Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
A Ban Won't Stop Abortion Pill Access, Telehealth Providers Say
As a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place.
Even in Blue States, Hospitals Have Continued To Drop Gender-Affirming Care for Youths
Massachusetts passed laws and joined lawsuits to protect access to gender-affirming care for minors. But faced with the Trump administration’s threats, some hospitals voluntarily stopped care. Families are outraged.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
HEALTHCARE SHOULDN'T BE A CHOICE
We could have dodged this.
— Erin Macey
Bills, bills, bills, loan, bankruptcy.
Feeling healthy now?
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.
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Summaries Of The News:
Pharma and Tech
White House Policy Aide Reportedly In Running To Lead FDA
Bloomberg: Trump Administration Considering New Leader For FDA
White House policy aide Heidi Overton is among the final candidates the Trump administration is considering to lead the Food and Drug Administration, according to people familiar with the matter. No final decision has been made, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. It’s unclear whether Overton has the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., some of the people said. (Cohrs Zhang, 6/23)
More pharma and tech news —
MedPage Today: FDA Greenlights Generic Rifapentine For Tuberculosis
The FDA approved the first generic version of rifapentine (Priftin) to treat active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in adolescents and adults, as well as latent TB infection in patients as young as 2 years. (Rudd, 6/23)
Stat: FDA Drops Enforcement Against Whoop After It Tweaks Blood Pressure Feature
The Food and Drug Administration quietly told wearable maker Whoop last week that it would not take further enforcement action over a controversial feature that gives users a reading of their blood pressure. (Aguilar, 6/23)
Stat: What An Abandoned Trial Reveals About FDA 'Breakthrough' Devices
It wasn’t sure to be a slam dunk. By the time LivaNova launched a pivotal trial for its vagus nerve stimulator to treat heart failure in 2018, similar devices had shown mixed results. But the Food and Drug Administration had designated the device as a breakthrough, a label intended to speed promising technologies to patients with unmet needs: Maybe this would be the device to help heart failure patients when drugs weren’t enough. (Palmer, 6/24)
Verite News: Gene Therapy Cures Metro New Orleans Man Of Sickle Cell, Clears Path For Dream Of Becoming Pilot
Tears glazed Daniel Cressy’s face as he became the first patient in the Gulf South to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease through gene editing on Monday. He said it felt like being reborn. “ God has given me another life, a new chapter. I was able to experience a second birthday, something that most people will never experience,” he said during a celebration at Manning Family Children’s, surrounded by his care team and top public officials including Gov. Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno. (Parker, 6/23)
The Hill: Serena Williams Comeback Has GLP-1 Critics Thinking She Has An Edge
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are a hot health topic. Now, critics are debating whether the medications should be banned in sports for potentially being performance-enhancing drugs. The debate comes after 23-time Grand Slam-winning superstar Serena Williams officially came back to tennis after stepping away from the game for four years. During that time, she admitted to using a GLP-1 medication to get back in shape, saying it helped her lose 34 pounds. (Sitz, 6/23)
Vaccines
Study Showing Benefits Of Covid Vaccine Published In AMA Journal After CDC Refused To Run It In Theirs
NBC News: Covid Vaccine Study The Acting CDC Director Blocked Is Published In An Outside Journal
A study on Covid vaccines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s acting director blocked from publication came out Tuesday in a different journal. The findings show that Covid vaccines reduced the likelihood of severe illness by about half among adults last fall and winter. The study was originally scheduled to be released in March in the CDC’s flagship scientific publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Instead, it was published in JAMA Network Open, a highly regarded, peer-reviewed journal from the American Medical Association. (Bendix, 6/23)
Read the study on the JAMA Network —
On flu and measles —
ABC News: Military Services Again Requiring Recruits To Get Flu Shots As Air Force Outbreak Grows
The services have already been given exceptions to the vaccine policy, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement provided to ABC News. As part of those exceptions to the policy, the Army, Navy and Air Force are once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees, according to officials. (Cobern, Martinez, Kekatos and Beynon, 6/24)
Chicago Tribune: Health Officials Warn Of Potential Measles Exposure At O'Hare
Chicago health officials are investigating a case of measles in a traveler who arrived at O’Hare International Airport on June 17. (Schencker, 6/23)
Updates on the Ebola outbreak —
France 24: France Confirms First Ebola Case In Doctor Returning From DR Congo Mission
A doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the country's first case of the virus during the current outbreak, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The health ministry "confirms today the identification of a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory", it said. Contacted by AFP, the ministry specified that the case was identified in mainland France. The patient is being isolated and authorities are contact tracing, the ministry said. (6/24)
The New York Times: Ebola Symptoms In Current Outbreak May Be Milder Than In Previous Ones
Doctors treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the symptoms may be milder than in previous outbreaks of the disease. There is too little data yet to be certain, but an assessment by the ministry of health in Congo suggests that about 90 percent of patients do not seem to develop the extensive internal and external bleeding that can arise in the disease’s horrific end stages, according to Dr. Marie-Roseline Belizaire, who leads the World Health Organization’s response to the outbreak. Some early data also suggests that fewer people may be dying this time compared with previous outbreaks. (Mandavilli, 6/23)
NPR: Inside The Town Where The Ebola Outbreak Likely Started
Joseph Mute witnessed a string of mysterious deaths in Mongbwalu long before the Congolese government declared an Ebola outbreak. A neighborhood leader in the town, Mute said that the characteristic feature of these deaths was the presence of blood. "They had blood in the nose, blood in the mouth," he said, standing on an unpaved road in the Shuni neighborhood. A gold-mining town of about 130,000 people located in Ituri province, Mongbwalu is one of the epicenters of eastern Congo's Ebola outbreak. The outbreak is believed to have started here, according to the World Health Organization, but this has yet to be fully confirmed. (Livingstone and Mpiana, 6/24)
Health Industry
Hospital Destroyed By Hurricane Katrina Will Get New Life As Research Hub
The Washington Post: New Orleans Hospital Destroyed By Katrina To Be Reborn As A Science Hub
On Tuesday, Tulane leaders announced they would lead a sweeping redevelopment of Charity Hospital, investing $500 million to restore the massive structure and turn it into a hub for research, education, spin-offs and start-ups. (Svrluga, 6/24)
More healthcare industry developments —
MedPage Today: Hundreds Of Physicians, Other Clinicians At Banner Health File To Unionize
More than 240 physicians and advanced practice providers from dozens of Banner Health locations throughout the Phoenix area have filed to unionize. The effort comes as clinicians have expressed concerns about patient panel sizes, staffing levels, and scheduling practices, which have gone unaddressed, leaving them "worried about patient safety, continuity of care, and increasing administrative burdens," the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD) said in announcing the filing. (Henderson, 6/23)
Chicago Tribune: Workers To Strike At 6 Illinois Prime Healthcare Hospitals
Skilled maintenance workers at six Prime Healthcare hospitals in Illinois plan to go on strike July 2, with their union alleging that Prime has interfered with their right to organize and bargain collectively. (Schencker, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: CHOP CEO Madeline Bell To Retire Oct. 1
Madeline Bell will step down as CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on Oct. 1 after nearly 40 years at the health system, including the last 11 years at the helm. Dr. Joseph Mitchell, who joined CHOP as president in April 2025, will add the title of CEO upon Bell’s retirement, the system said Tuesday. He has worked in leadership roles in healthcare for more than 20 years. Before joining the system, he was executive vice president at Boston Children’s Hospital and president of special hospital Franciscan Children’s. (6/23)
KFF Health News: Even In Blue States, Hospitals Have Continued To Drop Gender-Affirming Care For Youths
One afternoon in late 2024, a sixth-grader nicknamed Bug came home from school with an announcement to make. Bug, who was assigned female at birth, told his parents he was a boy — and would be using he/him pronouns. “OK, cool,” his mother, J, remembered saying. (J asked to be identified by only her first initial, and Bug by his nickname, because the family fears harassment.) “‘What do you need to be supported?’” she recalled asking next. “He asked to get healthcare.” (Brown, 6/24)
On health costs and coverage —
Modern Healthcare: Why 2027 ACA Exchange Premiums Are Set For A Double-Digit Increase
Health insurance companies are preparing another round of big premium hikes for the exchanges, preliminary filings to state regulators show. While the proposed rate increases aren’t as large as what Affordable Care Act of 2010 exchange users encountered this year, they still will stress an already shaky market and may further shrink enrollment. Insurers cite factors such as broad economic uncertainty, heightened costs for hospital care and pharmaceuticals, higher spending on out-of-network claims, and provider consolidation to justify heftier premiums. (Tepper, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: Elevance Health Exits Ohio Small-Group ACA Insurance Market
Elevance Health is leaving the small-group Affordable Care Act exchanges market in Ohio at the end of the year. The company, operating under the Anthem brand in the state, will redirect resources toward different products such as Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and level-funded plans, a spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement. Smaller employers share risk under a MEWA, while employers in a level-funded plan pay a fixed monthly fee. (Tong, 6/23)
In related news —
AP: Philanthropic Donations Hit $617B In 2025, Says Giving USA 2026
In a year marked by economic uncertainty and political turbulence, philanthropic donations rose last year, according to an authoritative annual report on American giving. Donors gave U.S. charities $617 billion in 2025, an inflation-adjusted 3% increase over last year, according to “Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025.” Bequests last year jumped by nearly 17%, the third year of the last four to clock double-digit increases in this form of giving. The trend could signal the beginning of the long predicted Great Wealth Transfer — in which baby boomers begin passing their enormous wealth to their children and charities. (Childress, 6/23)
Capitol Watch
With Affordability At The Fore, Congress Moves To Bring Down Housing Costs
The New York Times: Congress Clears Housing Bill, Cementing A Rare Bipartisan Feat
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a landmark housing bill, notching a rare bipartisan accomplishment ahead of the midterm elections and clearing the way for President Trump to sign the most significant piece of housing legislation in 36 years. The bill’s passage, by a lopsided 358-to-32 vote, ended months of sparring between the House and the Senate over a sprawling measure that aims to tackle the housing crisis by boosting supply in a country facing an acute shortage of new homes. The Senate passed its version of the same bill Monday, by a vote of 85 to 5. (Kaysen, 6/23)
The Hill: Rand Paul Subpoenas Anthony Fauci Over Handling Of COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing a subpoena from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to appear before his panel in July. In a post online late Monday, Paul said Fauci backed out of a voluntary agreement to testify in front of the committee this month. “Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us he will NOT voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so,” Paul wrote on social platform X. (Weixel, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare AI Regulation Shifts To States As Congress Idles
States are charting the future of artificial intelligence in healthcare as Congress idles and President Donald Trump shows reluctance to interfere with a burgeoning industry. Federal lawmakers have talked a lot about AI and sometimes threatened to usurp state powers to regulate the technology. But Congress has not acted in a meaningful way and national regulators are busier using AI than defining or limiting how others use it. (McAuliff, 6/23)
In other news about the Trump administration —
Fierce Healthcare: DOJ Announces $6.5B Healthcare Fraud Takedown
The Department of Justice unveiled charges against 455 people, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in healthcare schemes that involved more than $6.5 billion in false claims and other patient harm. The charges were part of a two-week coordinated fraud takedown headed by the DOJ Criminal Division’s Health Care Strike Force program, but reflects “a whole-of-government approach” that involved the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as international partners, law enforcement said in a press release issued Tuesday. (Muoio, 6/23)
Bloomberg: Germany Sticks To Plan For Cuts In Drug Prices Despite US Probe
Germany signaled it will move ahead with plans to impose lower drug prices on pharmaceutical companies, calling a US accusation of unfair trade practices “unfounded.” Responding to a US probe into German drug pricing announced last week, which could lead to new tariffs, the health ministry in Berlin said deeper discounts on medicines are necessary to rein in unsustainable spending on Germany’s public healthcare system. (Kresge, 6/24)
MedPage Today: White House Denies Trump Got Unapproved Obesity Drug
The White House aggressively denied a report that implied President Trump may have received the investigational obesity medication retatrutide. STAT on Tuesday reported that Eli Lilly and the FDA granted one request for compassionate use of the triple hormone receptor agonist in April to a 79-year-old man (Trump turned 80 on June 14). A senior NIH clinician requested it for a patient with "refractory" obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and pulmonary hypertension, according to the story. (Fiore, 6/23)
Reproductive Health
Expensive, Risky IVF Add-On Procedures Don't Always Improve Pregnancy Odds, Study Finds
The New York Times: Services Sold To Boost I.V.F. Odds Backed By Little Evidence, Study Finds
Every year, patients undergo millions of in vitro fertilization procedures worldwide. Only a minority result in a live birth. In an effort to improve the odds, scientists have developed an array of “add-ons” that could in theory identify the most robust eggs, sperm and embryos or make the uterine lining more hospitable. Some patients pay thousands of dollars for these procedures, on top of the high costs of I.V.F. But a study published Tuesday found no indication that most of these add-ons work. (Astor, 6/23)
Undark: Advocacy Groups Express Mixed Views On Embryo Editing
As Edward Donnell Ivy remembers it, many of the sickle cell episodes he endured in his 20s were akin to headaches or colds: They hurt, but he could still get up and go. Every so often, though, he would be gripped by pain that left him unable to function. “I can’t go out the house. I can’t leave the bed,” he recalled. Then a college student, he would often wind up in the emergency room and miss weeks of classes at a time. The disease was taking a toll. (Smart, 6/24)
NPR: Crisis Pregnancy Centers Questioned About Ectopic Pregnancy Tactic
On Mother's Day, the Trump administration launched the website Moms.gov, which directs "expecting parents who are navigating difficult or unexpected pregnancies" to crisis pregnancy centers around the country. "Many centers offer pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STD/STI testing and treatment, parenting support, childbirth classes, medical referrals, and material goods like clothes and diapers — at no cost to you," Moms.gov explains. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/24)
KFF Health News: A Ban Won't Stop Abortion Pill Access, Telehealth Providers Say
Angel Foster had a backup plan.It was the first weekend in May. A federal appeals court had just made it illegal to mail mifepristone, a pill that’s part of the most widely used abortion method in the U.S. But Foster, a doctor who specializes in reproductive health, was prepared. As leader of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, which ships abortion pills to some 3,500 patients a month nationwide, including in states with abortion bans, she told patients they had three options. (Wells, 6/24)
CIDRAP: Device To Mix Baby Formula Contributed To Infant’s Legionnaires' Disease, Report Finds
When a 10-month-old girl arrived at a hospital in November 2025, she had spiked a fever and was breathing rapidly and shallowly. She recently had been diagnosed as having a rare autoinflammatory disease, and doctors learned she had been fed formula mixed using a device that blended powdered formula with warmed water stored in a reservoir. Both the water in the device and the home tested positive for Legionella pneumophila, according to a case report published last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The infant’s experience with Legionnaires' disease highlights the danger of drinking resting warm water. (Holohan, 6/23)
In other public health news —
ABC News: Cervical Cancer Deaths 49% Higher For Women Living In Poverty: Report
Cervical cancer deaths are 49% higher for women living in poverty, a major report released on Thursday finds. Women living in poverty were also 23% more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to those living in higher-income areas, according to the report from the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). "The disparities in this situation arise from an access to care issue," Dr. Paul DiSilvestro, division director of gynecologic oncology at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, who was not involved in the report, told ABC News. (Bojko, 6/24)
NBC News: As Cancer Death Rates Plunge, Clear Disparities Remain, New Report Says
Cancer death rates in the U.S. have dropped dramatically in the past 35 years, falling by 35%, according to a report from the American Association for Cancer Research published Wednesday. The decline, which translates to nearly 5 million fewer cancer deaths since 1991, has been driven in large part by increased screening and advances in cancer treatments. But the progress has not been seen equally across the country. (Alvino, 6/24)
MedPage Today: Higher Daytime Light Exposure Linked To Lower Dementia Risk
People exposed to higher levels of daytime light had a lower risk of dementia, prospective data from 88,000 U.K. Biobank participants showed. (George, 6/24)
Axios: Millions In U.S. Travel Abroad For Cheaper Dental Care
Nearly 9.6 million American adults may have traveled abroad to get dental care, according to a new report from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Oral health procedures are generally more expensive in the U.S. than in other countries, making medical tourism a more viable option for some people. (Goldman, 6/24)
State Watch
Second-Largest School District In US Enacts Strict Screen-Time Limits
The Washington Post: Nation’s Second-Largest School District Passes Strict New Screen Time Rules For Students
Los Angeles public schools will ban screens for its youngest learners and limit device usage for other students, marking one of the most aggressive attempts to restrict the amount of time children spend on devices at school. The new rules, approved on Tuesday, will be phased in starting in August following backlash to the devices districts nationwide have spent billions on since the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles school board had passed a resolution in April that required the district to limit students’ screen time. (Lumpkin, 6/23)
More news from California —
Los Angeles Times: 9th Circuit Blocks Law To Prevent 'Forced Outing' Of Trans Students
The appellate court granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a law that bars school employees from disclosing a student’s gender identity, sexual orientation or expression to parents without the student's consent. (Sharp, 6/22)
Los Angeles Times: Bill To Limit Prison Off-Ramp For The Mentally Ill Could Soon Head To Newsom
Citing a series of violent crimes that followed criminal defendants being spared of convictions due to diagnosed mental illnesses, state lawmakers have pushed forward legislation backed by California prosecutors to limit who can qualify. (Queally, 6/18)
Sign up for our California newsletter —
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Other health news from across the U.S. —
Bridge Michigan: Michigan Forgives $200M In Medical Debt
Michigan took another step Monday in its effort to eliminate medical debt for thousands of residents. The state announced it would wipe out $74 million in medical debt for 71,871 individuals. It’s the second round of a program that began last year, when the state said it would help residents erase more than $144 million in medical debt. The move comes amid a bipartisan push to offer patients more protections from collections by keeping them from going underwater on their hospital bills. (Newman, 6/23)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Council Again Delays Money For Nurses At St. Louis County Jail
The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday, in front of an angry audience, delayed approving money to keep medical staff working at the jail and juvenile detention center after contracts expire next week. County health Director Dr. Kanika Cunningham said the county will prepare to care for over 1,200 detainees with a skeleton nursing staff because of the council’s delay. (Landis, 6/23)
The Colorado Trust: Universal Basic Food Pilot Program Tackles Hunger In New Way
For years, the money on Jessie Dorris’ electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, card was enough to buy groceries for herself and her son. As a single mom who was working to improve their lives, she carefully maintained a tight budget every month. But grocery costs kept going up, and despite Dorris remaining frugal with her spending, the money wasn’t stretching as far. (Hindi, 6/24)
The Texas Tribune: Three Texas Health Priorities Have Hit Roadblocks
Last year, Texas became the first state to require warning labels on thousands of food and beverages containing common 44 dyes or additives, cleared the way for ivermectin to be sold without a prescription and approved a $3 billion fund for dementia research. All three were headline-making in their own right. But nine months later, all three bills — considered health priorities by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows — have run aground, either stuck in the courts or left to linger in the state agency rulemaking process. (Langford, 6/23)
AP: Army Sergeant Gets Life Sentence For Georgia Base Shootings
An Army sergeant was sentenced to life in a military prison Tuesday for shootings last summer that wounded five people at a base in Georgia. A military judge at Fort Stewart sentenced Sgt. Quornelius Radford to life with a possibility of parole, local news outlets reported, after a court-martial last week in which the soldier was convicted of attempted murder. Army prosecutors accused Radford, 29, of targeting leaders of his supply unit when he opened fire with a personal handgun last August. He wounded four fellow soldiers and his then-fiance, Raekwon Smith, who testified he was shot after following Radford onto Fort Stewart fearing the soldier was suicidal. (6/23)
Mirror Indy: Arrest Highlights How Some Go From Hospital To Jail
Adilah Patton went to the emergency room at Eskenazi Health. After being discharged, the 21-year-old spent the night in the waiting room. It was January 2018. Patton was trying to stay warm that winter; the temperature outside was 34 degrees and she had no home of her own. Hospital police arrested her for trespassing. Eskenazi’s officers wrote in their report that Patton had previously caused “a disturbance” at the hospital by loitering. They gave her another trespass card with orders: unless seeking medical treatment, stay away. (Molloy, 6/23)
Bloomberg: AI And Funding Cuts Worsen Crisis For Child Abuse Investigators
Last month, former law enforcement officer Anthony Maez, 62, was shopping at Target when a child in the next aisle started to cry. The sound triggered a memory of a scene he had watched while investigating violent sex crimes against kids, and he had to escape the store. Maez’s life has been routinely interrupted by traumatic flashbacks like this. It’s the burden he carries after spending more than a decade pursuing predators without receiving adequate mental health support. (Levine and Wagner, 6/23)
Editorials And Opinions
Viewpoints: RFK Jr. Still Pursuing Anti-Vax Efforts, But Quietly Now; $0 Drug Copays Can Really Add Up
The Washington Post: RFK Jr. Has Not Abandoned His Anti-Vaccine Agenda
The administration has quieted its efforts to blunt access to immunizations, but they continue nonetheless. (6/23)
The Washington Post: A $0 Co-Pay Can Save Billions In Health Care Costs
Bringing down drug costs is the first step to improve health care affordability. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Miriam J. Paramore, 6/24)
Los Angeles Blade: US No Longer Refuge For LGBTQ+ Refugees
The U.S. under the Trump-Vance administration is no longer a refugee for LGBTQ+ refugees. Rainbow Railroad has tried to fill the gap. (Devon Matthews, 6/22)
Stat: ‘TED Radio Hour’ Host On Bringing Americans Into Scientific Process
Journalists don’t usually appear in the byline of peer-reviewed scientific papers. But recently, I received an email I’d been waiting on for nearly three years: A prestigious journal had accepted the findings from a study I helped lead with more than 20,000 participants across all 50 states. It was published Tuesday evening in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. (Manoush Zomorodi, 6/24)
Times of San Diego: Single-Payer Calif. Healthcare May Be Possible — With Difficult Choices
A pathway to single-payer healthcare may be possible, but the thicket of medical economics and politics could require hundreds of difficult choices. (Dan Walters, 6/23)