Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today's selections are on bioethics, surrogacy, football helmets, obesity, and California's CARE Court.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
1,741-1,760 of 113,144 results
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today's selections are on bioethics, surrogacy, football helmets, obesity, and California's CARE Court.
The enhanced tax credits that millions of Americans rely on to pay for health insurance on the Obamacare marketplace will expire Dec. 31, meaning premiums could soar. When Congress meets again, it'll have mere weeks to pass funding legislation to avoid another government shutdown.
President Donald Trump's executive order effectively speeds up the process to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance, a move that opens up access to Americans who want it and for researchers studying its medical use. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
On Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unveiled two rules to withhold federal funds from facilities that provide gender-affirming care for trans minors, but the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposals. With a large number of comments expected, it could take months or even a year to finalize the rules, one attorney told STAT.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
The joint report discussed mpox and H3N2 influenza. The collaboration aims to provide "timely, evidence-based alerts that can help local and state health leaders act quickly to protect the health of people in their communities,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
The Cornhusker State will be the first to fall in line with the Trump administration's law that mandates 80 hours of work or community service each month, or part-time school enrollment for people 19 to 64 who have Medicaid coverage. States have until 2027 to implement that policy.
The researchers note that no difference was seen for low-fat milk products, or whole milk, and that what the cows eat is also important. Other lifestyle and health news looks at warning signs of dementia; blood tests for Alzheimer's; "holiday heart syndrome;" and more.
Opinion writers discuss these public health issues.
Meanwhile in Texas, the Department of Public Safety is amassing a list of transgender Texans using data from their driver's licenses, and the state has opened a public tip line designed to help enforce the state’s “bathroom bill."
The vote was 216-211, but four Republicans have joined with Democrats in trying to force a vote on an extension of the ACA subsidies. Meanwhile, Affordable Care Act exchanges brace for chaos.
The Trump administration said it is clawing back grants that “no longer align with the department’s mission or priorities.” The academy has been critical of how the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approached vaccine policy.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Members of the 32BJ Health Fund will receive more favorable pricing from the nonprofit Northwell Health system, which will become the preferred provider. This strategy bypasses an insurer's role in administering the plan. Plus, the latest on the Brown University shooting.
Dana-Farber has admitted that scientists, working under inadequate supervision, used federal grant money to conduct research that led to papers with duplicated or manipulated images, Stat reported. But the agreement doesn't include an admission of intentional fraud, Stat noted.
Opinion writers tackle these public health topics.
Pfizer, which makes the shot, is fighting a lawsuit from more than 1,000 women who claim the company knew about the risk of meningiomas but failed to warn patients. Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence's organization Advancing American Freedom has called for HHS Secretary RFK Jr.'s removal from office over his refusal to review the abortion pill mifepristone.
The sudden funding cuts in multiple countries forced the closure of thousands of schools and child protection programs. Without them, AP reported, many children as young as 10 have been forced into unwanted marriages and manual labor, and girls as young as 12 have been forced into prostitution.
Babies whose mothers test positive for the virus, or whose status is unknown, should still get the birth dose, the CDC says, but others may delay the first shot until the child is at least 2 months old. However, doctors and hospital systems are likely to continue following the decades-old policy.
© 2026 KFF