The Week in Brief: Friday, Sept. 5, 2025
RFK Jr. Faces Senate Finance Committee: A Live Discussion
KFF Health News’ Stephanie Armour, Julie Rovner, and Arthur Allen and KFF’s Josh Michaud discuss the biggest takeaways from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
Senior CDC Officials Resign After Monarez’s Ouster, Citing Concerns Over Scientific Independence
By Céline Gounder
Four senior officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced their resignations in recent days, citing what they described as growing political interference in the agency's scientific work, particularly regarding vaccines.
Watch: How Concerns of CDC Scientists Over Political Interference Have Grown This Year
By Amy Maxmen
KFF Health News correspondent Amy Maxmen traces the political turmoil at the CDC under President Donald Trump.
Blue States That Sued Kept Most CDC Grants, While Red States Feel Brunt of Trump Clawbacks
By Henry Larweh and Rachana Pradhan and Rae Ellen Bichell
The Trump administration's cuts of public health funds to state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of where someone lives, a new KFF Health News analysis shows.
As Measles Exploded, Officials in Texas Looked to CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered.
By Amy Maxmen
Trump officials sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists, slowing their response to the measles outbreak in West Texas. Cases surged and sparked new outbreaks across the U.S. and Mexico. Together, these linked outbreaks have sickened more than 4,500 and killed at least 16 in the U.S. and Mexico.
Watch: How Controversies Over Vaccine Changes Affect You
By Céline Gounder
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discusses leadership changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and concerns over vaccine policy.
Listen: As Kids Head Back to School, Parents Sort Out Confusion Over Vaccine Access
By Jackie Fortiér
Confusion over federal immunization policy could have major implications for how families with private insurance and Medicaid pay for routine vaccinations. Some doctors are encouraging parents not to wait and get their children shots as soon as they are eligible.
Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make a Profit? There’s Not Much Money in It
By Madison Czopek, PolitiFact
Four pediatricians said evidence-based science and medicine and a desire to keep kids healthy drive doctors’ childhood vaccination recommendations. And while pediatric practices might make money immunizing privately insured children, most practices likely break even or lose money from providing the shots.
Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research
By Arthur Allen
The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to politicos, NIH workers say.
FTC Has Long Said Products Must Back Up Health Claims. A MAHA Lawsuit Would Upend That.
By Arthur Allen
Xlear, a maker of xylitol gum, has sued the Federal Trade Commission, saying the onus should be on government to prove that ingredients don’t live up to advertised claims. RFK Jr.’s “medical freedom” allies have rallied to the cause.
Listen: Limiting Benefits and Adding Restrictions, ‘MAHA’ Reshapes Food Aid
By Renuka Rayasam
The White House and congressional Republicans have made historic changes to the federal anti-hunger program SNAP. They say the changes will boost healthy eating for low-income Americans. Some nutrition experts aren’t so sure.
An Insurer Agreed To Cover Her Surgery. A Politician’s Nudge Got the Bills Paid.
By Cara Anthony
A kindergartner in Missouri needed eye surgery. Her insurer granted approval for her to see a specialist nearby, yet her parents were confused when they still owed more than $13,000. Then her uncle, a former state senator, reached out to a colleague who contacted the hospital and the insurer.
Fighting a Health Insurance Denial? Here Are 7 Tips To Help
By Lauren Sausser
Many people don’t know they can fight a health insurance denial, let alone how to do it. Here are practical tips for consumers who want to appeal a prior authorization decision.
Trump Administration Investigates Medicaid Spending on Immigrants in Blue States
By Angela Hart and Devi Shastri, The Associated Press
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is hunting for Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse in at least six Democratic-led states that expanded coverage to low-income and disabled immigrants without legal status, according to records obtained by KFF Health News and The Associated Press.
He Built Michigan’s Medicaid Work Requirement System. Now He’s Warning Other States.
By Kate Wells, Michigan Public
Michigan’s former top health official spent a year and $30 million building a system to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The difficulties he encountered have him worried about 40 states and Washington, D.C., having to launch such systems by 2027.
Social Security Praises Its New Chatbot. Ex-Officials Say It Was Tested but Shelved Under Biden.
By Darius Tahir
Social Security, under the leadership of a tech enthusiast, rolled out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to answer calls. But as beneficiaries complain about glitches, lawmakers and former officials ask whether it’s a preview of a less human agency at which rushed-out AI takes the place of pushed-out government workers.
When Hospitals and Insurers Fight, Patients Get Caught in the Middle
By Bram Sable-Smith
About 90,000 people spent months in limbo as central Missouri’s major, and often only, provider fought over insurance contracts. Patients getting caught in the crossfire of disputes has become a familiar complication, as about 8% of hospitals have left an insurer network since 2021. Trump administration policies could accelerate the trend.
As Insurers Struggle With GLP-1 Drug Costs, Some Seek To Wean Patients Off
By Jamie Ducharme
Conventional wisdom says GLP-1 drugs must be taken indefinitely to maintain weight loss. But a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are challenging that consensus and exploring whether — and how — to taper patients off expensive GLP-1 drugs.
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