Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Northwest Tribes Feeling The Weight Of Trump's Funding Cuts, Report Finds
AP: Report: Nearly Half Of All Federal Funding For Tribes At Risk Under Trump's 'Big Beautiful' Bill
A new report from Portland State University found that budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s new spending bill threaten nearly half of federal funding allocated to federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native nations last year. Roughly $530 million of the $1.19 billion allocated to Northwest tribal nations in fiscal year 2024 — used to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to Native American and Alaska Native tribes — is at risk of being cut. (Henshaw, 9/25)
Bloomberg: Massachusetts Hospitals Win State Help Ahead Of Trump Health Cuts
Hospital systems across Massachusetts — including some of the state’s largest healthcare providers UMass Memorial Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center — are poised to receive a $234 million state funding package as they battle deepening financial strains and cutbacks from the Trump administration. Governor Maura Healey earlier this week signed the bill that includes $122 million for acute-care hospitals and $77 million for the Health Safety Net Trust Fund, which reimburses hospitals and community health centers for services to uninsured and underinsured residents. (Taylor, 9/25)
The New Republic: Trump’s Cuts Are Officially Ending PBS In An Entire State
New Jersey’s only public television station, NJ PBS, is anticipated to shutter in just over nine months thanks to President Trump’s budget cuts. As first reported by The New Jersey Globe this week, WNET, the company that has operated the station for 14 years since former Republican Governor Chris Christie shut down the state-run New Jersey Network, did not reach an agreement to extend its contract with the state beyond June 30, 2026. (McCoy, 9/25)
Stat: How Research Indirect Costs Work, And The Changes That Lie Ahead
For decades, the federal government has supported the infrastructure that makes biomedical breakthroughs possible at universities, academic hospitals, and other research institutions. But recent moves by the Trump administration and Congress reinforce that this system seems headed for a major shake-up. Earlier this month, the House Committee on Appropriations advanced legislation that would limit National Institutes of Health payments for research overhead, also known as indirect costs, to private universities and colleges with large endowments. (Wosen, 9/26)
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AP: Federal Bureau Of Prisons Moves To End Union Protections For Its Workers
The federal Bureau of Prisons said Thursday it is canceling a collective bargaining agreement with its workers and stripping them of union rights, the latest move by the Trump administration to gut labor protections for federal employees. Director William K. Marshall III told the agency’s nearly 35,000 employees that the union, the Council of Prison Locals, had become “an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it.” The contract, he said, “too often slowed or prevented” changes meant to improve safety and morale. (Sisak, 9/26)
