Latest KFF Health News Stories
Journalists Recap State of NIH Cancer Research and Abortion Law’s Effect on Clinical Decisions
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
In Axing mRNA Contract, Trump Delivers Another Blow to US Biosecurity, Former Officials Say
The Trump administration is eroding national pandemic flu defenses as it guts health agencies, cuts research and health budgets, and withdraws funding for bird flu vaccines, health security experts said.
Expertos advirtieron que Estados Unidos podría pasar a depender de otros países en el caso de una próxima pandemia.
In a Dusty Corner of California, Trump’s Threatened Cuts to Asthma Care Raise Fears
The Trump administration wants to shutter the CDC’s National Asthma Control Program, which provides millions in funding to state-administered initiatives aimed at fighting the disease. The program’s closure, combined with massive cuts to environmental programs, could put the 28 million Americans with asthma at increased risk.
The House’s gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade won’t make it an easy sell. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Arielle Zionts, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about a Medicaid patient who had an out-of-state emergency.
Trump Decried Crime in America, Then Gutted Funding for Gun Violence Prevention
The U.S. Department of Justice canceled $500 million in grants to public safety organizations nationwide, including some that address gun violence. A clinic in St. Louis lost a $2 million award to develop a mobile clinic, increase mental health services, and engage the community.
Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Continues Assault on Obamacare
The domestic policy legislation the House advanced in May includes the most substantial rollback of the Affordable Care Act since President Donald Trump and his Republican allies tried to pass legislation in 2017 that would have largely repealed President Barack Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment.
Native Americans Hurt by Federal Health Cuts, Despite RFK Jr.’s Promises of Protection
The Indian Health Service was mostly spared in the federal government’s widespread staffing cuts, but tribal governments and organizations have lost funding elsewhere in the melee of federal health agency cuts.
Trump Administration Is Ending Multiple HIV Vaccine Studies, Scientists and Officials Say
The cuts will shutter two major HIV vaccine research efforts, and a National Institutes of Health senior official said the agency has been instructed not to issue any more HIV vaccine research funding in the next fiscal year, with few exceptions.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Live From AHCJ: Shock and Awe in Federal Health Policy
This episode was taped live on Friday, May 30, at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Los Angeles. Host Julie Rovner moderated a panel featuring Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for policy at The Commonwealth Fund; Berenice Núñez Constant, senior vice president of government relations and civic engagement at AltaMed Health Services; and Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The panelists discussed the national, state, and local implications of funding cuts made over the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the potential fallout of reductions that have been proposed but not yet implemented. The panelists also took questions from health reporters in the audience.
At Trump’s FDA, Anti-Regulatory Approach and Cost-Cutting Put Food Safety System at Risk
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American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration
Canada has seen a surge of American doctors seeking to move north in the months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Médicos estadounidenses se mudan a Canadá para escapar de la administración Trump
El Consejo Médico de Canadá afirmó que el número de médicos estadounidenses que han dado el primer paso para obtener la licencia en Canadá, ha aumentado más del 750%.
Feds Chop Enforcement Staff and Halt Rules Meant To Curb Black Lung in Coal Miners
The Trump administration has paused implementation of a rule limiting miners’ exposure to airborne silica dust days after a federal court agreed to put it on hold to hear an industry challenge. The protections are meant to head off a surge in cases of black lung disease. Meanwhile, any enforcement of new standards might be meager due to workforce cuts.
Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths
Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.
Recortes en servicios de idiomas generan temor a errores médicos, diagnósticos equivocados y muertes
Cerca de 69 millones de personas en el país hablan un idioma que no es inglés, y 26 millones de ellas hablan inglés, pero no con fluidez.
Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
In Arizona County That Backed Trump, Conflicted Feelings About Cutting Medicaid
Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican proposals to cut perceived waste in the program.
En lo que expertos califican como un cambio radical de las prácticas habituales, las autoridades nunca emitieron comunicados públicos luego de la investigación.
Federal Cuts Ripple Through a Bioscience Hub in Rural Montana
The National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, is one of only a few dozen research facilities of its type. The threat of staffing and grant cuts has town leaders worried and has added to long-standing tension around the lab’s presence in this politically conservative region.
