified their terminations were revoked, union officials said. Some of the RIF notices had been sent to CDC employees due to a coding error, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said. (Moniuszko, 10/15)

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

NBC News: Idaho Kicks Off Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment As Premiums Are Set To Rise Nationwide
On Wednesday, open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans began in Idaho, offering a preview to the rest of the country of how much monthly premiums are set to increase in 2026. Many Idahoans will have to decide whether they’ll be able to afford coverage once the enhanced subsidies that kept premiums lower for many middle-class families expire at the end of the year. (Lovelace Jr., 10/15)

The Hill: If Obamcare Tax Credits Expire, This Is Who Could Lose Health Insurance
The fight over enhanced premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplace drags on in Congress as crucial deadlines draw near and certain groups stand to be hit the hardest if an agreement to extend the subsidies doesn’t materialize. Estimates of how many will be impacted by expiring tax credits have ranged from 3 million to more than 4 million enrollees. Based on early projections, this subsection is likely to be younger. (Choi, 10/15)

PHARMACEUTICALS

Stat: GSK CEO Plays Down Role In Bid To Use Leucovorin As Autism Treatment
The CEO of the drugmaker GSK on Wednesday said the company has had a minimal role in the Food and Drug Administration’s effort to update the prescribing information of a long-shelved drug so that it can be used to treat a condition often associated with autism. (Chen, 10/15)

The New York Times: America Is Heavily Reliant On China For Raw Materials In Medicines 
For years, Democrats and Republicans have sounded the alarm about America’s dependence on China for medicines. An analysis published on Wednesday shows just how deep that reliance is at the earliest stage of the drug manufacturing process: Nearly 700 U.S. medicines use at least one chemical solely sourced from China. As tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent years, experts fear that this reliance could leave American patients vulnerable, especially if a trade war or future pandemic prompts China to curtail exports. Supply shortages for some generic medicines have already grown common. (Robbins, 10/15)

IMMIGRATION CRISIS

AP: This Family Visit To A Military Base Ended With ICE Deporting A Marine’s Dad
Parents of a U.S. Marine were detained by federal immigration officials and one of them was later deported after visiting family members at a California military base, a case that has drawn attention to how the government’s immigration crackdown is touching military families. Steve Rios, a Marine from Oceanside, California, told NBC 7 San Diego that his parents, Esteban Rios and Luisa Rodriguez, were taken into custody late last month while picking up his pregnant sister, Ashley Rios, and her husband, who is also a Marine, at Camp Pendleton. (10/15)

AP: What To Know About Deporting Family Members Of US Troops
Have other military members’ families been detained? Yes. A Marine Corps veteran’s wife, who was seeking a green card, was detained in May in Louisiana but a judge barred her removal. And veterans without citizenship are increasingly worried about deportation. (Bedayn, 10/15)

Capital & Main: People In ICE Custody Face Invasive Strip Searches After Visits With Loved Ones
Some people decide not to participate in in-person visitation because they don't want to take off all their clothes in front of a guard. (Morrissey, 10/14)

HEALTH MISINFORMATION

NPR: In Rural America, Scarce Doctors Battle Misinformation As They Practice Medicine
Conspiracy theories about health fill a vacuum created by the lack of doctors in many rural communities. Meanwhile, doctors in these areas say patients have become increasingly distrustful and sometimes hostile. (Noguchi, 10/15)

Stat: Health Creator Doctor Mike Rips AMA Over Misinformation Response 
Mike Varshavski, a family physician and content creator who goes by Doctor Mike on YouTube, has made it his mission to combat medical misinformation. He’s attracted 14 million followers by communicating both clearly and entertainingly. He wishes leaders in medicine like the American Medical Association would do the same, he told attendees at the STAT Summit on Wednesday. (Gaffney, 10/15)

Stat: Former CDC Officials Say It's Up To Doctors To Provide Trusted Advice 
It’s getting harder to trust guidance coming out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, creating an opening for physician groups to step up and fill the void, two former top agency officials said on Wednesday. (Cirruzzo, 10/15)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

The Washington Post: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Provider Directory Mired In Errors
Ahead of the open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage plans that began Wednesday, the Trump administration created a directory to help millions of seniors look up which doctors and medical providers accept which insurance. But the portal frequently produces erroneous and conflicting information, The Washington Post found, setting off a scramble inside the federal government to fix it. Left unaddressed, the problems could confuse older adults as they sift through dozens of options, or force them to foot the bill for regular medical appointments, according to Medicare experts and patient advocates. (Diamond and Johnson, 10/15)

MedPage Today: Which States Are Best For Medicare Beneficiaries?
Vermont, Utah, and Minnesota led the nation in ranking Medicare beneficiaries' experiences with the program and its benefits, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund. The three lowest-ranked states were Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky, said Gretchen Jacobson, PhD, vice president of Medicare at the Commonwealth Fund, and co-authors. (Firth, 10/16)

The Baltimore Sun: CVS Finalizes Rite Aid Acquisition Amid Nationwide Expansion
CVS Pharmacy has completed its acquisition of select Rite Aid assets nationwide on Wednesday, a deal that includes several locations in Maryland. The company announced that it has acquired and now operates 63 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. CVS also obtained the prescription files from 626 Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs pharmacies across 15 states. (Karpovich, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: CommonSpirit’s Trinity Health System Could Join UPMC
CommonSpirit Health and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have signed a non-binding letter of intent to integrate Steubenville, Ohio-based Trinity Health System into UPMC. CommonSpirit and Trinity Health leaders began a search earlier this year to find a regional health system that would add to Trinity’s offerings, according to a Wednesday news release. (Hudson, 10/15)

STATE WATCH

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Drug Overdose Deaths Drop For Second Straight Year 
Drug overdose deaths in Missouri decreased for the second consecutive year in 2024, according to the latest data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The drop in drug-related fatalities — a 26% decrease compared with the previous year — brings the total to its lowest number since 2017. (Fentem, 10/16)

The New York Times: Gavin Newsom Vetoes Reparations Bills In California 
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California vetoed bills that would have provided tangible benefits to those descendants, though he approved a state agency to determine who qualifies for potential reparations. (Rosenhall, 10/15)

ProPublica and Idaho Statesman: Disabled Idaho Students Lack Access to Playgrounds and Lunchrooms. Historic $2 Billion Funding Will Do Little to Help.
Despite federal law, disabled students can’t access playgrounds, lunchrooms, classes and bathrooms. With added funding, school districts are still unable to make necessary fixes. (Savransky, 10/15)

The Texas Tribune: How Texas Planned Parenthood Is Surviving Without Public Funds
On Sept. 30, Planned Parenthood’s Gulf Coast branch in Houston, which ran the organization’s largest clinic in the country, shuttered to merge with another affiliate. Anti-abortion groups celebrated this shutdown, saying they were one step closer to pushing the health care provider from the state and, eventually, the nation. (Byman, 10/15)

Kera News: Texas Rural Hospitals Want A Piece Of $50B In Federal Funds
As Texas develops its application for a new rural health funding program, rural hospital leaders say the priority should be financial stabilization for their facilities. (Ruhman, 10/15)

The Texas Tribune: USDA Rejects Texas Ag Department's Fly Trap To Prevent Screwworm Larvae From Infecting Cattle
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is trading barbs with the Trump Administration over its response to a parasitic pest that continues to make its way north in Mexico, and could potentially threaten the state’s $15 billion cattle industry if it crosses the border. This week, in an interview with a Nashville television network that focuses on rural issues, Miller expressed frustration that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was not using a synthetic bait that he has promoted to combat the New World Screwworm, a fly that infects warm-blooded animals and recently has been spotted less than 100 miles from the border. (McGee, 10/15)

CIDRAP: More Measles In South Carolina As US Nears 1,600 Confirmed Cases 
A new update from the South Carolina Department of Health (SCDH) says the state's measles outbreak has grown by 5 cases, to 16 infections since July, including 12 cases that are part of an Upstate outbreak that has seen two schools send hundreds of unvaccinated kids home after exposure to the highly contagious virus. The cases come as the US total climbs to 1,596 confirmed infections. (Soucheray, 10/15)

The CT Mirror: Report: Summer Heat Threatens Health At CT Prisons
High indoor temperatures combined with a lack of cold drinking water and cooling fans in three of the state’s prisons during the summer months is risking the health of incarcerated individuals and may violate their constitutional rights, according to a new report from the correction ombuds. (Otte, 10/15)

DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMER'S

The Washington Post: No Amount Of Alcohol Is Safe, At Least For Dementia Risk 
For years, the common wisdom and science was that a little bit of alcohol wasn’t bad — and even beneficial — for your health: A toast to moderation. But new research published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine suggests that even light alcohol consumption can increase dementia risk. (Sima, 10/15)

MedPage Today: Benzodiazepines, Antipsychotics Raise Mortality Risk For Some Dementia Patients
Older adults with Alzheimer's disease or dementia who were newly prescribed benzodiazepines or antipsychotic drugs in hospice had higher mortality than those who didn't get the drugs, a case-control analysis of Medicare claims data showed. (George, 10/15)

NPR: 'Death Fold' Proteins Can Make Cells Self-Destruct. Scientists Want To Control Them 
In Alzheimer's, brain cells die too soon. In cancer, dangerous cells don't die soon enough. That's because both diseases alter the way cells decide when to end their lives, a process called programmed cell death. "Cell death sounds morbid, but it's essential for our health," says Douglas Green, who has spent decades studying the process at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. So researchers have been searching for disease treatments that "modify or modulate the tendency of a cell to die," Green says. (Hamilton, 10/16)

PUBLIC HEALTH

AP: Report Suggests US Obesity Epidemic May Be Improving
For the first time in more than a decade, the number of states with rates of obesity of 35% or more dropped, an encouraging sign that America’s epidemic of excess weight might be improving. But cuts to federal staff and programs that address chronic disease could endanger that progress, according to a new report released Thursday. Nineteen states had obesity rates of 35% or higher in 2024, down from 23 states the year before, according to an analysis of the latest data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aleccia, 10/16)

Axios: Obesity Rates By US State: Report
The number of U.S. states with adult obesity rates at or above 35% dropped slightly in 2024 compared to a year prior, a new report finds, yet remains far higher than just a decade ago. (Fitzpatrick, 10/16)

AP: World Is On Track To Add Nearly 2 Months Of Superhot Days, Study Finds
The world is on track to add nearly two months of dangerous superhot days each year by the end of the century, with poorer small nations hit far more often than the biggest carbon-polluting countries, a study released Thursday found. But efforts to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases that started 10 years ago with the Paris climate agreement have had a significant effect. Without them Earth would be heading to an additional 114 days a year of those deadly extra hot days, the same study found. (Borenstein, 10/16)

AP: Indonesia Finds Radioactive Element At Clove Plantation
Indonesia detected traces of radioactive cesium 137 at a clove plantation as it searches for the source of radioactive contamination that forced recalls of shrimp and spices exported to the U.S., a task force investigating the issue said Wednesday. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials blocked the import of all spices processed by PT Natural Java Spice of Indonesia in September after federal inspectors detected cesium 137 in a shipment of cloves sent to California. (Tarigan, 10/15)