Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025
KFF Health News: Led By RFK Jr., Conservatives Embrace Raw Milk. Regulators Say It’s Dangerous
In summertime, cows wait under a canopy to be milked at Mark McAfee’s farm in Fresno, California. From his Cessna 210 Centurion propeller plane, the 63-year-old can view grazing lands of the dairy company he runs that produces products such as unpasteurized milk and cheese for almost 2,000 stores. Federal regulators say it’s risky business. Samples of raw milk can contain bird flu virus and other pathogens linked to kidney disease, miscarriages, and death. (Armour, 1/29)
KFF Health News: Sports Betting Is Coming To Missouri. A Fund To Help Prevent Problem Gambling Will Follow
The parking lot at the Super One Stop in Granite City, Illinois, is full. The convenience store just across the Mississippi River from Missouri sells liquor, cigarettes, and some groceries. But not all the cars belong to customers. It’s a Sunday morning in the middle of football season, and the people sitting in their vehicles are mostly looking down at their smartphones. Nick Krumwiede is sure the people parked around him are betting on the day’s NFL games. That’s why he’s there. (Dyer, 1/29)
KFF Health News: Trump’s Funding ‘Pause’ Throws States, Health Industry Into Chaos
States and the nation’s health industry were thrown into disarray after the Trump administration ordered Monday that the government freeze nearly all federal grants at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, a sweeping directive that at least initially appeared to include funding for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers more than 70 million Americans. By midmorning Tuesday, state officials around the country reported they had been shut out of a critical online portal that allows states to access federal Medicaid funding. (Galewitz, 1/28)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Stable housing is scarce for a rapidly increasing number of homeless seniors, and insurers sometimes deny coverage for prosthetic limbs by deeming them experimental or not medically necessary. (1/28)
The Hill: States’ Medicaid Portal Access Restored After Lapse Under Trump, But It’s ‘Not Functioning Correctly’
After losing access to a Medicaid federal funding portal after an aid freeze by the Trump administration, states say they’re regaining access, but some are reporting that the site isn’t functioning “correctly.” One day after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo stating agencies must halt “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance,” state Medicaid offices reported they had lost access to the payment portal through which federal funds are drawn. (Choi, 1/28)
AP: Head Start And Medicaid Providers Hit Glitches As Trump Freezes Federal Money
The confusion left some Head Start centers weighing whether to close. Early Flowers Learning, which operates 17 Head Start preschools with 600 students in southwestern Michigan, announced it would not open its doors on Wednesday because it could not pay staff — only to learn that website access had been restored. “I worry about them, you know, certainly trying to hold it together right now, thinking about some of the children that we serve who might not have access to breakfast and lunch if they don’t have a place to go,” said Chanda Hillman said, executive director of Early Flowers Learning. (Balingit, 1/28)
NBC News: D.C. Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Plan To Pause Federal Aid Spending
A federal district judge on Tuesday granted an administrative stay in a case challenging the Trump administration’s planned freeze of federal aid, pausing the plan for a week and setting a hearing for further arguments Monday morning. The order applies only to the pause of disbursements in open grants, Judge Loren AliKhan said. And it doesn't get into the legality of the freeze; instead, it gives her time to hear more fleshed-out arguments from a coalition of nonprofit groups about why she should issue a temporary restraining order that could block the freeze for an additional two weeks. The hearing will take place at 11 a.m. Monday. (Barnes, 1/28)
The New York Times: State Department Permits Distribution Of H.I.V. Medications To Resume — For Now
The Trump administration on Tuesday issued a waiver for lifesaving medicines and medical services, offering a reprieve for a worldwide H.I.V. treatment program that was halted last week. The waiver, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seemed to allow for the distribution of H.I.V. medications, but whether the waiver extended to preventive drugs or other services offered by the program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, was not immediately clear. (Mandavilli, 1/28)
CNN: Trump Administration Offers Buyouts To Federal Workers
Federal workers who don’t want to return to the office are being offered buyouts, according to a memo posted to the US Office of Personnel Management’s website Tuesday night. (Treene and Blackburn, 1/28)
NBC News: Trump Signs Sweeping Order To Further Restrict Trans Care For Minors Nationwide
President Donald Trump signed a broad executive order targeting transition-related medical care for minors Tuesday. The order, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” intends to restrict access to gender-affirming medical care — including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery — for minors, which it defines as those younger than 19. It prohibits federal funding from covering such care for minors, restricts research and education grants to medical schools and hospitals, and directs the secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations to end such care for minors. (Yurcaba, 1/28)
AP: Six Active Duty Service Members File First Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Transgender Troop Ban
Six transgender active duty service members and two former service members who seek re-enlistment on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for revising policy on transgender troops and probably sets the stage for banning them in the armed forces. The six plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. (Copp, 1/28)
AP: Trump Is Looking To Boot Transgender Troops From The Military. Here's Why That's Complicated
The Pentagon has said in recent years that it is impossible to count the total number of transgender troops. The military services say there is no way to track them and that much information is limited due to medical privacy laws. Estimates have hovered between 9,000 and 12,000. But it will be very difficult for officials to identify them, even as service members worry about the hunt to root them out. (Baldor, 1/29)
Axios: Trump's Trans Military Ban Part Of Playbook To Defund Gender-Affirming Care
Anti-abortion forces similarly used federal funding as a wedge in the 1970s to enact the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds in Medicaid and other federal health programs for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or in cases where the pregnant person's life is in danger. The amendment was renewed multiple times by Congress, even when Democrats controlled the House. And similar policies were extended to other federal health programs, including coverage for federal employees and their families, military personnel and inmates in federal prisons, per Planned Parenthood. (Reed, 1/28)
The New York Times: Inmate Sues The Trump Administration Over Transgender Executive Order
A federal inmate sued the Trump administration on Sunday, challenging an executive order that requires the Bureau of Prisons to house transgender women in U.S. prisons designated for men and to stop providing prisoners with gender-transition medical treatments. Referred to by the pseudonym Maria Moe in court papers, the prisoner is described as a transgender woman who began transitioning in middle school, started taking feminizing hormones at age 15, and has been housed in a facility designated for women since she was taken into custody. (Harmon, 1/27)
Stat: Private Emails From RFK Jr. Revealed On Eve Of Confirmation Hearing
On the eve of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, his physician niece has shared a trove of private emails in the hopes of derailing his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The exchanges show RFK Jr. making false claims about Covid-19 vaccines at the height of the pandemic, citing online articles by fellow vaccine skeptics, linking childhood immunizations to autism, and raising doubts about the flu shot. (Berke and Owermohle, 1/28)
The Independent: 'He Cheats His Way Through Life': The Five Biggest Bombshells From Caroline Kennedy's Open Letter About RFK Jr
Robert F. Kennedy is addicted to “attention and power” according to scathing letter revealing some of his darkest moments, penned by his cousin Caroline Kennedy. Kennedy, 71, who is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a hypocritical “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power”, his cousin warned senators ahead of the confirmation hearing in the senate - which will confirm his control over a $1.7 trillion budget as the top health official. (Croft, 1/29)
The Boston Globe: RFK Jr.’s Hearings Will Spotlight His Familiarity Of Key Health Programs
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ventured a staggering number of opinions on public health, from casting doubt on vaccines and fluoride to claiming COVID was engineered to spare some races. There’s one area, however, where the notoriously voluble Kennedy has been relatively quiet. It happens to concern the biggest responsibilities of the federal agency he could soon run. (Brodey, 1/28)
NBC News: Autism Community Fears RFK Jr. Would Set Back Decades Of Progress
For decades, the scientific community has worked to dispel a thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism and finally shift its focus to find true potential causes. But now, autism advocates say they are fearful that if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as health and human services secretary, it could undermine years of progress in unlinking autism and vaccines, while potentially diverting precious research dollars to a theory already discredited by hundreds of studies worldwide. They warn he would wield vast influence over who sits on committees and steer policy. (Korecki, 1/29)
The New York Times: Why Trump Picked A Science Advisor, Michael Kratsios, Who Isn’t A Scientist
President Trump last week formally nominated Michael Kratsios, a member of the first Trump administration with no degrees in science or engineering, to be his science adviser. Science policy experts say that Mr. Kratsios’ wide experience in private and public technology policy and management is what makes him an attractive candidate. His expertise includes a central role in early federal efforts to speed the rise of artificial intelligence and to compete with China in its development. He will join a cohort of White House advisers on the fraught topic. (Broad, 1/29)
Newsweek: Medicare Change Backed By 20,000 People In New Letters
A coalition of around 20,000 advocates and twelve major health care groups has called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand Medicare and Medicaid to include FDA-approved anti-obesity medications. The letters are being led by the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease (HECCD) and they say the change would potentially benefit up to 7.5 million Americans enrolled in these federal programs who are living with obesity, per the press release. (Dickey, 1/28)
The New York Times: New CVS App Lets Customers Unlock Cabinets To Pick Up Products
Customers at some CVS stores will no longer have to push a button and wait for a clerk to unlock one of those glass cabinets to get the products they want to buy. A new app will allow them to open the cabinets themselves, the company said on Tuesday. That feature of the new CVS Health app has been available in three stores in New York City as part of a pilot program that began in August, said Tara Burke, a CVS Health spokeswoman. She said there are plans to roll out the “smart locks” at approximately 10 stores on the West Coast early this year. (Hauser, 1/28)
Modern Healthcare: Philips To Sell Emergency Care Business To Bridgefield Capital
Philips will sell its emergency care business to investment firm Bridgefield Capital for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close later this year, the companies said Tuesday. The emergency care business, part of Philips connected care segment, sells products including automated external defibrillators and emergency care devices for professionals and consumers. Sales in the connected care segment were flat in the third quarter, totaling about $1.36 billion. (Dubinsky, 1/28)
Modern Healthcare: Bain Capital Private Equity Proposes Surgery Partners Buyout
Bain Capital Private Equity proposed to buy the remaining shares of Surgery Partners, an ambulatory surgery center provider in which the private equity firm already has a 39% stake. Under the nonbinding proposal, Bain would buy out Surgery Partners for $25.75 a share, according to a Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Surgery Partners’ stock price closed at $21.25 Monday and jumped nearly 20% Tuesday morning. (Kacik, 1/28)
Becker's Hospital Review: Healthcare Supply Chain Costs Expected To Rise 2.3%: Report
Healthcare supply chain costs are expected to rise 2.3% from July 2025 to June 2026, according to a Jan. 28 Vizient's "Winter 2025 Spend Management Outlook." The predicted increase would be driven by sustained high prices for raw materials, freight and shipping costs and the effects of tariffs on medical-surgical products manufactured in China, according to a news release from the healthcare performance improvement company. (Murphy, 1/28)
MedPage Today: Ozempic Approved For Diabetic Kidney Disease
The FDA approved semaglutide (Ozempic) to reduce the risk of kidney disease worsening, kidney failure, and death due to cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD), making it the only GLP-1 receptor agonist to be granted this indication, drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced. ... Chronic kidney disease is a common complication of type 2 diabetes; around 40% of people with type 2 diabetes also experience CKD. (Monaco, 1/28)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Now Has Its First Measles Case Of The Year
A metro Atlanta resident who was not vaccinated has been diagnosed with measles, the highly infectious disease that used to be on the wane. The disease can be fatal, and most of the patients that measles kills are children under 5 years old. The patient’s age was not disclosed in the public announcement. (Hart, 1/28)
AP: The Tuberculosis Outbreak In Kansas Is Alarming. It's Not The Biggest In US History Though, CDC Says
Kansas health officials called the outbreak “the largest documented outbreak in U.S. history” since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began counting cases in the 1950s. But a spokesperson for the CDC on Tuesday refuted that claim, noting at least two larger TB outbreaks in recent history. In one, the disease spread through Georgia homeless shelters. Public health workers identified more than 170 active TB cases and more than 400 latent cases from 2015 to 2017. And in 2021, a nationwide outbreak linked to contaminated tissue used in bone transplants sickened 113 patients. (Shastri, 1/29)
CBS News: Appendix Cancer Patients From Around The World Come To Pittsburgh For Treatment
Pittsburgh has become one of the top places in the world for the treatment of appendix cancer – a rare cancer affecting one in a million people. Many of them were told they had only months to live until they came to Pittsburgh. (Sorensen, 1/28)
