First Edition: Tuesday, April 29, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: In A Broken Mental Health System, A Tiny Jail Cell Becomes An Institution Of Last Resort
When someone accused of a crime in this small northwestern Montana town needs mental health care, chances are they’ll be locked in a basement jail cell the size of a walk-in closet. Prisoners, some held in this isolation cell for months, have scratched initials and the phrase “love hurts” into the metal door’s brown paint. Their pacing has worn a path into the cement floor. Many are held in a sort of limbo, not convicted of a crime but not stable enough to be released. They sleep on a narrow cot next to a toilet. The only view is a fluorescent-lit hallway visible through a small window in the door. (Houghton, 4/29)

KFF Health News: As A Diversity Grant Dies, Young Scientists Fear It Will Haunt Their Careers
Adelaide Tovar, a University of Michigan scientist who researches genes related to diabetes, used to feel like an impostor in a laboratory. Tovar, 32, grew up poor and was the first in her family to graduate from high school. During her first year in college, she realized she didn’t know how to study. But after years of studying biology and genetics, Tovar finally got proof that she belonged. Last fall, the National Institutes of Health awarded her a prestigious grant. It would fund her research and put her on track to be a university professor and eventually launch a laboratory of her own. (Kelman, 4/29)

KFF Health News: Trump Administration Retreats From 100% Withholding On Social Security Clawbacks
The Social Security Administration is backing off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries’ monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them. Instead, the agency will default to withholding 50% of old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits, the agency said in an “emergency message” to staff dated April 25. (Hilzenrath and Fleischer, 4/28)

MEDICAL DEBT

The New York Times: New Details Emerge On Trump Officials’ Sprint To Gut Consumer Bureau Staff 
Emails and testimonials from workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau document the administration’s efforts to lay off 90 percent of the employees. (Cowley, 4/27)

The Washington Post: New Consumer Protections Could End Soon. Here’s What You Need To Know. 
Just before President Donald Trump took office, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule that would prevent credit reporting agencies from including unpaid medical bills in credit reports and prohibit lenders from considering medical debt when making credit decisions. Republican lawmakers introduced a CRA resolution to repeal the rule in March. ... Meanwhile, multiple trade associations have filed suit to declare the regulation unlawful and set it aside. In February, a federal judge in Texas paused consideration of that case until June, which the new Trump-appointed CFPB leadership agreed to. If the plaintiffs succeed, their win will overturn the regulation. (Ziegler, 4/28)

ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

The New York Times: National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed By Trump Administration 
The Trump administration has dismissed the hundreds of scientists and experts who had been compiling the federal government’s flagship report on how global warming is affecting the country. The move puts the future of the report, which is required by Congress and is known as the National Climate Assessment, into serious jeopardy, experts said. Since 2000, the federal government has published a comprehensive look every few years at how rising temperatures will affect human health, agriculture, fisheries, water supplies, transportation, energy production and other aspects of the U.S. economy. (Plumer, Dzombak, 4/28)

The Hill: Trump Administration Plans To Limit ‘Forever Chemical’ Discharges
The Trump administration will set limits on the amount of “forever chemicals” producers of the toxic substances can discharge into the water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday. The administration said it will set discharge limits for a class of toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The limitations will apply to companies that make these substances, as well as metal finishers. (Frazin, 4/28)

Bloomberg: Climate Change May Worsen The Spread Of Drug Resistant Infections, Study Warns
Climate change may exacerbate the spread of infections that don’t respond to common antibiotics, with developing nations being most at risk, according to a new study in Nature Medicine. The study challenges the notion that the rise of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is solely due to the overconsumption of antibiotics, putting a spotlight on factors such as healthcare spending, air pollution and raising temperatures. (Kan, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Chemicals In Plastic Linked To Over 350,000 Deaths From Heart Disease
A set of chemicals found in food packaging, plastics, and lotions and shampoos has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths from heart disease, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal eBioMedicine. These chemicals, known as phthalates (pronounced tha-lates), were responsible for more than 350,000 deaths worldwide in 2018, researchers found. About 75 percent of the deaths were in Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific — reflecting growing concern about the amount of plastic proliferating in developing countries. (Osaka, 4/29)

RACE AND DEI

Politico: Trump Administration To Close A Civil Rights Office In RFK Jr.'s HHS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will close its civil rights office in June, according to an email sent to staff Monday and viewed by POLITICO. The office closure is part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mass reorganization of his department that has seen the agency downsized by roughly 20 percent. Kennedy and President Donald Trump have also focused on programs and agencies they say promote diversity, equity and inclusion. (Cirruzzo, 4/28)

Politico: Trump Administration Probes Harvard Law Review For Alleged Race-Based Discrimination
The Trump administration on Monday opened two investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review over allegedly factoring race into editorial decisions at the legal publication. The civil rights offices of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services said the agencies launched the investigations “based on reports of race-based discrimination permeating the operations of the journal.” (Quilantan, 4/28)

The Texas Tribune: Texas LGBTQ+ Students Criticize Proposed K-12 DEI Ban 
When Marshall Romero came out as a trans male in 2021, he didn’t think his identity would become a political issue. But in the years since, the 16-year-old sophomore at Alief Early College High School in Houston said he has watched the Republican Party increasingly target LGBTQ+ people, and he became more politically active in response. (Sorochinskaia, 4/29)

SUPREME COURT

The Washington Post: Justices Seem Sympathetic To Student In Disability Discrimination Case
The Supreme Court appeared sympathetic Monday to the arguments of the parents of a Minnesota teen with severe epilepsy who want schools to do more to accommodate the needs of disabled students. The case focuses on whether families must meet an unfairly high burden to show schools are falling short. It is being closely watched by disability advocates and schools, with officials saying a ruling for the girl — identified as Ava in court filings — could make it easier for millions of students to require educators to do more to tailor teaching to their unique situations. (Jouvenal, 4/28)

'MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN'

Stat: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Commission Faces Scrutiny Ahead Of Deadline 
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a little less than a month left to produce a key document that will shape the federal government’s approach to childhood chronic disease. And while administration officials say he is on track to meet that deadline, it’s not clear how the “Make America Healthy Again” commission is conducting its work. (Cueto, 4/29)

CIDRAP: Groups Urge Kennedy To Reduce Antibiotic Overuse In Meat Production
A coalition of food safety, public health, and consumer advocacy groups are urging Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to curb the use of antibiotics in the meat industry. ... The groups have been warning for several years that widespread use of these antibiotics—which are also used in human medicine—in cows, pigs, and poultry is accelerating the antibiotic-resistance threat. (Dall, 4/28)

ON CAPITOL HILL

The Washington Post: Congress Passes Bill To Fight Deepfake Nudes, Revenge Porn
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill aimed at cracking down on the posting of sexual images and videos of people online without their consent, including AI-generated “deepfake” nudes of real people. The bipartisan Take It Down Act, which passed the Senate unanimously in February, now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. (Oremus, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Provider Taxes Under Fire As Congress Looks For Medicaid Cuts
When Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) grudgingly supported the budget that paved the way for renewing President Donald Trump's tax cuts, he signaled that the price for his vote included targeting an arcane but growing source of state Medicaid funding: provider taxes. States levy provider taxes to help fund their share of spending in the joint federal-state health program, which effectively shifts a greater portion of Medicaid costs to the federal government. Often, providers volunteer to pay these taxes, or at least don't loudly protest, because they sustain Medicaid. (McAuliff, 4/28)

Axios: Exclusive: Where Nursing Homes Rely Most On Medicaid
Nursing homes across the country rely heavily on Medicaid, with the safety net program covering more than 6 in 10 residents in 18 states, according to an analysis of federal data by Assisted Living Magazine shared exclusively with Axios. (Goldman, 4/29)

VACCINES

Stat: How Vaccine Criticism Is Seeping Into Official Policy At The FDA
When Marty Makary was tapped to lead the Food and Drug Administration, public health experts hoped the Johns Hopkins physician would shield the agency from the vaccine criticism of his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Instead, Makary seems just as willing to use his power and position to more harshly scrutinize vaccines and to shift vaccination policy. (Lawrence, 4/29)

Stat: HPV Vaccine As Effective With One Shot As Two, NCI Study Finds
A clinical trial run by the National Cancer Institute seems to confirm that a single dose of the vaccine used to prevent infection with the human papilloma virus is just as effective as two — and, therefore, also helps to prevent cancer. (Herper, 4/28)

Stat: Major Tuberculosis Vaccine Trial Finishes Enrollment Faster Than Expected
A closely watched clinical trial testing what could be the world’s first new tuberculosis vaccine in a century has hit its enrollment target, ahead of expectations. (Joseph, 4/28)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

AP: Judge Pauses Old Nevada Law Requiring Parental Notification For Minors To Get Abortion
A long-dormant Nevada law requiring parents or guardians to be notified before a minor can have an abortion will not take effect this week following a federal judge’s ruling. The 1985 law has never before been enforced in Nevada because of court rulings that found it was unconstitutional based on Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion access a constitutional right for a half century. The ban on the Nevada’s law was set to expire Wednesday under a recent federal court order citing the 2022 reversal of Roe, but abortion rights activists appealed. (Yamat, 4/29)

MedPage Today: Pregnancy Checkbox On Death Certificates Mainly Behind Spike In Maternal Deaths
The introduction of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates was responsible for most of the spike in maternal deaths in the U.S. since 2000, other than a jump attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, a longitudinal cross-sectional analysis showed. The addition of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates in 2003 was associated with an increase of 6.78 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births -- 66% of the total increase in maternal mortality from 2000 to 2019, reported Seth Flaxman, PhD, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues. (Robertson, 4/28)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Modern Healthcare: Ascension Vendor Data Breach Affects Patients In 5 States 
Ascension said Monday patients have been exposed to another data breach — this time due to a former third-party vendor getting access to private information from the health system. The January breach involved patients' personal information as well as some healthcare-related information, according to a Monday news release. None of Ascension's electronic health records, systems or networks were impacted by the breach, a spokesperson said. (DeSilva, 4/28)

Chicago Tribune: Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Illinois Reports Data Breach
The personal information of more than 9,300 people may have been exposed in a recent data breach at health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, according to the company. (Schencker, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Atrium Health Wins Hospital Expansion Bid Over Novant Health
Novant Health lost its bid to grow its North Carolina acute care network as state regulators approved an Atrium Health hospital expansion. Novant and Atrium, Advocate Health’s North Carolina division, are competing for 89 beds that state regulators say Mecklenburg County will need by 2027. The health systems applied for those beds via the certificate of need process, which caps healthcare service expansions and requires the state to sign off on new healthcare projects. (Kacik, 4/28)

CBS News: Delaware County Seeking To Fill Void In Health Care Amid Crozer Health System Shutdown
A nonprofit EMS provider is stepping up as Delaware County's largest health system gets ready to shut down in just four days. VMSC Emergency Medical Services, based in Lansdale, Montgomery County, has signed an agreement to respond to 911 calls in the City of Chester starting Saturday. The agency will station three ambulances at the Chester Bureau of Fire. "The first priority obviously is making sure there's no lapse in coverage," Shane Wheeler, CEO of VMSC Emergency Medical Services, said. (Wright and Sylves, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Sutter Health Agrees To Pay $229M To Settle Lawsuit
Sutter Health agreed to pay $228.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges the health system forced insurers into anticompetitive contracts. Northern California residents and businesses sued Sutter in 2012, alleging the Sacramento, California-based nonprofit health system made insurers include all of Sutter’s facilities in their networks, regardless of cost. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California still needs to approve the draft settlement. The court set a hearing for May 22. (Kacik, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Carelon Behavioral Health Faces Ghost Network Lawsuit
Elevance Health is facing a second lawsuit accusing it of maintaining inaccurate provider directories, also known as “ghost networks.” The plaintiffs are three people covered under New York state employee health benefits who allege that Elevance Health division Carelon Behavioral Health misrepresented providers as in-network, causing them financial harm. The attorneys are seeking class-action status. (Berryman, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Elevance Health To Slash Medicare Advantage Marketing
Days after Elevance Health assured investors it remains optimistic about Medicare Advantage, the health insurance company announced it will stop marketing most products under the program. Effective May 1, the Blue Cross Blue Shield company will remove nearly all of its Medicare Advantage plans from online marketing platforms, according to a notice sent to marketers on Friday. The company will require agents and brokers to submit paper applications for enrollees located in 22 states. (Tepper, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: Ambient AI's Early Adopters See Less Burnout, Uncertain ROI
Early adopters of ambient artificial intelligence have seen positive results from pilots to gauge how effectively the technology saves time and money. Providers are adopting generative AI tools that can automatically chart patient-clinician conversations into their electronic health record systems. A host of vendors — both upstarts and established players – have developed products to win over clinical users and gain market share. (Perna, 4/28)

PHARMACEUTICALS

Stat: Patients Struggle As Compounded GLP-1 Access Rapidly Shrinks
The explosion of compounded GLP-1 offerings over the past two years is coming to an end, and many patients are left with no good options. Blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs — such as Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro — are no longer deemed by regulators to be in shortage, so compounding pharmacies and the telehealth companies they work with must stop offering copies of the treatments. (Palmer and Chen, 4/29)

MedPage Today: Do GLP-1 Drugs Pose A Risk To Lung Transplant Recipients?
People taking GLP-1 receptor agonists appeared to be at elevated risk of rejection episodes after lung transplantation, a small, single-center cohort study suggested. (Phend, 4/28)

Stat: Capricor Forges Ahead With FDA On Duchenne Drug, Despite Political Tumult
The Food and Drug Administration is nearly halfway through a review of Capricor Therapeutics’ cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Even with the tumult inside the agency, interactions between the company and the agency staff have been unaffected, according to the company’s chief executive. (Feuerstein, 4/28)

FiercePharma: Pharma Industry Reputation Slips Again In Patient Group Survey
For the second year in a row, the pharmaceutical industry has dipped further out of favor with patient groups around the world. The industry’s reputation surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PatientView’s annual survey of patient groups, peaking two years ago, when 60% of those surveyed said pharma’s reputation was “good” or “excellent.” Last year’s edition of the survey, however, saw that number decline to 57%. (Park, 4/29)

STATE WATCH

The Washington Post: Virginia Expands Warning On Areas Exposed To Child With Measles 
Virginia public health officials on Monday released more detail on the areas in local medical facilities where people may have been exposed to a young child with the state’s first 2025 case of measles, a highly contagious disease on the rise across the nation. The child, who was described as age 4 or younger, was contagious while visiting Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in Fredericksburg and Woodbridge on two days in mid-April, according to a statement from the Virginia Department of Health. (Portnoy, 4/28)

The New York Times: N.Y. Budget Deal Includes School Cellphone Ban And Mental Health Changes 
The budget deal, which will now go to the Legislature for a full vote, includes changes to make it easier to remove people in psychiatric crisis from public spaces to be evaluated for treatment. Gov. Kathy Hochul also successfully pushed for an all-day ban on students having cellphones in schools. But another of the governor’s policy priorities relating to the restriction of the wearing of masks was whittled down by legislators over concerns that it would be selectively enforced and infringe on people’s civil liberties. (Oreskes and Ashford, 4/28)

CBS News: K2 Synthetic Marijuana, Despite Being Illegal In New York, Is Not Hard To Find And Is As Dangerous As Ever 
A Westchester County family says K2, also known as synthetic marijuana, led to the death of their loved one after he became addicted to it. They say the unregulated drug is often sold in gas stations and illegal smoke shops, with packaging marketed towards children. While it has been illegal for more than a decade in New York state, CBS News New York found out it's still easy to buy. (Rozner, 4/28)

Politico: Meet The (Not Dialysis!) Clinics In SEIU’s Crosshairs
For three election cycles in a row, California ballots included initiatives about how the state’s dialysis centers should operate. With that debate tabled — at least for now — the state’s most powerful collection of unions may have identified its next target to take on at the ballot. SEIU California appears to be setting the stage to go after federally qualified health centers, community clinics that rely heavily on public funds to provide primary care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. (Bluth, McCarthy and Schultheis, 4/28)

Kansas City Star: MO Payments To Families Of Killed First Responders Could End 
The family of fatally stabbed Kansas City firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman may receive a one-time, $25,000 payment from Missouri, under a state law that provides death benefits to the survivors of first responders killed in the line of duty. But Hoffman’s next of kin could be among the last to receive the benefit unless Missouri lawmakers act soon. (Shorman and Bayless, 4/28)

ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA

The Texas Tribune: Texas Likely To Ask Voters For $3 Billion For Dementia
Texas voters will likely get a chance to decide whether to spend $3 billion in state funds on dementia research after the House preliminarily approved Senate Joint Resolution 3 on Monday. (Klibanoff, 4/28)

ABC News: Alzheimer's Society Calls On Doctors To Use Newer Early Diagnostic Testing Due To Improvements
New treatments and simple blood tests could change how doctors detect and treat Alzheimer's disease, according to a new report from the Alzheimer's Association. Blood tests to detect Alzheimer's are not yet approved for everyday use, but in research studies, they have improved the accuracy of diagnosis by up to 91%. ... Blood tests could make it much simpler to find early signs of the disease and be more widely available. (Chang, 4/29)

MedPage Today: Alzheimer's Biomarkers Common In People With Other Dementias
Alzheimer's disease pathology was common in people diagnosed with other dementias, a large cross-sectional study in Sweden showed. While most patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's had evidence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid and tau pathology, those biomarkers also emerged in people with other dementias, said Tobias Borgh Skillbäck, MD, PhD, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Molndal, Sweden, and co-authors. (George, 4/28)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

NBC News: Martinelli's Issues Recall For More Than 170,000 Apple Juice Bottles For Potentially Toxic Substance
S. Martinelli & Co. is voluntarily recalling more than 170,000 bottles of apple juice in 28 states for potential contamination with toxic substances, according to the Food and Drug Administration. ... "In 2024, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) routine testing indicated that one lot of 10-ounce Martinelli’s Apple Juice glass bottles (in 4-packs only) produced in December 2023 may contain elevated levels of Patulin, a naturally occurring substance produced by molds that can grow in apples," the statement read. (Flowers, 4/28)