First Edition: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Democrats Decry Meager Medical Care For Detainees In Funding Fight
Fernando Viera Reyes needed a biopsy for possible prostate cancer when the Trump administration sent him to an immigration detention center in California’s Mojave Desert. There, he waited. Reyes, now 51, made repeated requests for the procedure, according to a lawsuit filed in November against the federal government, but months went by even though there was blood in his urine — a potential sign of cancer that’s spread. (Armour, 2/25)

KFF Health News: Hospitals Fighting Measles Confront A Challenge: Few Doctors Have Seen It Before
t around 2 a.m., 7-year-old twin brothers arrived at Mission Hospital in Asheville. Both had a fever, a cough, a rash, pink eye, and cold symptoms. The boys sat in one waiting room and then another. Two hours and 20 minutes passed before the two were isolated, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services records obtained by KFF Health News. Then two more hours ticked by. (Jones, 2/24)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Arielle Zionts reads the week’s news: Some health systems are using AI tools to help patients get primary care, and the Trump administration’s new data-sharing rules make going to the hospital more dangerous for people without legal status. (Cook, 2/24)

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

Managed Healthcare Executive: In Record-Long State Of The Union, Trump Devotes Less Than Five Minutes To Healthcare
In an hour and 48-minute speech that set the record for length for the State of the Union address, President Donald Trump spent less than five minutes on healthcare issues. At approximately 35 minutes into the speech, Trump launched into attack of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying that it had made insurance companies rich and had benefited the companies, not people. The government, said Trump, had given insurers “hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars a year as their stock prices soared 1,000, 1,200; 1,400 and even 1,700%, like nothing else.” Trump said that is why he proposed his Great Healthcare Plan, which was unveiled in January 2026. “I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care, which will be better health care at a much lower cost.” (2/25)

Stat: Trump Touts Lower Drug Costs And Anti-Fraud Measures In Lengthy State Of The Union 
In the first State of the Union address of his second term, President Donald Trump touted economic wins, including on health care, even as more than half of Americans say health care has become more unaffordable for them and their families. In his speech, Trump claimed he had brought prescription drug costs from the highest in the world to the lowest, thanks to his most-favored nation policy. And he implored congressional Republicans to codify the policy into law, lest his successor hike prescription drug prices.  (Cirruzzo and Wilkerson, 2/24)

The New York Times: Fact-Checking Trump's 2026 State Of The Union Address 
President Trump claimed in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to have ushered in a “turnaround for the ages” by citing a list of familiar falsehoods and inaccurate claims. (2/25)

FEDERAL FUNDING

Bloomberg: US To Halt Zimbabwe Health Aid After $367 Million Deal Talks Collapse
The US is ending its health aid programs in Zimbabwe after Harare withdrew from talks over a bilateral deal with Washington. An agreement would have provided the southern African nation with $367 million over five years for programs including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria and disease outbreak preparedness, according to the US embassy in Zimbabwe. As part of the proposed deal, Zimbabwe was asked to gradually increase its own funding for healthcare, it said. (Naidoo, Marawanyika, and Kew, 2/25)

NPR: China And The U.S. Change Approaches To Foreign Aid
Foreign aid has long been a way for the United States and China to gain soft power and influence — providing public services in low-income countries that help them tackle poverty and disease, and engaging with people to build cooperation over the long run. For decades, the two countries had adopted separate international aid strategies. But the Trump administration has dismantled much of the United States' traditional foreign aid systems and is charting a new path, while China has also been adjusting its approach —stepping up visible contributions to global institutions while scaling back some of the large infrastructure projects that once defined its strategy. (Tanis, 2/24)

VACCINES AND OUTBREAKS

The New York Times: 15 States Sue The Trump Administration Over Vaccine Schedule Revisions
Aiming to reverse recent changes to federal vaccine recommendations, 15 states led by Democrats announced on Tuesday that they were suing the Trump administration. The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of 14 attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania, asks the courts to nullify the administration’s decision in January to reduce the number of diseases children are routinely immunized against to 11 from 17. (Mandavilli, 2/24)

The Hill: 56 Coast Guard Members Who Refused COVID Vaccine Reinstated
A group of former U.S. Coast Guard members who were discharged after refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have been reinstated, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that this group of 56 servicemembers, who were removed under a vaccination requirement imposed by former President Biden in 2021, will receive back pay for the time period they were not allowed to serve. (Davis, 2/24)

NBC News: Recent Studies Challenge Kennedy's Claims About Vaccines, Tylenol And Antidepressants
They’re prominent talking points for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his top officials: Taking Tylenol while pregnant could be linked to autism. Antidepressants may be harmful during pregnancy. Aluminum salts in vaccines might pose a health risk. And Covid shots don’t benefit healthy children. The remarks have sowed confusion over the past year, as scientists warn there isn’t evidence to back them up. Nevertheless, federal health agencies have pursued policies based on the assertions. (Bendix, 2/24)

CIDRAP: South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Slows, As Total Reaches 979
The measles outbreak in South Carolina reached 979 cases today, but its growth seems to be slowing. Only six new cases were reported by the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) in an update today. This is the first time since January the state has reported fewer than 10 new cases in an update. (Soucheray, 2/24)

CBS News: Person With Measles Visited Car Dealership And Wawa In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Health Officials Say
A person with measles visited a car dealership and Wawa in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, multiple times while contagious, the health department said. According to the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Public Health, the infected individual visited a Nissan dealership in Royersford and a Wawa in Limerick from Feb. 16-19, 2026. (Simon, 2/24)

CIDRAP: Birth-Dose Hepatitis B Vaccination Rates Plunged More Than 10 Percentage Points In Past 2 Years, Study Suggests
An analysis involving more than 12.4 million US newborns shows that after six years of growth, receipt of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine birth dose fell more than 10 percentage points in the past two years. Researchers from the University of California San Diego led the study, which was published yesterday in JAMA. (Van Beusekom, 2/24)

CIDRAP: Cervical Cancer Rates Higher In States With Low HPV Vaccination Rates
Cervical cancer rates in young women have dropped dramatically in the United States since a vaccine for human pappilomavirus (HPV) became available. States with high vaccination rates have seen the biggest drop in cervical cancer, while states with low vaccination rates have had little to no progress, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society (ACS). HPV causes 90% of cervical cancers. (Szabo, 2/24)

MEDICARE

CBS News: Russian-Run Texas Medical Supplier At Center Of Massive Medicare Billing Scheme, Feds Say
A small Austin medical supply business that appeared to be little more than a mailroom is at the center of an alleged Medicare billing scheme that prosecutors say moved quickly and funneled millions of dollars overseas, according to a newly filed federal criminal complaint. Nika Machutadze, a Russian citizen living in Texas, is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Investigators say two medical equipment companies tied to him — including Centurion Superior Medical in North Austin — billed Medicare and other health programs for urinary catheters that patients did not need or receive. (New, 2/24)

Stat: Pharma Strategy To Thwart Medicare Price Cut Plans Comes Into View 
The pharmaceutical and biotech industries are pushing back against two Trump administration proposals that would test plans to lower drug prices in Medicare by aligning them with the prices paid in other rich countries. (Wilkerson, 2/24)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: WashU To Absorb St. Louis College Of Pharmacy
University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis will wind down operations in spring 2027, with Washington University set to acquire its campus and absorb one of its four colleges. (Obradovic, 2/24)

NBC News: Patients Hit Dead Ends With Insurance 'Ghost Networks.' Now, Some Are Suing
It’s a familiar frustration for those trying to find a doctor or therapist: You browse the provider directory on your insurance company’s portal and, at first, it seems like there are plenty of options. But it turns out that some providers are not accepting new patients, and others only work in hospital settings. Still others are out of network or don’t return calls. And some phone numbers and addresses are simply wrong. The situation is so common that there’s a term for it: a ghost network. (Bendix, Herzberg and Snow, 2/25)

MedPage Today: More Residency Slots Needed In Rural Areas, Lawmakers And Health Experts Say
Putting more residency training slots in rural areas is key to increasing access to healthcare among rural and underserved communities, several lawmakers and witnesses said Tuesday at a House hearing on advancing the next generation of the healthcare workforce. "Rural hospitals must overcome a lack of resources, staff, and patient volume to establish new residency programs while simultaneously getting reimbursed less than their urban counterparts," Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), who chaired the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing in the subcommittee chair's absence, said in his opening statement. (Frieden, 2/24)

KHOL/Jackson Hole Community Radio: An Infusion Clinic Closed. Cancer Patients Now Drive A Longer Road 
Brad Boner sits in a reclining chair in St. John’s Health oncology clinic. Small partitions separate five adjacent bays where patients – some talk on the phone or type on laptops, trying to work – receive intravenous infusions. (Boyd-Fliegel, 2/24)

PHARMA AND TECH

CNN: Novo Nordisk To Slash Ozempic And Wegovy List Prices By Up To 50% For 2027 
Battling to regain its market share over rival Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday that it will reduce the list prices of its popular weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus by up to half starting in 2027. (Luhby, 2/24)

MedPage Today: FDA Approves A Balloon That Patients Swallow To Lose Weight
The FDA granted premarket approval to a gastric balloon system for short-term weight loss alongside lifestyle intervention, developer Allurion announced on Monday. The drug-free system is indicated for adults 22 to 65 years with obesity who had an unsuccessful attempt at weight loss with a prior program. By taking up room in the stomach, the device helps patients feel fuller and eat less. (Monaco, 2/24)

Bloomberg: MiniMed Seeks $784 Million In US IPO After Medtronic Separation
MiniMed Group Inc., a diabetes management firm that will be separated from health-care giant Medtronic Plc, is seeking to raise as much as $784 million in an initial public offering. The Northridge, California-based firm plans to market 28 million shares for $25 to $28 each, according to its filing Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The IPO is expected to price March 5, an investor presentation shows. (Pernell, 2/24)

The Baltimore Sun: New Ingestible Robot Could Diagnose Disease
What if you could swallow a tiny robot that could diagnose, monitor and treat health issues in your gut without scheduling an uncomfortable or time-consuming outpatient procedure? Researchers at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering are developing a smart capsule to revolutionize how doctors practice medicine in the intestinal tract. (Hille, 2/24)

STATE WATCH

Honolulu Civil Beat: HMSA Proposal: Hawaii Health Care Could See Radical Transformation
In mid-January lawmakers from the Hawaiʻi House and Senate committees on consumer protection called in executives from HMSA and Hawaiʻi Pacific Health to explain their proposal to create a new system designed to address Hawaiʻi’s health care crisis. Despite lengthy talk about “risk-sharing,” “value-based care” and “bending the cost curve,” the presentation by Hawaiʻi Pacific Health’s chief executive, Ray Vara, and his HMSA counterpart, Dr. Mark Mugiishi, left some lawmakers with more questions than answers. (Yerton, 2/24)

Becker's Hospital Review: Alabama Bill Would Restrict Insurers’ Use Of AI In Prior Authorization Decisions
The Alabama Senate has passed legislation that would impose new requirements on insurers that use AI to make prior authorization decisions, including a mandate that any decision to deny a request must be made by a physician or other qualified provider. The bill passed in the Senate on Feb. 19 and has been referred to the House Insurance Committee. If enacted, it would take effect Oct. 1. (Emerson, 2/24)

The CT Mirror: Lawmakers Revive Effort To Reform Long Term Care Insurance
The legislature’s Aging Committee has introduced a bill that aims to offer some relief to long-term care insurance policyholders who have been squeezed by large premium increases. (Carlesso, 2/24)

The Hill: Tennessee Lawmakers Float Abortion Amendment That Would Charge Mothers With Homicide
Two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are floating an amendment to an abortion bill that would bring homicide charges against expecting mothers who choose to terminate their pregnancies. ... Text of the amendment provided by Barrett to WSMV4 says, “all preborn children should be protected with the same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons by repealing provisions that permit prenatal homicide and assault.” (Fields, 2/24)

CBS News: Grooming Legislation Gets First Hearing In Minnesota Following WCCO Investigation
A bill designed to stop grooming in Minnesota schools is moving forward after its first hearing on Tuesday. It follows a WCCO investigative series where a young woman shared what she says happened to her in high school. The House Education Policy Committee heard testimony on the bill. "My name is Hannah LoPresto. I'm a victim survivor of grooming and sexual assault by my high school band teacher," LoPresto said. LoPresto told lawmakers what she says happened to her propelled her to act. (Mayerle, 2/24)

AP: Deaths At Colorado Dairy Lead To Federal Fines
Federal workplace safety regulators penalized three businesses Tuesday over their failure to protect six Colorado dairy workers who were killed by exposure to highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas after a manure pipe disconnected in an enclosed space. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced proposed fines totaling $246,609 against the dairy owner and two contractors working on a manure management system. The deaths of five men and a teenager on Aug. 20, 2025, shocked the rural communities in and around Keenesburg, 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Denver. (Lee, 2/25)

Grist: A Hotter, Wetter South Becomes A Breeding Ground For Mold 
Regina is haunted by the specter of mold. She found the insidious spores in the closet, behind the refrigerator, and around the bathtub for two years after the dishwasher flooded her apartment in Asheville, North Carolina. The infestation only got worse after Hurricane Helene. (Myers and Hackett, 2/25)

CALIFORNIA

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Lawmaker Pushes Ban On Nitrous Oxide Sales
A San Francisco lawmaker is pushing a city-wide ban on retail sales of nitrous oxide — an inhalable gas, also known as laughing gas or whippets — that has addicted teens and young adults across the nation with sometimes devastating consequences. On Tuesday, Supervisor Danny Sauter asked the City Attorney to draft legislation that would ban retail sales of the gas, which “has been exploding in popularity in San Francisco and across the U.S.,” Sauter said at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. (Park and McFadden, 2/24)

AP: California Program Sends Birthday Cards To Babies Treated For Botulism 
The California program that provides the world’s only medical treatment for potentially deadly infant botulism also offers traumatized families hope of a different sort – silly cards on their babies’ first birthdays. Every year, staff at the state’s Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program decorate and mail roughly 200 cards to celebrate the recovery of children affected by the rare and dangerous condition. In recent months, that group has included dozens of U.S. babies affected by an outbreak of botulism tied to contaminated ByHeart infant formula. (Aleccia, 2/24)

Los Angeles Times: Soon After Giving Narcan To Suspect, CHP Officer Died From Ingesting Fentanyl
Shortly after administering Narcan to a DUI suspect experiencing a possible overdose, CHP Officer Miguel Cano started to feel unwell, swerved his patrol car into a tree and was killed. His sudden death left many questions unanswered. On Monday, one piece of the puzzle was revealed — his cause of death was ruled an accident due to the effects of fentanyl, according to the L.A. County medical examiner. (Harter, 2/24)

Los Angeles Times: Autism Training For Law Enforcement Aims To Prevent Tragic Outcomes
Kate Movius moved among a roomful of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, passing out a pop trivia quiz and paper prism glasses. She told them to put on the vision-distorting glasses, and to write with their nondominant hand. As they filled out the tests, Movius moved about the City of Industry classroom pounding abruptly on tables. Then came the cowbell. An aide flashed the overhead lights on and off at random. The goal was to help the deputies understand the feeling of sensory overwhelm, which many autistic people experience when incoming stimulation exceeds their capacity to process. (Purtill, 2/24)

CBS News: Rain Forces Delays As Cleanup Continues After Yuba County Pipeline Failure
Nearly two weeks after a major pipeline failure at the Colgate Powerhouse in Northern California's Yuba County, the weather has been making things even more difficult for crews who are trying to get a handle on the situation. There has also been major concern surrounding the health of the Yuba River following the incident. Yuba Water Agency suspended operations on Tuesday due to safety concerns with incoming rain. (Moeller, 2/24)

The Washington Post: Nick Reiner Pleads Not Guilty In Stabbing Deaths Of His Parents
Nick Reiner, his head shaved and wearing brown clothes, pleaded not guilty Monday to two first-degree murder charges in the December stabbing deaths of his parents, 78-year-old filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, 70. ... Reiner has spoken on a podcast about his struggles with drug addiction and his trips to Los Angeles’s Skid Row to procure heroin. Over the course of a decade, he spent time at at least 18 rehab facilities paid for by his parents, and he lived in a guesthouse on their $13.5 million property in Brentwood. The Los Angeles Times reported in late December that Reiner was prescribed schizophrenia medicine before the deaths of his parents. (Reston, 2/23)

PUBLIC HEALTH

ABC News: US Child, Teen Obesity Rates Reach Record High While Adult Trends Appear To Slow, CDC Report Finds
U.S. childhood and teen obesity rates have reached record-highs while adult obesity rates may be slowing, according to two new reports published early Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers used measured heights and weights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) -- run by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics -- to track trends over more than six decades. (Kekatos and Premaratne, 2/25)

The Baltimore Sun: Can A Produce Prescription Help Improve Diet And Health?
A prescription fruit-and-vegetable program seeks to stave off illnesses caused by poor nutrition and diet in Maryland’s food-insecure communities. Backed by a $480,000 grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the program will be developed and tested by researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Hille, 2/24)

Stat: Heart Disease To Hit 6 In 10 Women By 2050, AHA Projects 
In a sobering look at risk factors for heart disease and stroke, new projections estimate that 6 out of 10 women will develop at least one type of cardiovascular disease over the next 25 years. Moreover, disease will show up at younger ages. (Cooney, 2/25)

The Hill: Parents Underestimate Teens' AI Chatbot Usage: Pew Study
There’s a wide gap between parents’ estimates of their teenagers’ AI chatbot activities and actual usage, according to new polling data. A majority of teens in the U.S. — 64 percent — indicated they use AI chatbots in a Pew Research Center survey. About 3 in 10 said they use these services daily. Parents of these polled teenagers underestimated such usage in the survey, with only 51 percent of parents saying that their child uses AI chatbots. Over a quarter said they were “unsure,” 18 percent said their teen did not use these chatbots and 4 percent said they had not heard about AI chatbots. (Davis, 2/24)

THE EPSTEIN FILES

The New York Times: Leader Of Columbia Brain Institute Quits Over Friendship With Epstein
Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and professor, announced Tuesday that he was resigning as a co-director of a flagship neuroscience institute at Columbia University because of his friendship with Jeffery Epstein. The resignation is the latest fallout in the world of academia from the release of millions of pages of files in late January that showed how Mr. Epstein’s relationships with billionaires, scientists and others in positions of power continued even after his 2008 felony convictions and his prison sentence for solicitation of prostitution by a minor. (Otterman, 2/25)