Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Experts Warn Proposed Budget Cuts Will Unravel Decades Of Progress
MedPage Today: Health Groups Concerned About Cuts In Trump's Proposed 2026 Budget
Healthcare groups and policy experts expressed concern about cuts included in the Trump administration's full budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which was released on Friday. "For the past 50 years, every significant medical breakthrough, especially in the treatment of cancer, has been linked to sustained federal investment in research at NIH and NCI [National Cancer Institute]. This commitment has contributed to the remarkable statistic of over 18 million cancer survivors currently living in the U.S. today," the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said in a statement. (Frieden, 6/2)
Fierce Healthcare: Unpacking The RFK Jr.-Backed 25% HHS Budget Cut
A recent budget document prepared by the White House is giving new clarity over how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could operate for fiscal year 2026. The document closely mirrored other budgetary insights from earlier this year. Under the wishes of President Donald Trump’s staff, the department’s discretionary budget would be nearly $95 billion, a $32 billion decrease amounting to a one-fourth slashing. (Tong, 6/2)
Stat: Eating Disorder Research Cut Amid MAHA Focus On Chronic Conditions
In the first major report from the president’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, disordered eating is mentioned just once, in passing, in connection with the benefits of family meals. Amid dozens of references to obesity and a major focus on what foods American children consume, there are zero mentions of specific conditions like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. It’s a notable omission in a document purporting to explain how today’s children are the “sickest generation.” Eating disorders have been on the rise for decades, especially among young women and girls. (Gaffney, 6/3)
Regarding autism, vaccines, and Native Americans —
AP: RFK Jr. Says Autism 'Destroys' Families. Some Families Speak Out
Kennedy has said autism ”destroys families.” He said children with autism “will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.” His comments and his plan to swiftly study its causes, have splintered a community of millions of people living with autism. For some, they were an overdue recognition of the day-to-day difficulties for families with autistic loved ones. To others, Kennedy deeply misrepresented the realities of their disability, provoking concern about his ability to handle a sweeping assessment of the disorder. (Seitz, 6/2)
The Hill: Robert F. Kennedy Jr's Autism Claims Disregard History
In the telling of President Trump and his Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., autism in the U.S. has exploded in the past decades with seemingly no explanation. These claims skip over a mountain of data and touch on the country’s dark history around treating people with neurological and developmental differences, including within Kennedy’s own illustrious family. “We are indeed diagnosing autism more than ever before in history. I mean, that’s just a fact,” Andy Shih, chief science officer at the nonprofit Autism Speaks, told The Hill. (Choi, 6/2)
The Hill: Kennedy's Vaccine Policy Changes Expected By Experts
Public health experts say Robert F. Kennedy Jr is exactly who they thought he was. The Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary — who is also the nation’s most well-known vaccine skeptic — is remaking the agency in his image, casting doubt on the benefits of vaccines, and erecting new barriers that will make it harder for people who want shots to get them, like requiring new vaccines to be tested against placebos. During his confirmation hearings and other recent congressional testimony, Kennedy sought to distance himself from the anti-vaccine movement. (Weixel, 6/2)
KFF Health News: Native Americans Hurt By Federal Health Cuts, Despite RFK Jr.’s Promises Of Protection
Navajo Nation leaders took turns talking with the U.S. government’s top health official as they hiked along a sandstone ridge overlooking their rural, high-desert town before the morning sun grew too hot. Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, paused at the edge with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Below them, tribal government buildings, homes, and juniper trees dotted the tan and deep-red landscape. (Houghton, Orozco Rodriguez and Zionts, 6/3)
