Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: A Cancer Survivor Hoped To Work — Then She Lost Her Medicaid Disability Coverage
Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. But the cancer’s lasting damage to her organs and nerves can make basic tasks, like loading a dishwasher, hard. Still, Montana’s health department decided last year that Hailstone is no longer eligible for low-cost disability health coverage through Medicaid. The department switched her coverage to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, another Medicaid program — three months before she aged out. (Houghton, 9/15)
KFF Health News: Rising Healthcare Costs Have Hit Georgia’s Most Conservative District. But Its Politics Are Unlikely To Change
Amber Bates of Cohutta, Georgia, is one of thousands of people without health insurance in the 14th Congressional District, home to about 765,000 people in the northwestern corner of the state. She and her husband have not had health coverage for the past two years, Bates said, because their employment is unsteady and they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, the public health insurance for those with disabilities or low incomes. (Lumpkins, 9/15)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The New York Times: Trump Administration Moves To Integrate A.I. Into Medical Care Despite Concerns
The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to make artificial intelligence an integral part of medical care in the United States, throwing the resources and support of the federal government into projects that deploy A.I. agents to diagnose and prescribe treatments to patients. The multifront effort at the Department of Health and Human Services has raised concerns among some officials over the past few months that change is moving too quickly, with inadequate evidence of the technology’s safety and effectiveness, according to people who have been involved the discussions. They also worry about outsized influence of Silicon Valley investors that have previously played little role in federal health policy. (Jewett, 9/14)
Stat: Medicare's AI Prior Authorization Pilot Was Rushed, New Documents Reveal
The rollout of a Medicare program that uses artificial intelligence to approve or deny care was hasty and error-ridden, according to more than a thousand pages of recently released documents and data. (Trang, 9/15)
The Guardian: ‘Tidal Wave’ Of PFAS Being Launched To Satisfy AI Industry, Campaigners Warn
Pfas companies are launching a “tidal wave” of forever chemicals production to meet demand from the AI industry, a campaign organisation has warned. Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production. Many frame their investments around the “AI revolution”, because of the role Pfas play in semiconductor production and next-generation datacentre cooling systems. (Gayle, 9/14)
AP: Gates Foundation Puts $1B To Reduce Social Inequity In AI
Bill Gates is warning technology companies and world leaders that they must act now to ensure artificial intelligence combats social inequities rather than deepening disparities — and his foundation is pledging $1 billion to improve access. (Pollard, 9/15)
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
Stat: Judge Blocks DHS Visa Cap For International Researchers
A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from upending a long-standing policy that allows foreign students and scholars to stay in the U.S. for the duration of their training, a decision that suggests that plaintiffs opposed to the policy change are likely to ultimately succeed. (Wosen and Oza, 9/14)
The Washington Post: Alligator Alcatraz Detainees Were Put In Small Cages, DHS Watchdog Report Finds
Immigrants at the Florida detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz were kept in “small metal enclosures” for up to nearly two hours in what the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog is calling a highly unusual and inhumane detention practice. The DHS Office of Inspector General report says the enclosures were 4 feet 3 inches wide and 7 feet 9 inches tall. The facility’s staff referred to them as “calming areas.” Investigators said they learned of at least one instance where the cage may have been used to discipline a detainee. Investigators described the use of cages as “a practice unlike any” they had observed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. (Foster-Frau, 9/14)
The Marshall Project: Trans Immigrants Cite Abuse, Sexual Assault In ICE Detention
As a transgender woman, Channel Ferro Badell has spent her life fleeing discrimination, trafficking and abuse — first in Uruguay, where she was born, then in Argentina, where she is a citizen. But few experiences compare to what she suffered during her time in ICE custody, she told me. “In six months I was taken to six facilities,” she wrote in Spanish in messages to The Marshall Project. “In every one, the situation is the same: Violence is tolerated within ICE.” (Schwartzapfel, 9/12)
AP: Democratic-Led States Sue Over Trump's 'Public Charge' Rule For Immigrants
Democratic-led states and cities filed lawsuits Monday challenging a federal rule set to begin Friday that they say gives President Donald Trump’s administration broad discretion to deny green cards to immigrants who rely on public assistance for food, healthcare, housing and other basic needs. (Marcelo, 9/14)
MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The Guardian: Trump Administration Changes How It Counts Measles Deaths Amid Pennsylvania Outbreak
The Trump administration has changed the way it counts measles deaths amid an outbreak in Pennsylvania, which on Sunday saw the third apparent measles-related death in the state reported by a local coroner. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now using data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is a way to track mortality trends over time, according to a note published to the agency’s website on Sept. 4. It’s a “puzzling” move, said Debra Houry, a former CDC chief medical officer. “The change doesn’t make any sense,” she added. (Schreiber, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Medicaid Work Requirement Guidance Adds Medical Frailty Rules
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services has provided the greatest detail to date about how states can determine who is exempt from Medicaid work requirements for “medical frailty.” The guidance, issued in the form of a slide presentation last Tuesday, offers a blueprint for states as they hustle to figure out how to implement the “medical frailty” exemption, which has been a sticking point. Yet it leaves many questions for states, providers and insurers to sort out. (Early, 9/14)
HR Dive: Hemorrhoid Pain Can Be A Disability, EEOC Argues To Court
At the heart of the dispute is the interpretation of “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which defines a person with a disability as someone who “has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” According to court documents, the worker in Butler v. FedEx Supply Chain Inc. had a hemorrhoids condition that, when he experienced a flareup, caused pain and bleeding during bowel movements, as well as pain when sitting, walking and standing. The pain “was far from trivial,” EEOC noted, requiring him to use a special pillow to sit and sometimes even be on bed rest. (9/11)
Military.com: VA Awards Record $1.1B In Grants To 680 Organizations To Fight Veteran Homelessness
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Monday announced a record-high $1.17 billion in grants to continue to fight veteran homelessness. Grants were awarded to 680 organizations across the nation to help veterans who are either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The grants will be distributed in Fiscal Year 2027 and come after the agency touted housing 51,936 homeless veterans in FY25—a seven-year high. (Mordowanec, 9/14)
The Hill: RFK Jr. To Address Anti-Vaccine Group At D.C. Conference
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to give a keynote address this week at a conference for Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy organization he co-founded and led prior to becoming head of the nation’s health agency. For the past year Kennedy has worked to distance himself from the efforts of Children’s Health Defense, a group that questions the safety and efficacy of childhood vaccines and is a leading force of the anti-vaccination movement. (Weixel, 9/14)
The Guardian: US ‘Super-Emitters’ Of Planet Heating Methane Identified By Satellite Analysis
Down a short gravel track in a largely nondescript corner of Louisiana sits a gas processing facility, operated by a company whose chief executive is a major donor to Donald Trump. It may be the largest emitter of methane in the US. The Energy Transfer site, located near the city of Shreveport, is named as the biggest single “super emitter” in new rankings of US oil and gas operations for the largest releases of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is rapidly overheating our planet, according to a new UCLA study, which is based on satellite data. (Milman, 9/14)
ON CAPITOL HILL
AUTISM
CIDRAP: Study: Autism Shaves An Average Of 14 Years From Life Expectancy, With Flu The Leading Contributor
Life expectancy for people diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 14 years less than for people without the condition, with influenza- and pneumonia-related death contributing to the gap, researchers from Columbia University and University of Colorado Anschutz report in JAMA Network Open. For the study, published last week, the study team analyzed enhanced Medicaid data and linked National Death Index data for all US Medicaid beneficiaries from 2000 to 2020. (Van Beusekom, 9/14)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
MPR News: Alina Doctors Strike, Rally For Contract In Minnesota
About 150 doctors at Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and its Unity campus in Fridley began a four-day strike Monday after three years of failed contract negotiations. Dozens of doctors and nurses rallied outside Mercy Hospital in a demonstration held by Doctors Council-SEIU, the union that represents the physicians. (Zurek, 9/14)
Cardinal News: New Health Workforce Data Shows Over 5,000 Job Ads For Registered Nurses In Southwest And Southside Virginia
Employers across Southwest and Southside Virginia are seeking to hire more than 5,000 registered nurses and thousands of other healthcare professionals, according to a new report. (Schabacker, 9/15)
Modern Healthcare: GoHealth To Lay Off Nearly All Its Chicago HQ Staff
GoHealth is winding down its Chicago headquarters just months after attempting a reorganization in bankruptcy court. The online health insurance exchange operator says in a filing with the state of Illinois it will lay off 103 of 111 employees at the Merchandise Mart, ranging from the C-suite to the call center. (Pletz, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare: GE HealthCare In $1B Talks To Buy Sofie Biosciences: Report
GE HealthCare may be talking with cancer scan chemicals company Sofie Biosciences for a billion-dollar acquisition, the Financial Times reports. GEHC, the Chicago-based medical imaging giant, could take over the private equity-backed Sofie, which produces radioactive chemicals used in PET scans for cancer. The deal could tie into GEHC’s theranostics specialty, a burgeoning nuclear medicine strategy for the company. (Asplund, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare: Sutter, Banner, Tenet Expand Higher-Acuity Outpatient Care
Health systems are spending big on talent, technology and infrastructure to move increasingly complex procedures outside the hospital and into lower-cost outpatient facilities. Payers offering value-based care arrangements and higher reimbursements for outpatient care, plus a need for greater inpatient capacity for the sickest patients, are compelling system leaders to rethink where higher-acuity care is delivered. The transition to outpatient facilities for specialties such as orthopedics, cardiology and oncology requires steep investments upfront that systems hope will pay off in long-term cost savings and stronger margins. (Hudson, 9/14)
Carolina Public Press: Needed Hospital Beds Across NC Delayed By Industry Appeals
In 2022, North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services approved new hospital beds to be built in Western North Carolina for the first time in more than a decade. According to the formula the state uses annually to determine which areas require expanded medical services, Buncombe and its neighboring counties were due for 67 more acute care beds. (Thomae, 9/15)
Bloomberg: About Half Of Health Insurance Denials Get Reversed, Analysis Finds
Few patients appeal when insurers decline to pay for their care. Many don’t even know they can. But new data show that when they do, they frequently win — in some plans, nine out of 10 times. That dynamic means many Americans can’t get the care their doctors have prescribed without first wading through a bureaucratic process known as prior authorization. Insurers use the practice to decide whether they’ll cover a procedure or drug, and to help avert what they deem unnecessary care. But the high rate at which some companies overturn their own decisions raises questions about why they’re denying so many doctors’ orders in the first place. (Tozzi, Meghjani and Swetlitz, 9/14)
Roll Call: Surprise Billing Dispute Process In ‘Crisis,’ Groups Say
A coalition of 67 health care industry and advocacy groups is urging Congress to revisit a surprise medical billing law to address an unforeseen problem from its enactment: the ballooning costs of settling disputes when services are performed out of network. (Cohen, 9/14)
PHARMACEUTICALS
AP: Abbott Agrees To Settlement Over Closure Of Largest Baby Formula Plant In The US
Abbott Laboratories will pay $385 million to resolve claims tied to an investigation of contamination at a baby formula factory in Sturgis, Michigan, the largest in the country, which led to the supply shortages in 2022. Problems at the facility prompted a lawsuit by the Justice Department and recall of powdered infant formula at the facility. The recall covered several infant formula brands, including Similac, and squeezed inventory that had already been strained by supply chain disruptions and stockpiling during COVID-19 shutdowns. (Chapman, 9/14)
MedPage Today: Photodynamic Therapy For The Most Common Skin Cancer Wins Approval
The FDA approved aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride 10% (Ameluz) in combination with photodynamic therapy for treating adults with superficial basal cell carcinoma, maker Biofrontera announced on Monday. The approval represents a non-surgical option for the most common type of skin cancer. The photosensitizing gel must be applied by a healthcare provider and is meant to be used with the company's BF-RhodoLED lamp. The same topical gel/red-light device combination was previously approved for actinic keratoses of the face and scalp in adults. (Ingram, 9/14)
Pew Research Center: About 8 In 10 Americans Take Supplements For Health
About eight-in-ten U.S. adults say they are currently taking at least one supplement for their health, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. And most people who do this say supplements are at least somewhat important to their health. Vitamins and minerals (such as iron, calcium or multivitamins) are by far the most common supplement. Two-thirds of Americans say they are currently taking vitamin or mineral supplements for their health. (Kikuchi and Kennedy, 9/10)
STATE WATCH
The CT Mirror: CT Insurance Department Approves Rate Hikes For 2027 Health Plans
Connecticut insurance officials have signed off on an average rate hike of 11.3% for 2027 state-regulated, individual health plans. They also approved an average increase of 15.1% for small group policies. (Carlesso, 9/14)
WUSF: Florida Gets $8 Million Federal Grant To Strengthen 988 Suicide And Crisis Services
Florida is among the states receiving new federal funding to strengthen behavioral health services, including more than $8 million for the state's 988 suicide and crisis helplines. (Mayer, 9/15)
Florida Phoenix: Still No Answers From DeSantis Administration On KidCare Disenrollments, Challenges
The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis is still not giving firm answers on when — or whether — it intends to expand a safety-net healthcare program for low-income children that the Florida Legislature has approved. (Sexton, 9/14)
Chicago Tribune: Judge Blocks Illinois Aid-In-Dying Law For Catholic Providers
A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of Illinois’ new medical aid-in-dying law against Catholic healthcare providers, siding with a lawsuit from Cardinal Blase Cupich a day after a different judge refused to block the law entirely in a separate case. (Gorner, 9/14)
MPR News: Minnesota To End Use Of Hotel Rooms To House People Experiencing Mental Health Crises
Starting this week, Minnesota will no longer allow the use of hotel rooms to provide what’s called “crisis respite.” It’s a Medicaid-funded program aimed at providing care and supervision to people experiencing mental health crises. (Moini and Elder, 9/14)
CalMatters: California Bill Could Switch Your Biologic Drug To Save Money
Close to 25,000 Californians could see a change in their medication starting as soon as next year if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs legislation now sitting on his desk. (Ibarra, 9/14)
The New York Times: A Teen Autopsy Marks The Arrival Of A Deadly Drug In San Francisco
It was a stressful Tuesday morning in San Francisco, and Christina Lacourte went to her son’s bedroom to roust him for school. The door was locked, so she had to wrangle it open with a coat hanger. Inside, she saw her son in his bed, under the neon storefront “Open” sign he had wanted for his birthday in sixth grade. His face was turning blue, and his veins were visible. Black fluid oozed out of his nose and mouth and pooled on his sheets. She raced to retrieve the two doses of Narcan she kept in her kitchen drawer for exactly this moment, the one she had long feared, but they did not revive him. (Knight, 9/14)
CalMatters: What To Know About Self-Harm As Emergency Room Visits Increase
It had been four days since Jae Janea had spoken to anyone. The loneliness was setting in. Dark thoughts were becoming overwhelming. So on a summer evening last year she walked into a dollar store and bought a pack of razor blades. (Durham, 9/14)
Phys.org: Healthy Checkout Policy Shows Promise For Reducing Soda Sales And Increasing Healthy Snack Purchases
In March 2021, Berkeley, Calif., became the first city in the world to ban the display of sugary beverages and snacks in store checkout lanes, where candy, chocolate and soda are commonly placed to encourage impulse buying while shoppers are in line. A new study led by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) examined the effects of this healthy checkout ordinance (HCO) on shoppers' purchasing decisions and found that the policy was linked to a decrease in soda sales and small-package candy sales in supermarkets, but not total candy sales. (9/11)
The Wall Street Journal: One State's Battle To Stop People From Taking Unapproved Weight-Loss Drugs
Tiffinne Perkins, a nurse practitioner who ran an Ohio-based weight-loss clinic called Enbody, appeared on the local news and lifestyle morning show “New Day Cleveland.” “How many people got skinny thanks to you lately?” asked the host, in a segment sponsored by Enbody. (Janin, 9/14)
GLOBAL WATCH
The Guardian: Ebola Outbreak In DRC Has Peaked, Say Authorities, As Infection Rates Slow
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced that the Ebola outbreak ravaging parts of the country has reached its peak. For the first time since the epidemic was declared in May, the numbers of people becoming infected is slowing down, according to officials. (Ngorora, 9/15)
AP: Chile Becomes First South American Country To Eliminate Dog-Transmitted Rabies
Chile has become the first country in South America to eliminate dog-transmitted rabies to humans, following more than five decades of public health “prevention and surveillance,” the World Health Organization said Monday. The WHO said the last reported case of dog-to-human rabies occurred in 1972. “This validation reflects decades of commitment to protecting communities from rabies and demonstrates the impact of sustained investment in public health,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. (Batschke, 9/14)
CIDRAP: High-Flying Superbugs: Bouncy Castles Tied To MRSA Skin Infections
Any parent of a young child has likely spent time supervising ricocheting kids in an inflatable bouncy castle. But an outbreak report last week in Eurosurveillance might give them some second thoughts. (Dall, 9/14)
