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Latest KFF Health News Stories

In RFK Jr.’s Upside-Down World of Vaccines, Panel Votes To End Hepatitis B Shot at Birth

KFF Health News Original

A session of a vaccine panel dominated by skeptics was chaotically at odds with past practices of the CDC, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described as a “cesspool of corruption.” His crew voted to end a 34-year recommendation to vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B.

Health Savings Accounts, Backed by GOP, Cover Fancy Saunas but Not Insurance Premiums

KFF Health News Original

Health savings accounts can be used to cover medical expenses, tax-free. But while wealthier Americans are using them to pay for gym equipment, cedar ice baths, and hemlock saunas, poorer Americans can’t use them to pay their skyrocketing health insurance premiums.

While Scientists Race To Study Spread of Measles in US, Kennedy Unravels Hard-Won Gains

KFF Health News Original

Scientists are conducting genetic analyses to see if the measles outbreak that started in Texas is still spreading from state to state. It’s a contentious question, because the findings may determine whether America loses its measles-free status.

Tracking Applications for Rural Health Transformation Funds

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News is working to collect and post complete application materials, by state, here and will update this repository as new materials, released in response to public records requests, arrive.

Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration has championed its Rural Health Transformation Program as an investment in American families who have been left behind. But Native American tribes, whose communities have a significant presence in rural America and have some of the greatest health needs, are ineligible to apply directly for funding.

Under Kennedy, America’s Health Department Is in the Business of Promoting Kennedy

KFF Health News Original

Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services increasingly uses its social media channels to promote Kennedy himself and his agenda. Interviews with over 20 former and current employees provide a look inside an agency where personality and politics steer communications with the public.

Listen: Nation’s Capital Cuts Traffic Deaths as Rates Rise Across US

KFF Health News Original

National traffic deaths are higher than they were a decade ago, despite safety initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels. But recently that trajectory has changed in Washington, D.C., itself.

RFK Jr. Wants To Delay the Hepatitis B Vaccine. Here’s What Parents Need To Know.

KFF Health News Original

A CDC panel is reconsidering the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Renewed doubt could lead to fewer kids getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to an incurable, preventable virus that can be acquired by indirect contact with infected blood.