Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Wednesday, June 17, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led By Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads’
Four years ago, Tennessee became the first state to allow adults to buy the antiparasitic drug ivermectin from a pharmacy without first seeing a doctor. Pharmacies can use a pre-written, blanket prescription to sell to just about anyone who walks through their doors. The drug is now marketed and sold across the state in roadside shops and small-town strip malls with little oversight from health authorities. Highway billboards advertise ivermectin as “Available Without a Prescription in Tennessee!” while dozens of pharmacies offer highly concentrated pills, sometimes at 10 or 20 times the potency of a standard tablet. (Kelman and Pradhan, 6/17)
KFF Health News: Democrats Seek To Spotlight Rising Health Costs By Forcing Vote On Trump Regulation
In a move that mixes pure politics with weedy congressional procedures, Senate Democrats are seeking to force a vote to overturn a Trump administration rule that they say will make it harder to enroll in Affordable Care Act health plans and sharply raise out-of-pocket costs for those who do. The measure is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled Congress, but Democrats could use the vote against their opponents on the campaign trail. When the ACA rule was released in May, the Trump administration touted it as a means to combat enrollment fraud, lower premiums for some people, and offer a wider range of insurance plans, including ones with no set network of doctors or hospitals. (Appleby, 6/17)
KFF Health News: More Americans Are Surviving Cancer. But The Mental Health Challenges Can Persist
The cancer diagnosis came as a shock, disrupting Morgan Newman’s plans for launching her life. It was 2015, and she was working as a dental assistant in Des Moines, Iowa, while studying to become a social worker. After an abnormal result on her Pap smear, her doctor brought her back in to check the tissue for signs of cancer. Newman wasn’t that concerned at first. She was only 24 years old. (Krebs, 6/17)
MEDICAID AND MEDICARE
Modern Healthcare: CMS Medicaid Work Requirements Rule Forces States To Rethink Plans
The race is on for states to iron out their Medicaid work requirement plans and tie up loose ends for providers, insurers and beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a long-awaited regulation this month laying out federal standards for work requirements. But states facing down a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to have the system running will have to quickly rethink their strategies because CMS caught them by surprise on key issues. States, health insurance companies, providers, enrollees and other stakeholders have less than six months to implement the biggest change to Medicaid since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 expansion. For policies this complex, that’s no time at all. (Early, 6/16)
The CT Mirror: About 110,000 Poor CT Adults Could Lose Medicaid Coverage
With about 110,000 poor adults at risk of losing Medicaid coverage under new federal work rules this January, officials are scrambling to avert a swell in uninsured patients forced to seek care through hospital emergency departments. (Phaneuf and Golvala, 6/17)
Fierce Healthcare: MedPAC Offers A Look At Enrollment Hiccups In Medicare
Beneficiaries face a series of complex decisions in enrolling in Medicare coverage, and a key federal panel outlines some of the pain points. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its June report to Congress on Monday, where it notes that when an individual becomes Medicare eligible, they have to immediately make a series of decisions about coverage that may be confusing. (Minemyer and Muoio, 6/16)
The Daily Southtown: Scammers Target Medicare Cards, Durable Medical Equipment Needs
Scammers have gotten crafty about tricking people out of their money, and often they use purported Medicare concerns as a way into the wallets of older people. (Neumann, 6/16)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
MedPage Today: AAP Disputes Kennedy's Claim That Vaccine Panel Can't Meet Ahead Of Flu Season
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) pushed back on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claims that the CDC's vaccine panel is unable to meet due to a recent ruling in a lawsuit challenging changes to the U.S. childhood immunization schedule. On June 12, Kennedy took to X to announce the filing of a motion asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite an appeal of the district court's order that he contended left the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) "without a quorum." The AAP rebuffed this claim. (Henderson, 6/16)
MedPage Today: Experts Pan RFK Jr.'s Inquiry Into Removal Of Flawed Vaccine Study
Legal and public health experts expressed concern about HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s scrutiny of a medical journal's decision to remove a study that purportedly suggested an increased incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) within a few days after vaccination. (Frieden, 6/16)
The 19th: Bill Targets Insurance Gap For Cancer Survivors Who Can’t Breastfeed
Erika Nyhus thought she was done having children. The mother of two had required medical intervention to become pregnant in the past, and she’d been told that the breast cancer treatment she’d completed would further diminish her fertility. Then two-and-a-half years ago, feeling rundown after returning home from a family trip, she took a pregnancy test out of an abundance of caution. She assumed it would be negative. (Luthra, 6/16)
The Hill: NIH Launches New Office To Reduce Animal Testing
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Monday announced the launch of a new office aimed at reducing the use of animal-based research testing and boosting the use of testing methods that “better reflect human biology.” NIH’s new office will be named the Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA). Reducing animal testing has been among the primary goals within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure. (Choi, 6/16)
The Hill: FDA Approves Third OTC Naloxone Nasal Spray For Opioid Overdose
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a third over-the-counter version of naloxone nasal spray Tuesday, in a move the agency said could save lives and reduce costs. The agency approved another Rextovy, a 4 milligram naloxone nasal spray for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose. FDA said consumers may directly buy it in pharmacies, convenience stores and online. Naloxone is a medicine that can help reduce opioid overdose deaths and when administered in time, usually within minutes of the first signs of an opioid overdose, can counter the overdose effects. (Weixel, 6/16)
MedPage Today: FDA Staff Weigh In On Potential First MRNA Flu Shot
Ahead of an advisory committee meeting this week, FDA reviewers raised no serious efficacy or safety concerns about Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine candidate for adults 50 and older, which has the potential to become the first such product approved by the agency. (Rudd, 6/16)
PUBLIC HEALTH
MedPage Today: FDA Alerts On Shortage Of Breast Biopsy Needles
The FDA informed healthcare providers about disruptions in the supply of stereotactic breast biopsy needles that will likely persist through March 2027. According to the agency, the disruption is expected to impact patient care and "may require adjustments to the clinical management of patients indicated to undergo a breast biopsy." (Bassett, 6/16)
AP: US Infant Mortality Reached All-Time Low In 2025, CDC Reports
Infant mortality in the U.S. dropped to a new all-time low in 2025, according to preliminary government data. There were slightly fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While that appears to be a small decline from about 5.5 in 2024 and 5.6 in the two years preceding, researchers say it is statistically meaningful and translates to hundreds of fewer infant deaths per year. (Stobbe, 6/16)
CIDRAP: AI Chatbots Boost Parents’ Willingness To Vaccinate Kids Against HPV, But Only In The Short Term
Parents were more willing to allow their children to receive a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) if they interacted with a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) compared with parents who received no information about the vaccine. The chatbot’s effects faded after 45 days, suggesting the benefits were short-lived, according to a randomized controlled trial of 1,297 parents of children not yet immunized against HPV. The results were published last week in JAMA Network Open. (Szabo, 6/16)
SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS
MedPage Today: Menopause Experts Release Guidance On Non-Hormone Therapy For Hot Flashes
A multidisciplinary group of menopause experts developed new comorbidity-specific guidance on non-hormone therapy for moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms. (Robertson, 6/16)
MedPage Today: Lifestyle Change In Prediabetes Cuts Risk Of Multimorbidity
Adults with prediabetes randomized to a lifestyle intervention had a significantly lower risk of developing multiple chronic conditions over time compared with a placebo group, a benefit not seen among those assigned to metformin, long-term data from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial showed. (Monaco, 6/16)
CIDRAP: Kids With Severe Post-COVID Syndrome At Higher Risk For New Chronic Conditions, Analysis Shows
Children diagnosed as having multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following COVID-19 infection are more likely to have new and lingering health conditions than those not diagnosed with MIS-C, according to study published last week in Pediatrics. MIS-C, a rare but potentially deadly post-viral hyperinflammatory condition that often requires hospitalization, occurs in some children following COVID-19. While previous research indicated that some symptoms waned two years after infection, this new paper is the first to show that health complications can persist up to 4.5 years after COVID-19. (Holohan, 6/16)
The Baltimore Sun: World's First Therapy To Rejuvenate Cells Given To A Person
A Boston company treated its first patient with a therapy intended to allow aging optic nerve cells to behave as though they were young again. (Hille, 6/16)
The Baltimore Sun: UCLA-Tested Pancreatic Cancer Drug Doubles Survival
A daily pill doubled patients’ survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment by blocking one of the primary drivers of the tumor, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles reported. (Hille, 6/16)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Chicago Tribune: Schreibers Gift $35 Million To Northwestern Medicine
The foundation of Chicago philanthropists John and Kathy Schreiber is donating $35 million to Northwestern Medicine to create a new institute to support healthcare for vulnerable patients and communities. (Schencker, 6/16)
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Expand Training Programs To Ease Staffing Shortages
Health systems are stepping up efforts to increase the skills of clinicians and support staff, seeking to blunt the effects of limits on student loans, high workforce expenses and reimbursement pressures. More than ever, they are paying for workers’ training and certifications to fill chronically short-staffed positions including respiratory therapists, medical assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists, radiology technicians, physical therapists and pharmacy technicians. Subsidizing their education helps not only with recruitment but also with retention. (Kacik and DeSilva, 6/16)
Modern Healthcare: Tampa General, WellSpan, Vanderbilt Share Lessons On AI Pilots
Health systems dove headfirst into artificial intelligence to discover new ways to address clinical and operational challenges. Now they’re taking steps to ensure they aren’t in over their heads, testing too many ideas simultaneously. To avoid AI pilot proliferation, providers are taking a disciplined approach, which has allowed them to move past the hype and find out what actually works. (Famakinwa, 6/16)
Modern Healthcare: Epic Systems Settles Trademark Lawsuit With Epic Staffing
Epic Staffing Group will rebrand as part of a settlement agreement with Epic Systems. The electronic health record giant filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the staffing company in 2024. The two companies entered into a settlement agreement last month, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Under the terms of the agreement, the claims against Epic Staffing Group will be dismissed without prejudice. (Famakinwa, 6/16)
STATE WATCH
The Hill: Measles Exposure At SFO And San Jose: Public Health Alert
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department is warning of a public measles exposure in San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Santa Clara County. Santa Clara Public Health said the person visited public places while contagious with measles, traveling through SFO and other several San Jose locations on June 8. “The person with measles is an adult believed to be exposed to measles during international travel. Further information about the individual will not be released for reasons of medical privacy,” according to Santa Clara Public Health. (Smith, 6/16)
AP: US Justice Department Accuses New York Officials Of Fraud In $10B Home Care Program
The U.S. Justice Department accused New York state officials Tuesday of facilitating fraud, saying they let a Georgia company use a sham bidding process to gain control of and then abuse a $10 billion program to provide home care to disabled Medicaid patients. Federal lawyers made the claims in a civil lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court, naming the state’s Department of Health, its Medicaid director and the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company Public Partnerships LLC, as defendants. (Izaguirre and Neumeister, 6/16)
Miami Herald: Florida Woman Guilty Of Selling Fake Nursing Diplomas Leading To St. Louis Death
After two weeks of damning government evidence at trial, a former Florida nursing school operator pleaded guilty on Monday to running a diploma mill for thousands of nurses rather than present a defense and let a jury decide her fate in federal court. Prosecutors linked the diploma mill to the death of a patient in a St. Louis hospital. (Weaver, 6/16)
North Carolina Health News: Staff: School-Based Telehealth Cuts Behavioral Issues
At North Carolina schools that provide behavioral health care remotely, teachers and school staff say they’re seeing an impact on students’ behavioral challenges. (Fernandez, 6/17)
The Colorado Sun: Children’s Hospital Doctors Refuse To Provide Gender-Affirming Care
Children’s Hospital Colorado said Monday that it was resuming gender-affirming care for transgender youth after it was forced to do so by a court order but that none of its doctors are willing to actually provide the care. (Brown, 6/16)
Chicago Tribune: Illinois Issues Closure Order For Evanston Psychiatric Facility
After struggling with a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a 44-year-old woman was admitted to Albany Care psychiatric facility in Evanston in 2023 for her own health and safety. However, in October of that year, the woman was left alone and unsupervised when a man who also lived at the facility entered her room and raped her, according to a lawsuit filed last year in Cook County on the woman’s behalf, charging negligence by Albany Care. (McCoppin, 6/16)
AP: Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Says Ohio Should Abolish The Death Penalty
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has repeatedly postponed executions over the past seven years, said Tuesday that Ohio should abolish the death penalty, confirming his change of heart on the policy he helped write as a state legislator 45 years ago. DeWine, 79, said during a news conference that data indicates the death penalty is not serving as a deterrent to violent crime, which he had always believed was its moral imperative. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there’s any chance in the future the facts that I’ve cited to support that belief will change,” he said. “Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty.” (Carr Smyth and Aftoora-Orsagos, 6/16)
