The Week in Brief: May 23, 2025
Trump’s DOJ Accuses Medicare Advantage Insurers of Paying ‘Kickbacks’ for Primo Customers
Julie Appleby
The Department of Justice alleges that several major health insurers paid brokerages “hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks” to get agents to steer consumers into their Medicare Advantage plans, allegations the insurers strongly dispute.
Bill With Billions in Health Program Cuts Passes House
The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
Republicans Aim To Punish States That Insure Unauthorized Immigrants
Phil Galewitz and Christine Mai-Duc
A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.
Housing, Nutrition in Peril as Trump Pulls Back Medicaid Social Services
Angela Hart
About half of states have broadened Medicaid, the state-federal low-income health care program, to pay for social services such as housing and nutritional support. The Trump administration, however, views these experiments as distractions from the core mission to provide health care.
Trump’s Team Cited Safety in Limiting Covid Shots. Patients, Health Advocates See More Risk.
Stephanie Armour
The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.
3 Things To Watch on Mental Health in Trump’s Early Budget Proposals
Aneri Pattani
President Donald Trump’s budget office says he’ll continue to fund the new 988 suicide prevention hotline, but documents sent to Congress offer clues — amid some mixed messages — about the administration’s approach to two pressing public health issues: mental health and addiction.
How Trump Aims To Slash Federal Support for Research, Public Health, and Medicaid
Elisabeth Rosenthal
One thing experts agree on: The damage from the funding cuts will be varied and immense.
Trump Won’t Force Medicaid To Cover GLP-1s for Obesity. A Few States Are Doing It Anyway.
Lauren Sausser
Late last year, South Carolina Medicaid approved a class of medications known as GLP-1s to treat obesity, placing it among the few state programs covering these effective but expensive drugs. But access remains limited, even for patients covered by Medicaid, because of stringent prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting the drug.
Trump Exaggerates Speed and Certainty of Prescription Drug Price Reductions
Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
According to the timeline in the May 12 executive order, prescription drug price reductions would not happen "almost immediately,” but rather could take months or years. And extending the savings to Americans outside federal health insurance programs such as Medicare would likely require congressional action.
This News Might Ruin Your Appetite — And Summer
David Hilzenrath
Fresh studies expose a gap in the FDA’s assessments of foods: Widely used additives could damage the mix of bacteria in your gut, causing health problems.
Volunteers Help Tornado-Hit St. Louis Amid Wait for Federal Aid
Cara Anthony and Bram Sable-Smith
As St. Louis deals with more than $1.6 billion in estimated property damage from the May 16 tornado, locals are pouring in to help the hard-hit area of North St. Louis. It’s unclear if residents can count on federal support as they rebuild.
Call Centers Replaced Many Doctors’ Receptionists. Now, AI Is Coming for Call Centers.
Darius Tahir
Artificial intelligence products with lifelike voices are being marketed to schedule or cancel medical visits, refill prescriptions, and help triage patients. Soon, many patients might initiate contact with the health system by speaking not with a human but with AI.
Rural Patients Face Tough Choices When Their Hospitals Stop Delivering Babies
Arielle Zionts
More than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies since 2021, including a South Dakota hospital that serves small towns, farming communities, and a Native American reservation. Patients there now travel at least an hour to give birth.
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Journalists Unpack Drug Prices, Threats to Medicaid, and the Fluoridation of Water
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.