The Week in Brief: March 14, 2025
Under Trump, Social Security Resumes What It Once Called ‘Clawback Cruelty’
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Last year, the government stopped cutting off people’s monthly Social Security benefits to claw back overpayments. Last week, under President Donald Trump, it reversed that change.
Nursing Homes and the AMA, Once Medicaid Defenders, Hang Back as GOP Mulls Big Cuts
Noam N. Levey
The American Medical Association and the leading nursing home trade group both are lobbying Republicans in Congress on other priorities.
Can House Republicans Cut $880 Billion Without Slashing Medicaid? It’s Likely Impossible.
Madison Czopek, PolitiFact and Amy Sherman, PolitiFact
A Republican House resolution, which needs the Senate’s buy-in, directed a committee to propose ways to reduce the deficit by at least $880 billion over a decade. Lawmakers have taken Medicare off the table for cuts, which makes it impossible to reach $880 billion without cutting Medicaid.
California Borrows $3.4 Billion for Medicaid Overrun as Congress Eyes Steep Cuts
Christine Mai-Duc
Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, borrowed $3.4 billion from the state — and will likely need even more — due to higher prescription costs and increased eligibility for seniors and immigrants. The top Republican in the state Senate is demanding a hearing “so the public knows exactly where their tax dollars are going.”
MRNA Vaccines, Once a Trump Boast, Now Face Attacks From Some in GOP
Stephanie Armour
Republicans have proposed legislation in several states to ban the pioneering technology used in covid shots. Many doctors worry a huge medical advance could be rolled back.
Your Neighbor Has Backyard Chickens. Should You Be Worried?
Amy Maxmen
The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers, and killed at least one person in the U.S. KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen explains why scientists are worried.
Hospital Gun-Violence Prevention Programs May Be Caught in US Funding Crossfire
Stephanie Wolf
Hospital-based violence intervention programs have operated in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. The public health approach to gun violence works, by many accounts. But recent moves by the White House are raising anxiety about the programs’ future.
Barbershop Killing Escalates Trauma for Boston Neighborhood Riven by Gun Violence
Chaseedaw Giles
American communities plagued by gun violence, including Four Corners in Boston, honor pockets of safety as sacred spaces. A brazen barbershop killing was a new and traumatic violation.
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In Trump’s Team, Supplement Fans Find Kindred Spirits in Search of Better Health
Darius Tahir
President Donald Trump’s health team has deep financial ties to the supplements industry. Now they’re poised to boost its growth and remake the government’s approach to health.
Trump Health Care Proposal Billed as Consumer Protection but Adds Enrollment Hoops
Julie Appleby
The proposal also would reverse a Biden administration policy that allowed “Dreamers” — immigrants in the country illegally who were brought here as children — from qualifying for subsidized ACA coverage.
The Cutting Continues
The Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jeff Grant, who recently retired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after 41 years in government service.
Thought Inflation Was Bad? Health Insurance Premiums Are Rising Even Faster
Phillip Reese
California businesses saw employees’ monthly family insurance premiums rise nearly $1,000 over a 15-year period, more than double the pace of inflation. And employees’ share grew as companies shifted more of the cost to workers.
Medical-Debt Watchdog Gets Sidelined by the New Administration
Dan Weissmann
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is offline — for now. Here’s what that could mean for people with medical debt.
How the FDA Opens the Door to Risky Chemicals in America’s Food Supply
David Hilzenrath
The FDA has relied on food companies for decades to determine whether their ingredients are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels.
She Co-Founded the Office That Became DOGE. Now, She Sees ‘Irresponsible Transformation.’
Sarah Kwon
As a deputy chief technology officer in the Obama administration, Jennifer Pahlka brought Silicon Valley talent to Washington to streamline public access to government services. She believes better government technology could both ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted and that people who need health care and food assistance receive it.
Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections in California, But Newsom Could Balk
Vanessa G. Sánchez
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.
Sent Home To Heal, Patients Avoid Wait for Rehab Home Beds
Felice J. Freyer
Many patients ready to leave the hospital end up lingering for days or weeks — occupying beds that others need and driving up costs — because of a lack of open spots at nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. A few health systems are addressing this problem by moving post-acute rehab into the home.
Some CT Scans Deliver Too Much Radiation, Researchers Say. Regulators Want To Know More.
Joanne Kenen
Unnecessarily high radiation doses in scans have been linked to cancers. Under new federal rules, doctors and imaging centers have to more closely track and report the doses of radiation that patients receive.