First Edition: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Red And Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI In Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit The States
It’s the rare policy question that unites Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Democratic-led Maryland government against President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California: How should health insurers use AI? Regulating artificial intelligence, especially its use by health insurers, is becoming a politically divisive topic, and it’s scrambling traditional partisan lines. (Tahir and Sausser, 2/18)

KFF Health News: Wyoming Wants To Make Its Five-Year Federal Rural Health Funding Last ‘Forever’
Wyoming officials say they have a plan to make five years of upcoming grants from a new $50 billion federal rural health program last “forever.” The state could tackle rural health issues long into the future by investing its awards from the Rural Health Transformation Program, the director of Wyoming’s health department, Stefan Johansson, told state lawmakers. But it’s unclear whether the maneuver will pass muster with the federal government. (Zionts, 2/18)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Jackie Fortiér reads the week’s news: Moves by the Trump administration have slowed cancer research, and more of America’s doctors are working into their golden years. (Cook, 2/17)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Bloomberg: CMS Head Oz Vows Continued Vaccine Coverage, Urges Measles Shots
Mehmet Oz, head of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pledged continued insurance coverage for all recommended vaccinations in the country and urged people to get the measles shot as infections skyrocket. His comments come as the Trump administration remakes the nation’s approach to immunizations by promoting personal choice and backing away from once-universal endorsements of shots that have controlled deadly disease outbreaks. Changes to the vaccine schedule have added to mounting confusion over which vaccines will be covered by government programs that often pay for childhood shots. (Nix and Muller, 2/17)

Stat: PhRMA Forum Shows Industry Divide Between Dr. Oz, Marty Makary
Two of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top lieutenants struck decidedly different tones at a forum held Tuesday by the pharmaceutical industry group PhRMA. (Lawrence and Payne, 2/17)

Politico: Judges Decry Treatment Of Nursing And Pregnant Detainees In ICE Custody 
A Myanmar refugee, with a nursing five-month-old at home, whisked abruptly to Texas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A Massachusetts woman in her third trimester, held under ICE’s guard at a hospital after experiencing medical distress in ICE detention. An Indian national who is three months pregnant and whose weight dropped to 90 pounds while in an ICE facility. Federal judges are sounding alarms about the Trump administration’s treatment of pregnant and nursing detainees in ICE custody — and the administration has given the courts conflicting, unclear answers about whether it is following its own policies that sharply restrict those detentions. (Cheney, 2/18)

ProPublica: RFK Jr.’s FDA No Longer Warns Against Ineffective, Potentially Dangerous Autism Treatments
The warning on the government website was stark. Some products and remedies claiming to treat or cure autism are being marketed deceptively and can be harmful. Among them: chelating agents, hyperbaric oxygen therapies, chlorine dioxide and raw camel milk. Now that advisory is gone. (O’Matz, 2/18)

The Hill: Trump Administration To Improve Food Quality Of Military Meals
The Trump administration is reportedly launching a new push to improve the quality of food at U.S. military bases after a study found that meals contained poor nutrients and harmful contaminants. The study, commissioned by Moms Across America in partnership with the Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter and Centner Academy, detected pesticides in 100 percent of sampled military meals, including Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), rations and other cafeteria items. (Brams, 2/17)

The New York Times: Documenting A ‘Drastically Changing’ Scientific Landscape
Since the Trump administration unfurled some of the deepest cuts to U.S. science funding in decades, thousands of jobs have been terminated or frozen at federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed budgets for this year include major cuts to organizations like NASA and the National Science Foundation. These cuts, some of them seemingly indiscriminate, have led to chaos and demoralization across the scientific community. (Otis, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: How The Rural Health Transformation Program Could Boost PACE
The $50 billion Rural Healthcare Transformation program could be a boon to a Medicare-Medicaid program designed to keep older adults out of nursing homes, if regulations and low reimbursement rates don’t get in the way. Three states — Connecticut, West Virginia and Montana — plan to tap some of the federal funds they are receiving to launch Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. Another six states that already operate PACE — Rhode Island, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana — plan to use some of their funds to expand those efforts. (Eastabrook, 2/17)

ON CAPITOL HILL

The Hill: Top Republican Eyeing FDA Overhaul
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Tuesday unveiled his proposal for modernizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling on the agency to reform some of its practices and embrace innovations in order to get more products approved for patients. In the report titled “Patients and families: Building the FDA of the future,” Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, lamented that “unnecessary bottlenecks slow patients and consumers getting the products they need.” (Choi, 2/17)

Politico: Why Congress Failed To Reach An Obamacare Deal
Brian Fitzpatrick didn’t expect to find himself in the middle of a political brawl over health policy. The Pennsylvania Republican and former FBI agent doesn’t count the legislative area as a pillar of his portfolio. But early last fall, he joined a fledgling group of lawmakers incensed that House GOP leaders were doing nothing to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies before they expired. The lack of action, they knew, would send health insurance premiums soaring come January 1. (King and Levien, 2/17)

PHARMACEUTICALS

AP: Bayer Strikes $7.25 Billion Deal To Settle Roundup Cancer Lawsuits
Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer. The proposed settlement comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments in April on Bayer’s assertion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should invalidate claims filed in state courts. That case would not be affected by the proposed settlement. (Lieb, 2/17)

CBS News: Nationwide Shortage Of Estrogen Patches Has Forced South Jersey Women To Find Alternatives
A nationwide shortage of estrogen patches used for hormone replacement therapy has prompted many women to look for alternatives for treating symptoms of menopause. Prescriptions for HRT have increased 86%, according to one survey. But finding the popular estrogen patches is tricky now. Holly Sleppy, a 52-year-old who works at Virtua, shared her frustrations, which many menopausal women are feeling because of a shortage of the estrogen patches used to treat symptoms like hot flashes, irritability and brain fog. (Stahl, 2/17)

Bloomberg: Vitamin K Shot Safety: More Parents Skip Injection That's Not Vaccine
The 2-month-old baby arrived at the hospital with the type of bleeding in and around his brain that was so unusual Miami neurosurgeon Heather McCrea had only read about it in textbooks. The pooling blood indicated that the baby had a severe vitamin K deficiency — something usually prevented by a shot at birth. But his parents, like a growing number of Americans skeptical of injections, had declined to get the shot for their baby. (Nix, 2/17)

CIDRAP: FDA Issues New Guidance On Antibiotic Use In Food-Producing Animals
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released new guidance for veterinary drug makers to define how long medically important antibiotics should be used in livestock. (Dall, 2/17)

Stat: Compass Says Psilocybin Drug For Severe Depression Succeeds In Trials 
Compass Pathways on Tuesday disclosed results from two Phase 3 studies that support a potential approval of its psilocybin treatment for severe depression, but more detailed data are needed to determine how beneficial the drug would be for patients. (Chen, 2/17)

Bloomberg: Sanofi Experimental Drug Helps Patients With Bowel Disease
Sanofi said an experimental medicine it’s developing with Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. helped patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The benefits after treatment with the drug, duvakitug, were maintained over 44 weeks, Sanofi said in a statement. The 130 patients enrolled in the intermediate trial had ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. Any positive news is key to Sanofi, which needs new medicines to replace its top-seller Dupixent as it ages. (Fourcade and Furlong, 2/17)

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Newsweek: Study Of 27.8M Americans May Have Revealed Direct Alzheimer’s Cause
Scientists have just found a direct link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease—suggesting that improving air quality could be an important way to prevent dementia and protect older adults. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which affects about 57 million people worldwide, and there is currently no cure for it, making prevention is crucial. (Azzurra Volpe, 2/17)

MedPage Today: Alzheimer's Sex Gap: Similar Biomarkers, But Faster Decline For Women
Women had worse outcomes than men at similar levels of Alzheimer's disease pathology, data from a multi-cohort analysis suggested. (George, 2/17)

SOCIAL MEDIA AND MENTAL HEALTH

AP: Mark Zuckerberg Set To Testify In Watershed Social Media Trial
Mark Zuckerberg will testify in an unprecedented social media trial that questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm children. Meta’s CEO is expected to answer tough questions on Wednesday from attorneys representing a now 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, who claims her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled. (Huamani and Ortutay, 2/18)

The Baltimore Sun: Excessive Social Media Use Contributes To Loneliness
More than half of college students say they are lonely, but those who spend 16 to 20 hours a week on social media are most likely to feel isolated, research shows. (Hille, 2/18)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Bloomberg: Danaher To Buy Medical Tech Firm Masimo For $9.9 Billion
Danaher Corp. agreed to buy Masimo Corp., in a deal with an enterprise value of about $9.9 billion, allowing it to gain a foothold in the medical supply business. Danaher will pay $180 per share in cash for Masimo, close to a 40% premium over the closing share price on Friday, according to a statement Tuesday. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of the year. (Biggs and Thornton, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: Prime Healthcare Foundation Acquires Central Maine Healthcare
The Prime Healthcare Foundation has acquired Central Maine Healthcare. The deal, first announced in January 2025, adds three hospitals, two senior living facilities, a cancer center and more than 40 physician practices to the nonprofit organization’s footprint. Under the terms of the transaction, the Prime Healthcare Foundation will invest $150 million over the next five years toward updating the facilities. Further financial details were not disclosed. (DeSilva, 2/17)

WUSF: Moffitt Announces Plans To Build An Outpatient Cancer Center In Lakeland 
Moffitt Cancer Center announced Tuesday plans to build an outpatient treatment center in Lakeland, adding a eastern expansion to its growing Tampa Bay area footprint. (Mayer, 2/17)

CBS News: After Surviving A Near-Fatal Heart Condition, Former Patient Returns To Children's Health As A Nurse
Erin Hunter-McPhan is serving in the same hospital where she survived as a child. The 36-year-old has Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition that almost took her life. "I feel very blessed to be able to be here today and to live what normal life I can," Hunter-McPhan said. (Hurst, 2/17)

The 19th: New Student Loan Limits On Nursing Degrees Could Widen Racial Gaps
Shawnie Allen traces her choice to study public health to a moment inside a hospital room in 2023. At 20 years old, she was a junior at Nova Southeastern University when she found out she was six weeks pregnant. Abortion was still legal until 15 weeks of pregnancy, and Allen asked her presiding nurse about options for termination. The nurse’s expression, Allen noted, shifted. (Nutall, 2/17)

Stat: As Health Insurers Embrace AI, Providers Say It Undermines Trust 
Facing shrinking profit margins and higher medical costs, the nation’s largest health insurers are accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence throughout their sprawling operations, promising a wave of automation designed to cut expenses and boost productivity. (Ross, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Use Technology To Address Social Determinants Of Health
Technology is helping break down the barriers thwarting health systems’ progress in addressing social determinants of health. Providers are adopting software platforms, data dashboards and artificial intelligence tools to identify gaps in transportation, housing and access to healthy food. The investment in technology could help blunt the impact of reduced federal funding and future Medicaid spending cuts that will further strain the social safety net. (Perna, 2/17)

Stat: AI-Powered Cancer Tools To Guide Treatment Are Emerging 
Through a microscope, pathologists can see a great deal about a tumor. They can diagnose the disease, and get a sense for how aggressive it may be. But human eyes are limited in ways that computer vision is not, and companies like Valar Labs in Palo Alto, Calif., are developing machine learning algorithms that can extract insights that only artificial intelligence can really see. (Chen, 2/18)

STATE WATCH

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Has Erased More Than $1.1 Billion In Medical Debt
Illinois residents have seen more than $1.1 billion in medical debt erased, with the help of a state program that launched less than a year-and-a-half ago. (Schencker, 2/17)

CBS News: New Bill Seeks To Ban Sale Of Medical Debt, Prohibit Impact To Credit Scores In Massachusetts
When a single mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined how quickly the debt collectors would start calling. A new bill being introduced in Massachusetts is seeking to stop the sale of medical debt and prohibit it from impacting people's credit reports. "You're just thinking about doing what you need to do in order to get better," Nekia Clark said. "And you just assume that your insurance covers everything." (Cole, 2/17)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Republicans Advance Bill To Ban Abortion When There’s A Heartbeat 
Wyoming House Republicans have advanced two bills related to abortion. The first would ban abortions when there is a “detectable fetal heartbeat,” while the second would set specific informed consent requirements when terminating pregnancies. (Merzbach, 2/17)

Wyoming Public Radio: After Deaths, Wyoming Lawmakers Consider Banning Kratom 
Wyoming state senators are backing a bill that would ban a substance called kratom. Meanwhile, a similar effort in the House failed. Kratom is often marketed as an herbal supplement for lifting mood and boosting energy. It’s derived from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia and contains two major psychoactive ingredients that bind to the same receptors in the brain as opioid drugs. (Ouellet, 2/17)

Honolulu Civil Beat: Hawaii Corrections Officials Seeking Millions In Funding To Improve Mental Health Services In Prison
Confirmed or suspected suicides accounted for more than half of all deaths in the state’s largest prison in the past two years, and amounted to one-third of all deaths in the statewide Hawaiʻi correctional system during 2024 and 2025, according to data compiled by Honolulu Civil Beat. That data detailing the death toll from suicides in Hawaiʻi prisons and jails was drawn from autopsies and other public documents, and shows prisoners in the state system continue to have an abnormally high fatality rate from suicide. (Dayton, 2/17)

The CT Mirror: To Recruit First Responders, CT Weighs Tuition, Mortgage Assistance
Connecticut is having trouble recruiting first responders. Police and fire chiefs on Tuesday said a proposal by Gov. Ned Lamont to waive public college tuition and offer mortgage assistance for police and firefighters was a good “first step” to attract new recruits. (Otte, 2/17)

News Service of Florida: First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Food Testing Program Snubbed In Florida Budget Plans 
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis’ food testing program could fall flat as quickly as it began. The House and Senate released their budget proposals last week, and neither chamber has the total funding requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Healthy Florida First initiative within the Florida Department of Health. (Goni-Lessan, 2/18)

Bridge Michigan: Michigan Wants Schools Ready For Cardiac Emergencies, Fails To Provide Funds
Emily Orta was a seemingly healthy 14-year-old soccer player in Adrian when her life changed in seconds. In the middle of a shooting drill, her heart stopped. She wasn’t breathing. “It was a complete shock,” Orta, now 26, told Bridge Michigan. She’d later discover she was living with a rare heart defect from birth — anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery, or ALCAPA. “We had no idea that there was any issues.” (Newman, 2/17)

The New York Times: Potomac Sewage Spill Becomes Ecological Disaster And Political Fight 
An enormous sewage spill that sent hundreds of millions of gallons of raw human waste into the Potomac River is threatening the health of the river and the safety of those who use it. In what appears to be the largest discharge of its kind in the nation’s history, untreated sewage began gushing into the Potomac on Jan. 19, when a section of a sewer line collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Md., about five miles upstream of Washington. The 72-inch-wide pipe, called the Potomac Interceptor, normally carries up to 60 million gallons of waste a day. (Dance, Joselow and Niiler, 2/17)

CIDRAP: South Carolina’s Measles Total Rises To 962
Today in an update the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) announced 12 more measles cases in an ongoing outbreak, bringing the state total to 962 cases since last October. The outbreak’s epicenter remains Spartanburg County. (Soucheray, 2/17)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Measles Exposure At St. Louis Lambert Airport, Health Officials Warn
Missouri health officials are warning of potential measles exposure after an out-of-state resident with a confirmed measles case reportedly traveled through St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Feb. 7. (Suntrup, 2/17)

PUBLIC HEALTH

CBS News: FDA Investigating Salmonella Outbreak Connected To Moringa Powder
Public health officials are investigating a Salmonella outbreak linked to Rosabella-brand moringa powder, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC, Food and Drug Administration and state public health officials are looking into drug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to some lots of the product. Seven illnesses, three of which resulted in hospitalizations, across seven states could be linked to the Rosabella capsules, according to the FDA, which said it continues to investigate the outbreak. At least one Salmonella case has been reported in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Washington. (Cerullo, 2/17)

CIDRAP: COVID Survivors May Be At Higher Risk For Obstructive Sleep Apnea For Up To 4.5 Years Post-Infection
Patients with both severe and nonsevere COVID-19 infections are at higher risk for both new-onset obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and related serious complications than their uninfected peers, Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers report in a study published this week on the preprint server medRxiv. (Van Beusekom, 2/17)

Bloomberg: Nestlé CEO Under Pressure As Infant Formula Crisis Adds To Woes
For Nestlé SA, the baby-formula crisis that has sparked the largest recall in its history is a scandal it could have done without. The tainted infant-milk mess, triggered by a contaminated ingredient, came as the world’s biggest food company was already struggling to revive its shares from their multi-year lows, adding further pressure on its new Chief Executive Officer Philipp Navratil and his management team to present a turnaround plan when the Swiss giant unveils full-year results on Thursday. (Stamm and Kinzelmann, 2/18)

GLOBAL WATCH

Bloomberg: US Renews Threat To Withdraw From IEA Over Climate Advocacy
The US renewed threats to quit the International Energy Agency unless the organization scales back climate advocacy and focuses on energy security. “We’re definitely not satisfied,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday, ahead of an IEA ministerial meeting opening Wednesday. The agency must complete reforms “for the US to remain a long-term member,” he said. (Clark, 2/18)

The Guardian: Excruciating Tropical Disease Can Now Be Transmitted In Most Of Europe, Study Finds
An excruciatingly painful tropical disease called chikungunya can now be transmitted by mosquitoes across most of Europe, a study has found. Higher temperatures due to the climate crisis mean infections are now possible for more than six months of the year in Spain, Greece and other southern European countries, and for two months a year in south-east England. Continuing global heating means it is only a matter of time before the disease expands further northwards, the scientists said. (Carrington, 2/18)