Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cleveland Clinic Won't Provide Transgender Care For Minors For At Least 20 Years
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic Agrees To 20-Year Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors Under DOJ Deal
The Cleveland Clinic will not provide gender-affirming care for minors for at least two decades under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and Ohio attorney general. Ohio law currently bans gender-affirming care, but the agreement would remain in effect if a court challenge to overturn the law succeeds. (Ferrise, 6/8)
More health news from Ohio —
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Ohio Medicaid Bill 2026: Family Caregiver Ban Removed Before House Vote
Ohio Republicans backed away from one of the most controversial pieces of their Medicaid overhaul bill Monday, removing language that would have banned family members from serving as paid caregivers. (Staver, 6/8)
From Colorado —
The Colorado Sun: Cigna Won't Sell Health Insurance On Colorado's Individual Market In 2027
More than 40,000 Coloradans will be shopping for a new health insurance carrier for next year because of Cigna’s decision to withdraw from the individual insurance market nationwide. (Ingold, 6/8)
The Colorado Sun: Hundreds Of Calls To Colorado Child Abuse Hotline From Youth Treatment Centers Go Uninvestigated
Teens, children and staff at youth treatment centers in Colorado called the state child abuse hotline 1,154 times in the past five years to report injuries, sexual allegations, children running away and other problems. Most of those — about 92% — were “screened out” by county child welfare officials, who decided to investigate 89 of the abuse and neglect reports from 11 youth treatment centers. (Brown, 6/8)
From Kansas, Iowa, New Hampshire, and North Carolina —
Kansas City Star: High-Stakes Abortion Case Unresolved In Kansas Courts
More than seven months after the final gavel in a high-stakes Johnson County bench trial that could reshape access to reproductive healthcare in Kansas, no ruling has been handed down. The challenge to existing abortion restrictions and a slate of strict new requirements that Republican lawmakers intend to impose on providers remains unresolved. Now, the judge who presided over the trial is one of three finalists for a seat on the Kansas Supreme Court. (Kelly, 6/5)
The Washington Post: GOP Nominee For Governor Did The Unthinkable In Iowa: Attack Big Agriculture
Before narrowly clinching the GOP nomination for Iowa governor, Zach Lahn took a stance once unthinkable for Republicans in the Corn Belt: Big Agriculture is making Americans sick. The message, which aligns with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement, helped Lahn deliver a rare defeat over a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump. (Roubein, Weber and Ence Morse, 6/8)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Needle-Exchange Programs Have New State Reporting Requirements Under New Law
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has signed a bill into law that would require organizations that provide clean syringes as part of needle exchange programs to report the ratio of the number of needles disposed at their sites to the number they hand out on a quarterly basis. Needle exchange programs must also have free disposal sites available to the public. (Richardson, 6/8)
North Carolina Health News: NC Expands Specialized Mental Health Supervision To All 100 Counties
When Tracy Lee worked as a probation/parole officer in Mecklenburg County, he found himself supervising people with serious mental illness — and feeling ill-equipped to do so. “I had no idea what I was dealing with,” Lee, now chief deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction’s Division of Community Supervision, told NC Health News. “I didn’t know what I was looking at. I didn’t know how to respond to their behavior." (Crumpler, 6/9)
