Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Backed by Threat of Clawbacks, Feds Wield Tight Grip on $50B Rural Health Fund
Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, framed the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as “bold, creative plans” led by states. But as states have started to roll out their plans, federal officials control where and how the money is spent.
Early-Onset Cancers Are on the Rise. Knowing Your Family History Is Crucial.
In the U.S., more than a dozen kinds of cancer are on the rise among people under 50. The HealthQ team shares the latest guidance on being proactive with your family and doctor.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
HEALTHCARE PRIORITIES
Per SEIU,
— Philippa Barron
transport, front desk, call center
are not patient care.
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Administration News
Trump Admin Requests Expedited Appeal Of Ruling Blocking HHS Vaccine Policies
The New York Times: Kennedy Seeks To Expedite Appeal Of Ruling That Blocked His Vaccine Policies
The Trump administration has requested an expedited appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a series of decisions on vaccines made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including rescinding routine recommendations for immunizations against a half-dozen childhood diseases. Mr. Kennedy announced in a social media post on Friday that the administration had filed the motion to expedite appeal so that federal vaccine advisers could meet to decide whether to recommend shots before the fall flu season. (Mandavilli, 6/15)
The Hill: Trump Admin Pays To Store Expired Contraceptives In Belgium
Millions of dollars’ worth of contraceptives meant to be distributed to low-income nations in Africa have expired, but the Trump administration is paying tens of thousands of dollars a month to keep them in storage in Belgium, according to a report from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) inspector general. About $9.7 million worth of taxpayer-funded contraceptives purchased by USAID and originally destined for low-income nations in Africa got stuck in Belgium after the Trump administration shut down the agency last year. According to the report, about $8 million worth of hormonal contraceptives, injectable contraceptives and other family planning commodities are no longer usable after they were moved from climate-controlled storage. (Weixel, 6/15)
KFF Health News: Backed By Threat Of Clawbacks, Feds Wield Tight Grip On $50B Rural Health Fund
In Maine, state health officials hoped to steer a slice of $190 million in new federal rural health funding to shield hospitals and clinics from the fallout caused by cuts to federal health programs. Their plan would have helped pay to treat low-income, uninsured patients. But federal leaders overseeing the five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program said no. “It was not our decision,” said Lisa Letourneau, a senior adviser at Maine’s health department. (Tribble and Zionts, 6/16)
The Hill: RFK Jr. Demands Explanation For Journal's Vaccine Study Removal
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is demanding answers from a science journal on why a study regarding vaccination and sudden infant death was removed from the publication. In a letter dated June 11, Kennedy wrote to Toxicology Reports Editor-in-Chief Lawrence H. Lash concerning a 2021 study titled “Vaccines and sudden infant death: An analysis of the VAERS database 1990–2019 and review of the medical literature.” (Choi, 6/15)
AP: Cuban Report Quantifies Impact Of US Oil Blockade On Children's Health
Some of Cuba’s sickest people are feeling the effects of the U.S. energy blockade, with surgeries delayed, kidney dialysis treatments disrupted and children with cancer facing a higher risk of death, according to a report published Monday by Cuban state-run media. The survival rate for children with cancer has fallen to 65% from 85% before the energy restrictions began in January, according to the report released by Cubadebate. It also said 100,000 children younger than 7 are no longer receiving the daily liter of milk previously provided by the state and that the country’s 16-vaccine immunization program for infants is “at risk.” (Rodríguez, 6/15)
AP: FDA Issues Product Recall For Alfredo Sauce Over Salmonella Fears
Federal health officials have issued a recall for alfredo sauce distributed to dozens of U.S. states by a supplier because of potential salmonella contamination. The sauce was voluntarily recalled by the supplier because it contained a dry milk powder ingredient that was possibly contaminated with salmonella, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement report. There were 913 cases recalled and each of those cases contained 12 sealed bags of sauce, with each bag weighing over 3 pounds (1.36 kilograms), the FDA said. (6/15)
Bloomberg: Happiest Baby Faces FDA Warning For $1,700 Snoo Bassinet Safety Issues
Happiest Baby, Inc., maker of the wildly popular Snoo Bassinet that sells for $1,700, received a safety warning from US regulators for selling unauthorized products and for unsanitary conditions — including mold — reported on some items. The company sold new sizes of its bassinets that haven’t been vetted by the the US Food and Drug Administration for safety and effectiveness, posing risks to infants that use them, the agency said in a statement Monday. The FDA regulates medical devices and considers the Snoo products, which provide robotic movements to help newborns sleep, to be devices. (Inampudi, 6/15)
The New York Times: How Kratom, An Addictive Gas Station Drug, Found Allies In Trump’s Cabinet
For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths. Powerful figures close to President Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns. (Vogel and Jewett, 6/15)
ProPublica: Trump EPA Methane Rule Rollback To Benefit Billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand
Stripper wells collectively contribute just 6% of the nation’s oil and natural gas. But in recent studies, scientists have identified them as the source of roughly half the sector’s methane emissions — in part because they tend to be thinly monitored, run-down and thus prone to leaking. As a result, these barely productive wells play an outsize role in climate change, disproportionately amplifying heat waves, droughts and wildfires. In a world where global warming fixes can seem impossibly daunting, stripper wells are the rare low-hanging fruit, said Andrew Logan of Ceres, a climate advocacy group. (Cuadros, 6/16)
Axios: Dems Offer Roadmap To Expand Drug Price Talks
Senate Democrats on Tuesday are unveiling a proposal to expand Medicare drug price negotiations, in a bid to counter President Trump's election-year messaging on health care affordability. (Sullivan, 6/16)
Outbreaks and Health Threats
RFK Jr. Directs Woman To Remain In Hantavirus Quarantine Unit Weeks After Others Went Home
The New York Times: Kennedy Orders Woman To Stay In Hantavirus Quarantine, Despite C.D.C. Recommendation
A cruise ship passenger who was exposed to hantavirus in early May is still being held at a quarantine facility in Nebraska, against her wishes and against the recommendation of a medical review from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Monday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a staunch proponent of medical freedom, signed an order to continue quarantining Angela Perryman, 47, even though others who had been held at the facility have, since May 31, been allowed to return to their homes if they wished to do so. (Mandavilli, 6/15)
Bloomberg: USDA Steps Up Screwworm Monitoring As Cases Expand In Texas
The US Department of Agriculture is stepping up its surveillance of New World screwworm, seeking to work with the Department of Homeland Security to contain a growing outbreak threatening the nation’s cattle herd. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Monday press conference that the two agencies were planning to enter into an official memorandum of understanding this week, which will establish a formal framework for greater collaboration on response efforts to a deadly parasite. The agency is also looking into utilizing dogs, drones and artificial intelligence to detect larvae and assess where animals may need inspection. (Peng and Elkin, 6/15)
Regarding the "fox tapeworm," Ebola, and influenza —
Fox News: Deadly Parasitic Tapeworm Detected In West Coast Wildlife For First Time
A parasitic tapeworm known as Echinococcus multilocularis — often called the "fox tapeworm" — has been detected for the first time in West Coast wildlife. University of Washington researchers discovered the tapeworm, which can cause a rare but potentially deadly disease in humans, in 37 out of 100 coyotes sampled near Puget Sound in Washington State. The findings were published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases earlier this year. (Sudhakar, 6/15)
CBS News: American Doctor Who Recovered From Ebola Arrives Back In U.S., Says He's 'Feeling Well'
The American doctor who contracted Ebola while working on a humanitarian mission in Congo has returned to the United States and said he's feeling well after recovering from the potentially deadly disease. Dr. Peter Stafford, his wife, Rebekah Stafford, and their four children all arrived safely on Monday, according to Serge, a Pennsylvania-based Christian missions organization. Stafford has been Ebola-free since May 30, the organization said. (Intarasuwan, 6/15)
Bloomberg: Ebola Cases In Congo Surpass 800 As Aid Groups Warn Outbreak May Be Wider
Ebola treatment centers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are becoming overwhelmed as confirmed cases surge past 800 and health workers struggle to track transmission chains, aid groups warned ahead of an emergency summit of African leaders. A month after the outbreak was declared, surveillance, testing and contact tracing are struggling to keep pace with transmission in eastern Congo, where conflict and displacement have left almost 1 million people uprooted, health officials and aid groups said. (Gale, 6/16)
CIDRAP: Head-To-Head Comparison Suggests Flu Was Much More Likely To Lead To Hospitalization Than COVID Last Winter
During the most recent respiratory virus season, the risk of hospitalization was higher for influenza than for COVID-19, per a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study of nearly 13,000 patients. The authors, from the VA Saint Louis Health Care System, noted that while COVID-19 was tied to a substantially greater risk of hospitalization than flu early in the pandemic, data showed an increase in flu cases and hospitalizations in 2025-26 compared with previous seasons. The findings were published last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 6/15)
Science And Innovations
FDA Approves Medical-Grade Maggots For Debridement Therapy
MedPage Today: New Type Of Maggots Cleared By FDA As Medical Treatment
The FDA cleared medical-grade Australian sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) larvae in what maker Cuprina Holdings believes marks the first debridement product to use this particular species. Dubbed Medifly Maggots, the product is indicated for removing dead or infected tissue from non-healing necrotic skin and soft tissue wounds -- such as pressure or neuropathic foot ulcers -- and non-healing traumatic or post-surgical wounds. (Ingram, 6/15)
CIDRAP: Uptake Of Long-Acting Injectable HIV Therapy Remains Low Among Medicare Beneficiaries, Study Finds
Despite the promise of freeing people with HIV from taking daily pills, uptake of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LA-ART) among older Americans remains limited, according to a study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found that just 3% of Medicare beneficiaries with HIV were using the injectable treatment in 2023, two years after the Food and Drug Administration approved the sustained viral suppression regimen. The findings also revealed geographic and racial disparities in who received the therapy, mirroring longstanding disparities in access to HIV care. (Bergeson, 6/15)
MedPage Today: In High-Risk B-Cell ALL, Swapping Out Chemo For Blinatumomab Improves Outcomes
Replacing two high-dose chemotherapy courses with blinatumomab (Blincyto) significantly improved event-free survival (EFS) in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an interim analysis from a phase III trial showed. (Bassett, 6/15)
Stat: Covid Vaccination Cut Risk Of Adverse Heart Events, Large Study Finds
Recent Covid vaccination appears to have broad cardioprotective effects, according to a new study, which found reduced risk of events like heart attacks and stroke, hospitalization, and death in people who had received the vaccine. (Chen, 6/15)
MedPage Today: Study Looks At Risk For Dementia After Shingles Vaccine In High-Risk Group
Older adults at higher risk for dementia were less likely to have a dementia diagnosis if they received a herpes zoster (shingles) shot, a cohort study using target trial emulation showed. (George, 6/15)
State Watch
Colorado Cleared To Import Lower-Cost Drugs From Canada
Stat: FDA Approves Colorado’s Plan To Import Cheaper Drugs From Canada
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it will allow Colorado to import certain prescription drugs from Canada in an effort to bring prices down for residents, making it the second U.S. state to be granted such authorization. (Lawrence and Silverman, 6/15)
North Carolina Health News: EPA's PFAS Retreat Is 'A Slap In The Face,' NC Advocate Says
Two years ago, Emily Donovan stood on a stage in Fayetteville and introduced then-EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Regan, who was secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality before being tapped by the Biden administration to lead the EPA, had returned to the region — where in 2017 the public first learned that the Cape Fear River was contaminated with per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — to announce the first‑ever national drinking water standards for six of them. (Atwater, 6/16)
News from Alabama, Maryland, Minnesota, and Texas —
Becker's Hospital Review: Alabama System Disputes It Denied Suspect Care Before Nurse’s Killing
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the man accused of fatally shooting a DCH Health System nurse alleges the Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based system failed to provide emergency psychiatric care before the attack, a claim DCH disputes, saying the man never entered its emergency department or presented himself for care, WBRC News reported June 15. The complaint, filed in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court on behalf of Matthew James Taylor by his mother, Amanda Taylor, alleges Mr. Taylor sought emergency psychiatric evaluation and treatment at DCH Regional Medical Center but was refused screening, stabilization, treatment or admission on May 12. (Ruder, 6/15)
The Baltimore Sun: New Dashboard Shows Urgent Care Options In Howard County
Howard County residents now have a new tool to help them decide whether to head to the emergency room — where the county’s only hospital logs wait times more than an hour longer than the national average. (Hacker, 6/15)
Sahan Journal: South Minneapolis Clinic Will Offer Non-ER Sex Assault Exams
A clinic in south Minneapolis will soon offer forensic sexual assault exams, giving survivors another option for care besides the emergency room. Southside Community Health Services, which previously operated out of an elementary school, recently opened its new location on East Lake Street. The community health center aims to support low-income and uninsured residents in a diverse corridor of the city. (Pross, 6/15)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Among 7 States That Don’t Fund Gambling Addiction Help
Working to create the Texas Lottery in 1991, state lawmakers ran into concerns that government-sponsored gaming would tempt Texans prone to compulsive or problem gambling. In response, lawmakers devoted $2 million a year to a state-run “compulsive gambling program” to identify and treat problem gamblers. (Runnels, 6/15)
Health Industry
Independent Doctors Decry Shift To Private-Equity Firm, But Aren't Sure What To Do Next
MedPage Today: ED Docs Being Replaced By Private Equity-Owned Firm Call It A 'Kick In The Teeth'
Emergency medicine physicians under contract with Valley Health in Winchester, Virginia, said they were blindsided by the news that the health system planned to end their contract and partner with a private-equity owned practice management company instead. "You're always taught as a young kid, you got to stand up for your rights," said Ronak Shah, MD, vice president of Emergency Medicine of Blue Ridge (EMBR), an independent, physician-led company. Those ideals, however, crashed headlong into harsh realities -- from the cost of litigation to the lack of strong legal protections for independent practice physicians in Virginia. (Firth, 6/15)
CIDRAP: Paper Spotlights High Healthcare Burden And Costs Of Long COVID
A new study suggests that post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), commonly known as long COVID, has placed a substantial burden on healthcare systems in the years since the onset of the pandemic and is associated with significantly higher healthcare use and costs compared with either COVID infection without lingering symptoms or no history of infection. (Bergeson, 6/15)
Cardinal News: A Rural Hospital Paid For The Children Of 2 Top Executives To Become Doctors. It Won't Say How Many Other People Have Gotten Similar Help.
Buchanan General Hospital paid for the children of two of its top executives to become doctors through a program that was designed to provide loans for medical training, such as medical school or nursing school. However, the payments are listed as grants, not loans, on the nonprofit hospital’s tax filings, and the hospital has declined to answer questions about the discrepancy or say whether others received similar benefits. (Schabacker, 6/16)
Modern Healthcare: Ascension, CHS Hospital Sales Fuel Regional Health System Growth
Acquiring four hospitals in southwest Michigan was not an easy path for Beacon Health System. The nonprofit system, headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, is nearly a year into post-deal integration after purchasing facilities from Ascension last July — the largest acquisition in its history. It added more than 2,700 employees across the hospitals, 35 outpatient clinics and an ambulatory surgery center. (Hudson, 6/15)
More from the insurance, tech, and pharmaceutical sectors —
Fierce Healthcare: Centene Offering Staff Buyouts As It Navigates Murky ACA Waters
Centene will offer buyouts to employees as it navigates a significant membership decline, a spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Healthcare. The spokesperson said that on Monday the insurer announced a voluntary separation program designed to "to support employees who may be considering a transition." It's unclear how many people Centene is aims to reach with the program, but Centene employs about 61,000 people in total. (Minemyer, 6/15)
Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans Posted Negative Margins In 2025
Nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurers underperformed relative to national and regional competitors last year as costs mounted. Only seven nonprofit Blues plans reported positive operating margins in 2025, one fewer than the prior year, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of health insurance company regulatory filings. (Tepper, 6/15)
Stat: Human Cell Atlas Consortium Expanding Into Spatial Biology
A decade since its founding, the International Human Cell Atlas Consortium is hosting a high-profile meeting in Boston this week, with panels featuring more than two dozen prominent academics and biotech industry leaders, including Genentech’s Aviv Regev, David Altshuler of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Eric Lander from the Broad Institute. The event, which is expected to draw hundreds of scientists from across the globe, comes at an inflection point in the HCA’s ambitious aim to build a comprehensive reference map of all the different types of cells that make up a human body. (Molteni, 6/16)
Modern Healthcare: Masimo CEO Katie Szyman Stepping Down After Danaher Acquisition
Masimo Corp. CEO Katie Szyman posted on social media she is stepping down following the company’s acquisition by Danaher Corp. Szyman, who was appointed to lead Masimo in February 2025, in a Sunday LinkedIn post announced her decision to leave the patient monitoring company. Life sciences company Danaher announced Wednesday it completed its acquisition of Masimo. The $9.9 billion deal made Masimo a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher, and its common stock is no longer trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (Dubinsky, 6/15)
Bloomberg: Sigma Healthcare Withdraws From Boots Sale Process
Sigma Healthcare Ltd. announced its withdrawal from the Boots sale process, after being among the parties exploring a potential acquisition of the British pharmacy chain in a deal that could be worth as much as $10 billion. Sigma “has elected to withdraw its interest and cease discussions immediately,” it said in a statement Monday. (Leigh, 6/15)
Cancer
Despite Health Insurance, Illinois Woman's Cancer Diagnosis Leads To Bankruptcy
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Swansea Woman's Cancer Diagnosis Leads To Bankruptcy
A routine mammogram a year ago — Angie Salvador's first ever — launched her on an odyssey through the American healthcare system. More tests were ordered. A biopsy followed. Then the bad news: breast cancer. (Barker, 6/15)
CBS News: A Mom's Stage IV Cancer Had No Symptoms. An Innovative Surgery Saved Her Life
When Amy Piccoli's son brought home a stomach bug in May 2024, she thought she knew what she was in for. The Los Angeles mom of three was used to seasonal illnesses and 24-hour viruses. Piccoli got sick, as she expected. But she soon became "really dehydrated" and ended up in the emergency room. As part of their workup, doctors ran a CT scan. The test showed spots on her liver and a mass in her colon. A follow-up MRI led to a biopsy. Piccoli said she "kind of blacked out" when she received the results. (Breen, 6/13)
The New York Times: Millions Of Women Are Left Out Of Menopause’s Moment
Cybele Maylone, 46, has been hearing about hormone therapy nonstop. Whether it is her friends going through menopause or posts from influencers on her social media feed, the subject has seemed unavoidable: who was on it, which doctor finally took their symptoms seriously and, most importantly, how good it felt to be on the medication. The hot flashes waning. Brain fog lifting. Sleep returning. To Ms. Maylone, it sounds like a miracle drug. But for her and millions of other women, it is not an option. (Krieger, 6/15)
KFF Health News: Early-Onset Cancers Are On The Rise. Knowing Your Family History Is Crucial
Bryce Ramsey of Madison, Mississippi, was 33 when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Upon noticing blood in her stool, she blamed the hemorrhoids she’d developed after delivering her son eight years earlier. Ramsey didn’t initially link her symptoms to cancer. “But I had just kind of made a deal with myself because the blood was starting to become more frequent,” she said. “I was like, ‘If this happens the next time I go to the bathroom, I’m going to make a call.’” (Anthony and Farmer, 6/16)
Los Angeles Times: What COVID Is Teaching Doctors About The Relationship Between Viruses And Cancer
In early 2022, around the time the Omicron variant started driving a new surge in COVID-19 cases, researchers at James DeGregori’s University of Colorado Anschutz lab noticed something unusual: When lab mice with dormant breast cancer cells were infected with either influenza or SARS-CoV-2, the animals were significantly more likely to develop aggressive lung tumors. What’s true for a mouse isn’t always true for a human. But when the team examined healthcare databases, they were surprised to find that something similar appeared to be going on in the human population. (Purtill, 6/15)
MedPage Today: Timely 'Nudges' Can Help Encourage More End-Of-Life Conversations In Cancer
Reminders, or "nudges," to both oncology clinicians and patients led to a significant increase in difficult conversations about poor-prognosis cancers, a large randomized study showed. Involving more than 1,000 patients and their oncology providers, the study showed that patients who received a nudge along with their clinicians were 79% more likely to have serious illness conversations (SICs) within 60 days as compared with the no-nudge group. (Bankhead, 6/15)
Regarding vitamin K, cannabis, and social media use —
MedPage Today: Newborn Girls Appear Less Likely To Get Vitamin K, Hepatitis B Shots
Newborn girls were less likely to receive vitamin K prophylaxis and hepatitis B vaccination than newborn boys, according to a cohort study involving more than 93,000 babies. (Henderson, 6/15)
KUNC: More Seniors Are Using Cannabis. Researchers In The Mountain West Want To Know Why
Many older adults are turning to edible cannabis for the first time to find relief from age-related health issues. Researchers want to better understand their motivations. A new study out of the University of Utah and University of Colorado Boulder surveyed about 170 adults in Colorado over the age of 60 about why they wanted to purchase edible cannabis products. (Cohen, 6/15)
CNN: Social Media Use Early On Can Lead To Substance Experimentation
The minimum age requirement for most social media platforms is 13 years old, but nearly 40% of adolescents between the ages of 8 and 12 use social media. Doing so could lead these tweens to earlier experimentation with drugs and alcohol. (Trivedi, 6/12)
The Hill: UK Joins Limited Nations Banning Social Media For Those Under 16
The British government is banning access to social media for children under 16, joining just a few countries across the globe trying to protect kids online through a strict age-based restriction on certain applications and platforms. The move, announced Monday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, makes the United Kingdom the fifth nation to pursue an all-out ban on social media for young kids and teenagers. Australia became the first in the world to implement an under-16 ban late last year, followed by Indonesia, while countries including Brazil and Canada have introduced legislation for similar provisions. (Nazzaro, 6/15)
Editorials And Opinions
Viewpoints: Insurers' Flawed System For Denials Puts Patients In Danger; Congress Must Stop Tiptoeing Around Impending Medicare, Social Security Crises
San Francisco Chronicle: When Your Insurance Company Decides You Didn’t Have A Health Emergency
At the UCSF Emergency Department, where I work, we’re starting to notice a dangerous trend: insurers refusing to pay for emergency care after the fact based on whether a patient’s final diagnosis appears “serious enough.” For emergency physicians like me, this is a familiar and troubling pattern. Years ago, insurers attempted to deny coverage for visits deemed “non-emergent” based on discharge diagnoses. But emergency care doesn’t work that way. Patients don’t arrive with diagnoses — they arrive with symptoms, often indistinguishable from life-threatening conditions. (Maria Raven, 6/14)
Kansas City Star: Kansas, Missouri Need Social Security, Medicare Solutions
More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security and Medicare benefits in retirement. However, many are probably unaware that both programs’ trust funds are headed to zero — at which point, the law states that big cuts will happen automatically. Yet very few of our political leaders are saying much about this massive issue. (Maya MacGuineas, 6/15)
Stat: Congress Must Take Two Steps To Prepare For The Next Health Emergency
The Trump administration has taken important steps to strengthen America’s national health security by preserving the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, known as ASPR, within the Department of Health and Human Services and recently nominating a new assistant secretary to guide the agency. Congress should now build on that momentum by swiftly confirming the administration’s nominee and reauthorizing the law that provides ASPR’s authorities, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. (W. Craig Vanderwagen and Jennifer B. Alton, 6/16)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Letter A Transparent Ruse Against Reproductive Rights
Republican attorneys general from 14 states — led by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway — sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month demanding action on what they warn is “a growing threat to the country’s waterways.” So what gives? Has America’s staunchly pro-industrial party suddenly become a bunch of tree huggers? No. The attorneys general's EPA gambit is an all-too-obvious head-fake in service to a more familiar goal: denying reproductive rights to women. (6/15)
Kansas City Star: Win Over Kansas State Board Of Nursing Will Change System
When I wrote for The Star last December, I was in the middle of the fight of my professional life. The Kansas State Board of Nursing decided that giving speeches about dementia while my license briefly lapsed as I cared for my husband through cancer treatment constituted “unprofessional conduct.” Its members wanted me to admit guilt and accept a permanent mark in three national nursing databases that would have made me essentially unemployable. I refused. (Amy Rose Siple, 6/15)
The CT Mirror: Today’s Families Should Have Access To Early Alzheimer’s Detection
Most people think of Alzheimer’s disease as something that happens in old age. My family learned otherwise. When my mother began showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in her late 50s, our family entered a world of uncertainty. At an age when most people are still working, making plans for retirement, and looking forward to the future, my mother was facing a disease that would ultimately take her life at just 65 years old. (Erin Mahoney, 6/15)