Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: The Consequences Of Cutting Medicaid Would Be Dire; Yale Study Does Not Prove Vaccine Injury
The Boston Globe: Trump Is Targeting Medicaid. Don't Let Him Win.
President Trump and Elon Musk have unleashed a sandstorm of chaos in the past six weeks — on purpose. From starting a trade war with Canada to renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Trump is trying to distract from his real agenda: more tax giveaways for billionaires and billionaire corporations, paid for on the backs of hard-working Americans. One of their top targets? Medicaid. (U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), 3/3)
Bloomberg: How A Yale Study Got Twisted Into An Anti-Vaccine Talking Point
Last week, a blogger wrote about a Yale School of Medicine study that he alleged proved that millions of long Covid sufferers might, in fact been injured by the vaccine. The story blew up on social media among anti-vaxxers and was posted to X by Elon Musk. (F.D. Flam, 3/3)
Stat: What We Do And Don’t Know About H5N1 Spread In Cats
As veterinarians, flu scientists, and biosecurity experts, we have watched with growing concern the rise in H5N1 avian influenza in cats. Since 2022, more than 100 domesticated cats in the United States have had confirmed infections — some house pets, some barn cats, some feral — with high mortality, although mortality data remain undocumented on federal sites. Contaminated raw milk and raw meat pet foods have been implicated in numerous cases, while others could be linked to exposure to wild birds. The virus has also killed great cats, at least 20 at a single sanctuary, cougars and bobcats among them. (Meghan F. Davis, Ellen P. Carlin, Erin M. Sorrell, and David Stiefel, 3/4)
Stat: Three Ways Health Insurance Execs Can Fix The Broken System
For decades, I was a cog in the machine, part of a health care system that has drifted far from its original mission — to care for people. I worked tirelessly at the top health care organizations, including UnitedHealthcare and Magellan. Ultimately, I was driven by the demands of the system, rationalizing success through stock options and promotions, even as I was forced further away from the patients whose well-being was supposed to be at the center of it all. (Michael Waterbury, 3/4)
Chicago Tribune: Gov. JB Pritzker: Medicaid Slashing Will Harm Up To A Million Illinoisans
For Illinois families of all backgrounds and across the state, health care isn’t an afterthought — it’s a lifeline. Since becoming governor, I have made it a top priority — eliminating the Medicaid backlog, passing the Healthcare Protection Act, expanding Medicaid access and coverage, erasing hundreds of millions of dollars in medical debt, and investing in safety net and rural health systems. Unfortunately, congressional Republicans passed a budget that will mean stripping away health care from working families to finance tax cuts for a privileged few, taking from low- and middle-income families to benefit the rich. From day one, Donald Trump and JD Vance’s administration has put health care on the chopping block. (JB Pritzker, 3/3)
