First Edition: Tuesday, July 8, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Workplace Mental Health At Risk As Key Federal Agency Faces Cuts
In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate the return to work for a year. In Pennsylvania, doctors applying for credentials at Geisinger hospitals are not required to answer intrusive questions about mental health care they’ve received, reducing the stigma around clinicians seeking treatment. (Pattani, 7/8)

KFF Health News: In A Nation Growing Hostile Toward Drugs And Homelessness, Los Angeles Tries Leniency
Inside a bright new building in the heart of Skid Row, homeless people hung out in a canopy-covered courtyard — some waiting to take a shower, do laundry, or get medication for addiction treatment. Others relaxed on shaded grass and charged their phones as an intake line for housing grew more crowded. The Skid Row Care Campus officially opened this spring with ample offerings for people living on the streets of this historically downtrodden neighborhood. Pop-up fruit stands and tent encampments lined the sidewalks, as well as dealers peddling meth and fentanyl in open-air drug markets. Some people, sick or strung out, were passed out on sidewalks as pedestrians strolled by on a recent afternoon. (Hart, 7/8)

KFF Health News: States Brace For Reversal Of Obamacare Coverage Gains Under Trump’s Budget Bill
Shorter enrollment periods. More paperwork. Higher premiums. The sweeping tax and spending bill pushed by President Donald Trump includes provisions that would not only reshape people’s experience with the Affordable Care Act but, according to some policy analysts, also sharply undermine the gains in health insurance coverage associated with it. The moves affect consumers and have particular resonance for the 19 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that run their own ACA exchanges. (Appleby, 7/3)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Trump’s Bill Reaches The Finish Line
Early Thursday afternoon, the House approved a budget reconciliation bill that not only would make permanent many of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, but also impose deep cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and, indirectly, Medicare. (Rovner, 7/3)

KFF Health News: Journalists Assess Health Impacts Of Trump's Megabill, Who Will Feel Them, And When
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed how cuts to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s megabill will affect Americans’ access to health care on NPR’s “Up First,” CNN’s “CNN This Morning” and WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on July 2. Rovner also discussed U.S. domestic and global vaccine policy on WAMU’s “1A” on July 1. (7/5)

DEI AND FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS

Fierce Healthcare: Judge Vacates Trump Administration's Removal Of Health Web Pages
A federal judge ruled that the swift takedown of health information across several government webpages earlier this year was illegal and vacated agencies’ directives to do so. ... In an order filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Bates described the case as an example of “government officials acting first and thinking later,” writing that HHS and the Office of Personnel and Management, which had issued the memo directing webpage takedowns, had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” and in contrary of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). (Muoio, 7/7)

Politico: Trump Admin Asks Staff To Report Cases Of Bias Due To DEI Directives
The Department of Health and Human Services emailed staff a “whistle-blower questionnaire” asking them to report cases of discrimination due to past diversity, equity and inclusion directives, according to an email obtained by POLITICO. The email asks staff five questions about whether they’ve witnessed people nix grants or contracts “with discriminatory language” and if they knew current and former staff who were passed over for promotions or hiring due to “race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or genetic information.” (Nguyen, 7/7)

The Washington Post: Veterans Affairs Reverses Course On Large-Scale Layoffs 
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday that it will no longer be forced to conduct a large reduction in workforce, unlike several other federal agencies that were forced to make mass layoffs because of the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service. In a news release, VA said that it was on pace to reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year, a push that the department said eliminates the need for a “large-scale reduction-in-force.” The announcement marks a significant reversal for the Trump administration, which had planned for months to cut VA by roughly 83,000 employees, according to plans revealed in an internal memo circulated to agency staffers in March. At the time, VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins said in remarks shared to social media that the cuts were tough but necessary. (Alfaro, Natanson and Kornfield, 7/7)

The Washington Post: U.S. Entrepreneurs Want To Tear Up The International Aid System’s Rulebook 
Fogbow is working with combatants to deliver food to some of the world’s most desperate and inaccessible places. Aid groups warn of unintended consequences. (Houreld, 7/8)

MORE FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The New York Times: Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite A Ban On Asbestos 
The Trump administration has withdrawn its plan to rewrite a ban on the last type of asbestos still used in the United States. The Biden-era ban was a victory for health advocates who had long fought to prohibit the carcinogenic mineral in all its forms. Last month the Trump administration said it planned to reconsider the asbestos ban, which would have delayed its implementation by several years. But late Monday, it withdrew that filing. (Tabuchi, 7/7)

The New York Times: Trump Wants to Kill a Chemical Safety Board. Chemical Makers Object.
In January 2021, after a nitrogen leak at a poultry plant in Georgia killed 6 workers and injured scores more, federal investigators arrived at the scene. The team, from a small federal agency called the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, traced the fatal leak to a freezer part that had been bent out of shape. A series of recommendations to improve safety followed. Now, the White House is planning to eliminate the agency, allocating $0 for its budget starting in 2026. Even industry groups are opposed. (Tabuchi, 7/8)

VACCINES

The New York Times: Medical Societies Sue Kennedy And H.H.S. Over Vaccine Advice
Six leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, and the federal Department of Health and Human Services, charging that recent decisions limiting access to vaccines were unscientific and harmful to the public. The suit, filed in federal court in western Massachusetts, seeks to restore Covid vaccines to the list of recommended immunizations for healthy children and pregnant women. (Mandavilli, 7/7)

Bloomberg: Alternative Vaccine Schedule: Fears Have Parents Asking For Early Shots
After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the nation’s top health official in February, pediatrician Jeff Couchman started getting a lot of questions from worried parents. “They’d ask: ‘Are vaccines going to be available? Can we give my kid every possible shot today just to make sure?’” said Couchman, who practices at Mesquite Pediatrics in Tucson, Arizona. (Smith and Amponsah, 7/7)

MORE FROM HHS AND RFK JR.

AP: RFK Jr. Promotes A Food Company That Makes Ultraprocessed Meals
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. He even thanked Mom’s Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals “without additives” to the homes of sick or elderly Americans. ... But an Associated Press review of Mom’s Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company’s offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick. (Seitz and Aleccia, 7/7)

The New York Times: RFK Jr.’s Battle Against Food Dyes Hits A Roadblock: M&M’s
Less than three months after he declared war on synthetic food dyes, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already secured the cooperation of the makers of some of America’s most colorful culinary products. If they fulfill their promises, Jell-O snacks, Kool-Aid beverages, and Lucky Charms cereals, among a host of other foods, will be rid of synthetic dyes by the end of 2027. But the candy industry and its most colorful chocolate treat, M&M's, are a big obstacle standing between Mr. Kennedy and the ability to claim total victory. (Gay Stolberg and Creswell, 7/7)

NBC News: RFK Jr.'s Warnings About Sperm Counts Fuel Doomsday Claims About Male Fertility
It’s not uncommon for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to mention sperm counts when he makes a public appearance. In recent television interviews, political speeches and congressional hearings, Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that teenage boys today have half the sperm that men in their 60s do — a stat that’s not exactly accurate. Kennedy has cited the talking point as evidence of a broader health crisis in the U.S. (Bendix, 7/3)

Becker's Hospital Review: Drug Inspectors Warn Of Slower Checks Following FDA Layoffs
Cuts at the FDA are slowing inspections of overseas drug manufacturers, prompting concerns from former and current employees that medication safety could be at risk, ProPublica reported July 7. Dozens of individuals who help coordinate the travel for complex inspections of foreign drugmaking factories have been let go, and though some have been rehired, inspectors told the news outlet the strain has exhausted staff and could compromise the safety of medications used by millions. (Murphy, 7/7)

The New York Times: Inside The Collapse Of The F.D.A. 
How the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is dismantling the agency. (Interlandi, 7/8)

ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT (OBBBA)

The Hill: Judge Temporarily Blocks Planned Parenthood ‘Defunding’ In Trump Megabill
A federal judge on Monday granted Planned Parenthood’s request to temporarily halt Medicaid funding cuts to the group’s health centers under a provision of Republicans’ new tax and spending package. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s ruling marks the first known instance of a federal judge limiting enforcement of any part of the “big, beautiful” bill, which President Trump signed into law Friday. (Schonfeld, 7/7)

Axios: Trump Bill's Health Effects Won't Be Felt Until After Midterms
President Trump's tax and spending bill sets in motion nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other health policy changes that could loom over the midterm elections. But the real effects likely won't be felt until well after the ballots are cast. (Goldman, 7/7)

Politico: Republicans Just Cut Medicaid. Will It Cost Them Control Of Congress?
Republicans just delivered Donald Trump a “big, beautiful” legislative win. Now they’re fretting it will lead to some ugly electoral losses. GOP lawmakers are warning that slashing spending on Medicaid and food assistance will cost the party seats in the midterms — threatening their razor-thin House majority — by kicking millions of Americans off safety-net programs. (Kashinsky, Howard and Schneider, 7/6)

Stat: Trump Tax Bill Exposes The Lost Clout Of The Health Care Lobby 
Republicans swiftly approved President Trump’s tax cut bill last week, despite a full-court press from doctors, hospitals, and patients to beat back some of the largest health care cuts in American history — more than $1 trillion in all over the next decade. (Payne, 7/8)

Bloomberg: S&P Sees Trump Tax Law Hurting State And Hospital Balance Sheets
President Donald Trump’s new budget bill is expected to push almost 12 million Americans off their health insurance, creating long-term financial issues for states and health-care providers, according to a S&P Global report. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes substantial cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. In the long term, that reduced funding could hurt the balance sheets of state governments and hospitals alike, according to the report released Monday. (Kaske, 7/7)

AP: Republican Bill Slashing Medicaid Could Cause Rural Hospitals Across The US To Close
Tyler Sherman, a nurse at a rural Nebraska hospital, is used to the area’s aging farmers delaying care until they end up in his emergency room. Now, with Congress planning around $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years, he fears those farmers and the more than 3,000 residents of Webster County could lose not just the ER, but also the clinic and nursing home tied to the hospital. ... If those facilities close, many locals would see their five-minute trip to Webster County hospital turn into a nearly hour-long ride to the nearest hospital offering the same services. (Beck and Haigh, 7/4)

Daily Yonder: Proposed Budget Cuts Put Rural Behavioral Health Services At Risk 
Ten years ago, Nancy Winmill’s son survived an opioid overdose. In her search for support, she found almost nothing available in her Burley, Idaho community. “I had no idea what to do or where to go. I had no help. I had no resources,” Winmill said. (de Figueiredo, 7/6)

Politico: Megabill Hits Health Care For Immigrants, Including Legal Ones, Hard
As President Donald Trump intensifies his targeting of undocumented immigrants, the GOP megabill passed Thursday takes aim at those here legally by revoking their access to subsidized care. Under current rules, those immigrants — green card holders, refugees, survivors of domestic violence and individuals on work and student visas — can purchase health insurance on the Obamacare marketplace and receive tax credits to offset the cost. (Chu, 7/4)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

Bloomberg: US Bird Flu Emergency Response Ends As Infections Decline
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its emergency response for bird flu as the outbreak that sickened dozens of people, spread to cattle and drove up egg prices has abated. The emergency designation ended in the last week, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it. (Nix, 7/7)

The Washington Post: U.S. Measles Cases Climb To 33-Year High
The United States has reached its highest annual measles case tally in 33 years, hitting at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of Columbia. The milestone marks a public health reversal in defeating a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease as the anti-vaccine movement gains strength. (Sun, 7/7)

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

ScienceAlert: Surprise Discovery About Sugar In The Brain Could Help Fight Alzheimer's 
Stores of glucose in the brain could play a much more significant role in the pathological degeneration of neurons than scientists realized, opening the way to new treatments for conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a tauopathy; a condition characterized by harmful build-ups of tau proteins inside neurons. It's not clear, however, if these build-ups are a cause or a consequence of the disease. A new study now adds important detail by revealing significant interactions between tau and glucose in its stored form of glycogen. ... When fruit flies affected by tauopathy were put on a low-protein diet, they lived longer and showed reduced brain damage, suggesting that the metabolic shift prompted by dieting can help boost GlyP. (Nield, 7/6)

PUBLIC HEALTH

AP: US Children Are Growing Increasingly Unhealthy, New Study Says
The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases and mental health problems like depression, a new study says. Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children’s physical and mental health at the same time. (Ungar and Aleccia, 7/7)

The Washington Post: Tobacco Report Shows Progress On Anti-Smoking Policies Worldwide
Measures linked to falling tobacco use worldwide now reach 6.1 billion people — or 75 percent of the global population, according to a report from the World Health Organization. The report, issued at the recent World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, found that 2.6 billion people in 79 countries are covered by smoke-free policies in indoor public places. (Blakemore, 7/5)

NBC News: Low Doses Of CBD May Cause Harm To The Liver, FDA Study Finds
A new clinical trial suggests there are still ongoing questions about the safety of even low doses of cannabidiol, even as CBD capsules, gummies, edibles, oils and lotions have become increasingly omnipresent in the United States in recent years. Scientists from the Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Applied Regulatory Science carried out a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial last year to assess how low-dose CBD affects liver function in a group of healthy middle-aged men and women. (Cox, 7/7)

ABC News: ER Visits For Tick Bites Near Record Levels This Summer Across US
Emergency rooms across the country are seeing a spike in tick bite cases, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July has already seen the highest number of tick-related ER visits since 2017, with the Northeast region reporting the most cases, the CDC said. Young children and elderly adults appear particularly vulnerable, with those under 10 and over 70 years old having the highest rates of emergency room visits, according to the CDC. (Benadjaoud, 7/7)

Bloomberg: Starbucks Menu News: Chain Wants To Get Rid Of Canola Oil In US
Starbucks Corp. is exploring how to remove canola oil from its food lineup in the US. In one example, the company is considering making its egg white and roasted red pepper bites without canola oil, a spokesperson said in response to an inquiry from Bloomberg News. The company will also add a new egg bite to its menu that is made with avocado oil. (Sirtori and Cohrs Zhang, 7/7)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

AP: Trump's Travel Restrictions Squeeze Hospitals That Rely On International Medical Residents
Some hospitals in the U.S. are without essential staff because international doctors who were set to start their medical training this week were delayed by the Trump administration’s travel and visa restrictions. It’s unclear exactly how many foreign medical residents were unable to start their assignments, but six medical residents interviewed by The Associated Press say they’ve undergone years of training and work only to be stopped at the finish line by what is usually a procedural step. (Ramakrishnan and Shastri, 7/4)

Modern Healthcare: Exchange Insurers Owe $10.4B In Risk-Adjustment Payments
Health insurance companies will trade $10.4 billion in exchange risk-adjustment payments this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced. Centene, CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare are set to receive more than expected, while Cigna, Elevance Health, Molina Healthcare and Oscar Health will owe greater sums than projected, according to an analysis of CMS data and corporate financial disclosures by the investment bank Barclays Capital. (Tepper, 7/7)

Bloomberg: S&P Says It’s Looking At Cutting Centene's Credit Ratings To Junk Status
S&P Global Ratings said it’s considering cutting Centene Corp.’s credit ratings to junk, citing the health insurer’s suspending its 2025 profit outlook. Centene said last week that it was withdrawing its previous forecast for its earnings for the year, because insurance market trends were veering from its assumptions, particularly in the plans it offers under the Affordable Care Act. Without that information, S&P has less confidence that the insurer will build the capital it needs quickly enough, the bond grader said in a statement on Monday. (Hall, 7/7)

The Wall Street Journal: More Pressure Mounts On Health Insurers As Costs Continue To Rise
Molina Healthcare became the latest health insurer to warn that higher medical costs will hit earnings this year, adding to Wall Street’s worries about an industry already facing the loss of millions of customers because of the newly passed Republican megabill. Last week, shares plunged across the industry after Molina’s larger competitor Centene withdrew its financial guidance for 2025, saying its profits would fall well short of what the company previously expected. In the wake of that, Molina’s announcement wasn’t a complete surprise, limiting the immediate downside to the shares of the California-based managed care company and its competitors. (Wilde Mathews, 7/7)

Bloomberg: Villages Health System Sees $350 Million In Medicare Overcharges
A health-care system serving the largest retirement community in the US has filed for bankruptcy after disclosing it potentially overbilled Medicare by at least $350 million, according to court filings. The Villages Health System LLC, which operates clinics for retirees living in the Villages in Central Florida, said in a July 3 court filing that it logged patient diagnoses that “were not clinically supported or otherwise did not meet Medicare coding and payment guidance.” (Randles, 7/7)

STATE WATCH

News Service of Florida: DeSantis Cites 'Bureaucratic Overreach' In Veto Of Florida Nursing Education Bill 
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have increased state requirements for nursing-education programs. The House on May 2 unanimously passed the bill (HB 1427), while the Senate approved it in a 26-5 vote. (7/7)

North Carolina Health News: Advanced Practice Nurses Call Supervision Matchmaking Services Exploitative
If they want to work in North Carolina, advanced practice registered nurses — in particular, nurse practitioners — are required to work with a supervising physician. Certified registered nurse anesthetists require an arrangement with an organization that employs an anesthesiologist. Nurses say these regulations create unnecessary red tape and costs to the APRNs and to patients. (Vitaglione, 7/7)

Wyoming Public Radio: States To Provide A Safe Place For LGBTQ+ Youth To Call During Crisis 
States in the Mountain West are stepping up to provide a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth to call when they are in crises. That’s because they’ll no longer have specific services through the national 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline. (Merzbach, 7/7)

CBS News: Study Finds 6% Of Florida Teens Have Handguns, A 65% Increase In Two Decades
Despite increased concerns about rising gun deaths among children, new research found that the number of teenagers who have handguns has gone up. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that Florida adolescent general handgun carrying increased by 65%, from 3.7% to 6.0%, from 2002 to 2022. Females, middle school-aged teens and white students were among the groups that most substantially contributed to the increase. (Moniuszko, 7/7)