First Edition: Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse. 
LOUISVILLE, Tenn. — When a big storm hits, Peninsula Hospital could be underwater. At this decades-old psychiatric hospital on the edge of the Tennessee River, an intense storm could submerge the building in 11 feet of water, cutting off all roads around the facility, according to a sophisticated computer simulation of flood risk. Aurora, a young woman who was committed to Peninsula as a teenager, said the hospital sits so close to the river that it felt like a moat keeping her and dozens of other patients inside. KFF Health News agreed not to publish her full name because she shared private medical history. (Hacker, Kelman and Chang, 10/1)

KFF Health News: Shutdown Halts Some Health Services As Political Risks Test Parties’ Resolve
Threats of a federal government shutdown have gone from being an October surprise to a recurring theme. This time around, though, the stakes are higher. Federal funding ran out at midnight on Oct. 1, after Congress failed to pass even a stopgap budget while negotiations continued. (Armour, Rovner, Seitz, Zionts and Pradhan, 10/1)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Struggle To Afford Insurance In 2026 Hits Home
“An Arm and a Leg” senior producer Emily Pisacreta recently lost a job that provided her with health insurance. So now, for the first time, she will be signing up for Obamacare. Her search is off to a rocky start. Pisacreta gives listeners a sobering look at how the high price of health insurance plans could change her life and those of millions of others looking for Affordable Care Act plans, as premiums, on average, are projected to increase by more than they have in recent years. (10/1)

KFF Health News: Summon Your Spookiest Halloween Health Care Haikus 
Sharpen your quills, brave souls. The spirits of health care bills past, present, and future are calling … and they demand haikus. Submissions are now open for KFF Health News’ seventh annual Halloween haiku competition. KFF Health News has been publishing reader-submitted health care haikus for years and is dying to read your frightful inspirations. We want your eeriest health care or health policy haiku. Submissions will be judged by a body of experts from our newsroom. (10/1)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Modern Healthcare: What The Government Shutdown Could Mean For Healthcare
The healthcare sector generally does not have to worry too much about government shutdowns such as the one looming this week, beyond dealing with a less efficient bureaucracy and possible reimbursement delays. Healthcare providers and health insurance companies tend to mostly be insulated from the consequences of shutdowns because the key programs that pay them continue running even when other federal activities cease. Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance program operate with mandatory funding not subject to annual appropriations. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday that it would use fees collected from insurers to sustain the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 if there’s a shutdown. (McAuliff, 9/30)

Stat: Government Shutdown Will Idle 32,000 Federal Health Workers 
More than 32,000 Department of Health and Human Services employees are set to be furloughed, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention communications will be impeded, and no new patients will be admitted to the National Institutes of Health’s clinical center as the federal government’s funding runs out. (Cirruzzo, 10/1)

Politico: Labor Unions Sue OMB, OPM For ‘Unlawful’ Threats Of Mass Layoffs Ahead Of Shutdown 
As the federal government hurtled toward a shutdown Tuesday, two labor unions representing federal workers sued the Trump administration over its threats to conduct mass layoffs while the government is closed. The unions allege in the lawsuit that the Office of Management and Budget and its director, Russell Vought, broke the law by directing federal agencies to prepare “reduction in force” plans for a potential shutdown. The lawsuit also names the Office of Personnel Management, along with its director, Scott Kupor, for issuing instructions that federal employees may work during the shutdown in order to carry out the mass layoffs. (Wardwell, 9/30)

The Wall Street Journal: The ACA Subsidies At The Center Of The Government Shutdown Fight 
Enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act health-insurance plans are set to expire at the end of the year—and what Congress decides to do about them could be crucial to any deal to end a government shutdown. While Republicans had pushed to temporarily extend current government funding levels to buy time for negotiations, Democrats have said they won’t vote for any bill that excludes an extension of the ACA subsidies. (Li and Mathews, 10/1)

Axios: ACA Premiums To Rise 114% Without Subsidy Renewal
Premiums will more than double for millions of Affordable Care Act enrollees next year if Congress does not renew enhanced marketplace subsidies by year's end, according to a new analysis. (Sullivan, 10/1)

Politico: The Think Tank Driving Health Policy On Capitol Hill — And Dividing Republicans
One small think tank is driving health policy within the GOP. It has also created friction on Capitol Hill and in the White House as Republicans clash over the future of Obamacare. Paragon Health Institute was established in 2021 and has only 11 full-time staffers, but founder Brian Blase is credited with formulating many of the proposals that became the basis for nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted as part of the GOP megabill. The group’s success is thanks in large part to its vast alumni network spread out across the highest levels of government, from the speaker’s office to the Trump administration. (Guggenheim, King and Hill, 10/1)

AP: How A Government Shutdown Impacts The EPA's Mission To Protect America's Health
The Environmental Protection Agency was already reeling from massive stuff cuts and dramatic shifts in priority and policy. A government shutdown raises new questions about how it can carry out its founding mission of protecting America’s health and environment with little more than skeletal staff and funding. In President Donald Trump’s second term, the EPA has leaned hard into an agenda of deregulation and facilitating Trump’s boosting of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to meet what he has called an energy emergency. (Borenstein, 10/1)

The New York Times: How Shutdown Gridlock Could Impede Disaster Preparedness 
A government shutdown is converging with key deadlines for funding of disaster preparedness and federal flood insurance, threatening to expose thousands of Americans to flood losses and stall thousands of real estate sales. The National Flood Insurance Program, the main source of coverage against flood damage for most Americans, lapsed just after midnight Wednesday, at the same time a funding gap shut down the federal government. (Dance, 9/30)

AP: How A Government Shutdown Will Affect The Education Department 
Title I money, which goes to schools with high concentrations of students in poverty, plus funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act would continue during a shutdown. (Ma, 10/1)

Politico: How Trump Is Protecting His Priorities From A Government Shutdown
As Washington enters a government shutdown, the Trump administration has erected safeguards to ensure President Donald Trump’s most hardline priorities continue unscathed. ... That means offices tasked with immigration enforcement and tariff negotiations, two hallmarks of Trump’s presidency, will retain significantly more staff than they have in prior shutdowns, according to a POLITICO analysis of agency documents submitted to the White House in recent days and interviews with current and former administration officials. That’s even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are sent home, hampering a variety of government functions including some routine food safety inspections, Social Security benefit verifications and the publication of employment numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Ward, Messerly and Cai, 10/1)

Politico: No Quick End To Shutdown In Sight On Capitol Hill 
Washington is waking up to its first government shutdown in nearly seven years. How many more days that will be the case, no one knows. With President Donald Trump and congressional leaders not actively negotiating, there’s no sign the shutdown will be over before the end of the day. And with Congress dormant for Thursday’s Yom Kippur holiday, that all but ensures it will go until at least Friday if not far beyond. Instead, Congress is poised to enact a reprise performance Wednesday: The Senate will vote on, and likely reject, dueling stopgap proposals for a third time, while House Democrats hold another closed-door meeting and House Republicans do not plan to return to the Capitol until next week at the earliest. (Carney and Wu, 10/1)

PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

NBC News: Trump Announces Deal With Pfizer To Lower Drug Prices, Including 'TrumpRx' Website
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his administration has reached a deal with Pfizer for it to voluntarily sell its drugs at lower prices to Medicaid patients. As part of the deal, Trump said, Pfizer will sell some of its drugs on a new “direct to consumer” website called “TrumpRx.” Trump said the website would be operated by the federal government, but offered few details about how the program would work. (Lovelace Jr., 9/30)

The Wall Street Journal: What Is ‘TrumpRx,’ What Drugs Are Available And How Does It Work?
Many details are still sparse, but the deal is likely to have little impact on what most Americans pay at the pharmacy counter, experts said. More than 300 million people in the U.S. are enrolled in health plans through their employers or government programs, most of whom will likely save more money using their insurance. Here’s what to know about TrumpRx. (Walker and Loftus, 10/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Cardinal Health To Build Indianapolis Pharma Plant To Supply Growing Distribution
Cardinal Health is building a flagship pharmaceutical distribution center in Indianapolis to keep up with its growing customer base and the shifting needs of drug companies. The planned 230,000 square-foot plant is the healthcare company’s latest step in a 10-year plan to modernize and expand its distribution network. Pharmaceutical distribution remains Cardinal’s most lucrative business, and it is continuing to gain customers. The Dublin, Ohio, company added more than $10 billion of new business in the last fiscal year, said Debbie Weitzman, chief executive of Cardinal’s pharmaceutical and specialty solutions business. (Hamilton, 9/30)

Becker's Hospital Review: 340B Rebate Pilot Would Cost Hospitals $400M: AHA
If HHS’ 340B rebate model pilot proceeds as planned, more than 2,700 U.S. hospitals will collectively be saddled with approximately $400 million in operational costs and 11.2 million labor burden hours, according to the American Hospital Association. The rebate model, slated to go into effect Jan. 1, will allow drug manufacturers that are part of CMS’ first cycle of negotiated drug prices to provide rebates — rather than upfront discounts — for 340B entities. Congress established the 340B program in 1992 to require drugmakers to sell specific outpatient drugs to eligible providers at discounted prices. (Twenter, 9/30)

FUNDING FREEZE AND DEI

AP: Trump Administration Restores Research Grants To UCLA Following Federal Judge's Order
The Trump administration has restored almost all of the 500 National Institutes of Health grants it suspended at UCLA in July in response to a federal judge’s order last week. Attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a court-mandated update on the status of the grant restorations Monday evening. They report that the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, has restored all but nine grants to UCLA health science researchers, though that figure may be even smaller. (Zinshteyn, 9/30)

Bloomberg: Trump Says US Close To Finalizing $500 Million Harvard Deal
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration is close to finalizing a deal with Harvard University, in an agreement that would potentially defuse one of the highest-profile fights between his administration and US higher education. “They’ll be paying about $500 million and they’ll be operating trade schools. They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI, and lots of other things,” Trump said. (Lowenkron and Knox, 9/30)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The Hill: Trump Signs Order To Deploy AI To Boost Childhood Cancer Research
President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at using artificial intelligence to improve research and treatments for childhood cancer. The order builds on a 2019 database established by Trump that collects data on childhood cancer. That order directs agencies to use artificial intelligence to analyze information in that database to accelerate research and clinical trials. (Samuels, 9/30)

AP: Justice Department Sues New Jersey Synagogue Protesters Using Law Meant To Protect Abortion Clinics
Federal officials have sued pro-Palestinian demonstrators involved in a heated protest outside a New Jersey synagogue last year, citing a law created to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the lawsuit filed Monday against two pro-Palestinian groups and some demonstrators appears to be the first time the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act has been used against protesters outside a house of worship. (Shipkowski, 10/1)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Withdraws Nominee To Lead Bureau Of Labor Statistics 
The White House withdrew the nomination of conservative economist E.J. Antoni to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to people familiar with the decision. A White House official praised Antoni and said the president will soon nominate a new candidate to lead BLS. President Trump nominated Antoni, the former chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and a frequent critic of the BLS, in August. The nomination came shortly after Trump fired BLS chief Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1, midway through her term, following a weak jobs report. Antoni had called for the removal of McEntarfer, echoing other Trump allies. (Kiernan, Leary and Schwartz, 9/30)

AUTISM AND VACCINES

Stat: Leucovorin Researcher Lowers Expectations On Autism Treatment 
Like with many niche treatments, the purported benefits of leucovorin began spreading in the autism community via word of mouth. For decades, some parents have sworn that folinic acid, a dietary supplement, improved their autistic children’s ability to speak and communicate, and some doctors would prescribe leucovorin, a drug with the same key ingredient. (Broderick, 10/1)

CBS News: Inside The High-Stakes Battle Over Vaccine Injury Compensation, Autism And Public Trust
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has floated a seismic idea: adding autism to the list of conditions covered by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. ... Kennedy has also suggested broadening the definitions of two serious brain conditions — encephalopathy and encephalitis — so that autism cases could qualify. Either move, experts warn, would unleash a flood of claims, threatening the program's financial stability and handing vaccine opponents a powerful new talking point. (Gounder, 9/30)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

AP: Planned Parenthood Shuts Down All Operations In Louisiana After 40 Years
Planned Parenthood on Tuesday shuttered its two clinics in Louisiana over what the organization said were mounting financial and political challenges that made operating in the state no longer possible after more than 40 years. The closures make Louisiana the most populous of just four states with no Planned Parenthood locations. The exit underlines the pressures on Planned Parenthood as it warns of wider closures nationwide in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill. (Cline, 10/1)

The 19th: Abortion’s Most Motivated Voters Went From Defenders To Opponents
Americans who call abortion their top voting issue are now more likely to support banning it, a reversal from the energized reproductive rights supporters who turned abortion into a key election issue after Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Luthra, 9/30)

NPR: Scientists Create Human Eggs Via In Vitro Gametogenesis
Scientists have created human eggs containing genes from adult skin cells, a step that someday could help women who are infertile or gay couples have babies with their own genes but would also raise difficult ethical, social and legal issues. "It's a significant step forward," says Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, who led the research published in the journal Nature Communications. (Stein, 9/30)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Stat: Home Hospital Programs In ‘Terror’ As They Grind To Halt Ahead Of Government Shutdown
On any given day, dozens of patients waiting for hospital rooms line the hallways of the emergency department at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University Campus. It’s one reason the Worcester-based health system dove into delivering home hospital care four years ago. (Aguilar, 9/30)

Modern Healthcare: Why Intermountain Health, OSF Healthcare Are Pushing Home Health
Some health systems are keeping home health services in house to counter rising costs associated with patients staying hospitalized too long or bouncing back to acute care. Boston-based Mass General Brigham, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health, Peoria, Illinois-based OSF Healthcare, Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida and Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health, are among the providers doubling down on home health, even as other health systems are shedding similar assets ahead of federal funding reductions in the new tax law. (Eastabrook, 9/30)

Fierce Healthcare: Integrated Insurers, Providers May Skirt MLR Rules, Experts Say
Insurers that own medical clinics may be able to use these relationships to game medical loss ratio requirements, according to a new analysis. The Health Affairs Forefront article, written by experts at consulting firm Bailit Health Purchasing, notes a recent study found that across several states in 2023 there was a significant increase in payments that were not related to specific claims, particularly in Medicare Advantage (MA). (Minemyer, 9/30)

Modern Healthcare: FDA Early Alert Recall Program Expanded To All Medical Devices
The Food and Drug Administration has expanded its early alert recall communication programs to include all medical devices after a successful pilot. The pilot, which launched in November 2024, issued early alerts about potentially high-risk device recalls or corrections involving cardiovascular, gastrorenal, general hospital, obstetrics and gynecology and urology devices. (Dubinsky, 9/30)

STATE WATCH

AP: Kentucky Has Revoked SNAP Benefits Using Data That Doesn't Tell The Full Story
A single mother who relied on federal food assistance lost her benefits in 2020 after Kentucky investigators concluded she’d committed fraud. The state alleged she had made multiple same-day purchases, tried to overdraw her account a few times, entered a few invalid PINs and sometimes made “whole-dollar” purchases that are unlikely during typical grocery runs. The woman from Salyersville in Appalachian Kentucky had an explanation: She worked at the store. She would sometimes buy lunch there and then get groceries after work. (Goodman, 9/30)

AP: Democratic Lawmakers In New Mexico Respond To Federal Food Assistance Cuts
New Mexico’s Democratic lawmakers were set to meet Wednesday to begin shoring up safety net spending in response to President Donald Trump’s recent cuts in a top state for participation in Medicaid and federal food assistance. Legislators are seeking new food assistance spending, while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling for a quick response to federal Medicaid and tax cuts signed by Trump. She wants to provide state grants that can stabilize health care services in rural areas where clinics and hospitals often rely heavily on Medicaid. (Lee, 10/1)

AP: Trump Administration Challenges Minnesota On Transgender Athletes In Girls Sports
President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday that the state of Minnesota and its governing body for high school sports are violating a key federal law against sex discrimination by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports. The ruling came from the civil rights offices at the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. (Karnowski, 9/30)

St. Louis Public Radio: Phelps Health Expands Emergency Room In Rolla To Aid Rural Care 
The 240-bed hospital in Rolla is more than doubling the size of its emergency department. The $60 million expansion is expected to open in 2027 with more and bigger rooms, private spaces to treat sexual assault victims and mental health patients as well as labs and diagnostic facilities. Phelps Health’s investment comes as smaller rural hospitals face financial challenges. Twenty-one hospitals have closed in Missouri over the past decade, many of them in rural areas. (Ahl, 9/30)

St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Sheriff Must Do Jail's Medical Transports, Judge Says 
St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery will have to immediately begin transporting jail detainees to receive medical care, a circuit judge ordered on Tuesday. The ruling is in response to the sheriff’s request last week for a temporary restraining order on Board Bill 33, a recently passed law that requires the Sheriff’s Office to provide such transports and submit to yearlong financial monitoring. Montgomery said the legislation is unconstitutional and challenged the city’s ability to define the duties of an elected county office. (Davis and Munoz, 9/30)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

The Hill: Norovirus Outbreak Sickens Over 70 On Royal Caribbean Cruise
A norovirus outbreak has sickened over 70 people aboard a 13-day Royal Caribbean Cruise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas departed from San Diego on Sept. 19 and is scheduled to arrive in Miami on Thursday, Oct. 2. (Kaplan, 9/30)

The New York Times: Long Covid Risk For Children Doubles After A Second Infection, Study Finds
Children and teenagers are twice as likely to develop long Covid after a second coronavirus infection as after an initial infection, a large new study has found. The study, of nearly a half-million people under 21, published Tuesday in Lancet Infectious Diseases, provides evidence that Covid reinfections can increase the risk of long-term health consequences and contradicts the idea that being infected a second time might lead to a milder outcome, medical experts said. (Belluck, 9/30)

MedPage Today: Mom's COVID Shot Aided Baby, Too, Large Review Confirmed
COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy conferred benefits for mother and baby without increased risk, according to an umbrella review of meta-analyses comprising more than 1.2 million women. Vaccination during pregnancy was associated with lowered maternal risks of COVID infection .... stillbirth ... and preterm birth ... reported Nikan Zargarzadeh, MD, of Harvard University in Boston. (Henderson, 9/30)

CIDRAP: States Log More Measles Cases As New Mexico Outbreak Winds Down
Health departments in Minnesota and California have reported new measles cases, part of a record rise in cases since the United States achieved elimination status in 2000. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has recorded three new cases, pushing the state’s total to eight for the year. (Schnirring, 9/30)

CIDRAP: Evidence Of Herd Immunity 17 Years After HPV Vaccination
In a new study in JAMA Pediatrics, population-level effectiveness and herd immunity were robust 17 years after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction, even in sexually experienced adolescent girls and young women at relatively high risk for HPV who may not have received the full vaccination series. (Soucheray, 9/30)

CIDRAP: FDA Conditionally Approves Drug For Prevention, Treatment Of New World Screwworm In Cattle
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today that it has conditionally approved a drug for the prevention and treatment of New World screwworm (NWS) larval infestations in cattle. The FDA said Dectomax-CA1 is eligible for conditional approval in cattle because it addresses an unmet animal health need, and demonstrating its effectiveness would require complex studies. (Dall, 9/30)