The Week in Brief: Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 šāā¬
Trump Teamās Planned ACA Rule Offers Its Answer to Rising Premium Costs: Catastrophic Coverage
Julie Appleby
Sweeping changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year have been proposed by the Trump administration that focus on making more insurance plans available with higher annual out-of-pocket costs but lower premiums.
End of Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies Puts Tribal Health Lifeline at Risk
Katheryn Houghton and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Tribal insurance programs give Native Americans access to affordable health care when the Indian Health Service falls short. Those plans are threatened by the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Obamacare Sign-Ups Drop, but the Extent Wonāt Be Clear for Months
Julie Appleby
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data wonāt be clear until people who were enrolled have paid ā or haven't paid ā their new, often much higher, premiums.
Alabamaās āPretty Coolā Plan for Robots in Maternity Care Sparks Debate
Sarah Jane Tribble
Alabama, a state with one of the nationās highest infant mortality rates, is betting on robots to help fix its maternal care crisis. But the stateās plan for telerobotic ultrasounds in rural areas has raised doubts.
Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to GuantƔnamo
Amy Maxmen
U.S. Public Health Service doctors and nurses are being deployed to GuantƔnamo and other detention centers as President Donald Trump escalates mass arrests in his campaign to curb immigration. Some have resigned in protest. Others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.
Louisville Found PFAS in Drinking Water. The Trump Administration Wouldnāt Require Any Action.
Morgan Watkins, Louisville Public Media
After detecting a sudden spike in PFAS in its drinking water, the city traced it upstream along the Ohio River to a factory in West Virginia. But the EPA has relaxed Biden-era plans to regulate PFAS levels. So what happens next?
New Flu Vax? FDA Says No Thanks
Itās been a busy week at the FDA, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine. Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Jackie FortiĆ©r of KFF Health News, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health Newsā Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines
KFF Health News Staff and Oona Zenda
KFF Health News shares our favorite reader-submitted health policy valentines. One struck us in the heart and inspired an original cartoon.
RFK Jr. Made Promises in Order To Become Health Secretary. Heās Broken Many of Them.
Amanda Seitz and Hannah Norman
Before being confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nationās official vaccine recommendations. He did both.
This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain
Brett Kelman
Ballad Health, the nationās largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.
Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In
Andrew Jones
A planned 10-year federal program called Making Care Primary was supposed to help primary care doctors by easing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on improving patientsā health. A year after the Trump administration eliminated the program, federal officials created an alternative plan that favors companies.
US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectinās āAbility To Kill Cancer Cellsā
Rachana Pradhan
At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released āin a few months.ā Ivermectin, used to deworm horses and other animals, has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among supporters of Kennedyās āMake America Healthy Againā agenda and many conservatives.
New Medicaid Work Rules Likely To Hit Middle-Aged Adults Hard
Samantha Liss and Sam Whitehead
Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.
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Journalists Describe Drivers of High Health Costs and Spell Out the Science of Protein
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.