KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump’s Bill Reaches the Finish Line
The House on Thursday moved to approve the largest-ever cuts to federal safety net programs, the last step before the measure goes to President Donald Trump’s desk. After the Senate very narrowly passed the bill, House GOP leaders ushered it past resistance from conservatives wary of adding trillions to the federal debt and moderates concerned about its cuts to Medicaid. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to pursue his anti-vaccine agenda, despite promising that he would not. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A Texas Boy Needed Protection From Measles. The Vaccine Cost $1,400.
A family living in Galveston was surprised to be charged thousands of dollars for immunizations for their children. Their insurance plan didn’t cover the shots, and the cost of the measles vaccine in particular was more than five times what health officials say it goes for in the private sector.
Journalists Break Down Reconciliation Bill, Vaccine Panel Meeting, and ‘Dobbs’ Anniversary
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Kennedy’s Vaccine Advisers Sow Doubts as Scientists Protest US Pivot on Shots
A new vaccine advisory panel appointed by the HHS secretary, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, reflected his unsupported claims about the safety of childhood inoculations.
What RFK Jr. Isn’t Talking About: How To Make Vaccines Safer
Vaccines are under fire from the top of the Trump administration. Federal programs to monitor them and make them safer have always been underfunded.
Many Older People Embrace Vaccines. Research Is Proving Them Right.
Newer formulations are even more effective at preventing illnesses that commonly afflict seniors — perhaps even dementia.
Muchas personas mayores aceptan las vacunas con entusiasmo. La investigación les da la razón
Para los adultos mayores que expresan mayor confianza en la seguridad de las vacunas que los grupos más jóvenes, los últimos meses han traído consigo investigaciones muy positivas.
Journalists Assess RFK Jr.’s Remaking of Vaccine Committee and Trend of Kids Caring for Elders
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say
A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
Para apoyar el cambio en la política nacional sobre las vacunas contra covid-19, el HHS envió a legisladores un documento que cita estudios controversiales, y tergiversa otros.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Readers Endorse Doctor Migration and Shun ‘Elderspeak’
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Watch: RFK Jr. Dismisses All 17 Members of Vaccine Advisory Committee
KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder joined CBS Evening News to discuss the unprecedented move by the Health and Human Services secretary.
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.
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 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.
Las mujeres embarazadas que desarrollaron covid-19 han sido más proclives a enfermar gravemente y ser hospitalizadas.
RFK Jr. Says Healthy Pregnant Women Don’t Need Covid Boosters. What the Science Says.
Despite opposition by the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services, existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a covid vaccine during pregnancy all points the same way: The shots are important for maternal and fetal health.
Journalists Draw Link Between Internet Dead Zones, Threatened Medicaid Cuts, and Health
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
