‘Not Accountable to Anyone’: As Insurers Issue Denials, Some Patients Run Out of Options
By Lauren Sausser
June 16, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Health insurers issue millions of prior authorization denials every year, leaving many patients stuck in a convoluted appeals process, with little hope of meaningful policy change ahead. For doctors, these denials are frustrating and time-consuming. For patients, they can be devastating.
Journalists Assess RFK Jr.’s Remaking of Vaccine Committee and Trend of Kids Caring for Elders
June 14, 2025
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
NIH Workers Risk Retaliation by Openly Protesting Trump Policies
By Rachana Pradhan
June 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects and Wastes Money, Researchers Say
By Amy Maxmen
June 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Researchers laid off in April were putting the finishing touches on in-depth HIV surveys that guide treatment and prevention. Some staff have been reinstated, but data remains in limbo.
Inestabilidad de la planta profesional en los CDC altera proyectos de VIH y desperdicia dinero, dicen investigadores
By Amy Maxmen
June 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Decenas de investigadores fueron despedidos justo antes de terminar de recopilar datos de la encuesta nacional sobre el VIH que aporta información clave.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today’s selections are on malaria, abortion, smoking, pesticides, aging, and more.
Illinois Lawmakers Vote To Strengthen Law That Helps Sexual Abuse Survivors
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
The changes come after an investigation showing dozens of hospitals violated the 49-year-old law. It’s unclear whether Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker will sign the bill.
Trump Team Pressures Pharma Companies To Voluntarily Lower Prices
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
The administration issued an order in May directing companies to begin negotiating drug pricing to bring them in line with other economically comparable nations, but pharmaceutical executives note that the order was light on details. Plus: RFK Jr.’s threat to yank medical school funding.
AMA Seeks More Reliable AI Tools, Proposes Third-Party Verification
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
In order for doctors to trust AI in a clinical setting, artificial intelligence must explain its clinical decisions and cite sources, according to an association report.
Average Age Of First-Time Moms Rises To Nearly 28; Teen Pregnancies Decline
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
A CDC study shows that the average age of all mothers giving birth in the U.S. is at 29.6 as of 2023. Other news is on SIDS prevention, the popularity of Zyn with women, and more.
Ousted ACIP Adviser Says Physicians Should Now Seek Guidance Elsewhere
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
Helen Chu, MD, urged doctors to find “science-based recommendations” from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Chu noted, “It puts us in a very dangerous place if we can’t trust the national recommendations made by ACIP.”
Teen Wins Supreme Court Case Over Disability Accommodations At School
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
In Thursday’s ruling, justices unanimously agreed that the burden placed on students to prove their school is not meeting their disability accommodations is too high. In other news: “Wheelchair rules” for airlines will not be enforced until August.
Morning Briefing for Friday, June 13, 2025
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
Behind on your reading? Catch up on this week's KFF Health News stories with The Week in Brief, delivered every Friday to your inbox. Sign up here !
Bipartisan HALT Fentanyl Act Clears House, Heads To President Trump
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
The legislation makes permanent an emergency rule issued in 2018 that classifies copycats of fentanyl as Schedule I controlled substances. However, it does not add funding for public health or anti-drug-trafficking efforts to combat addiction and deaths. Another bill advancing in the House would legalize for-profit VA claims consultants, a measure veterans’ advocates have fought against.
First Edition: Friday, June 13, 2025
June 13, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Expertos dicen que el secretario de Salud envió “ciencia basura” a congresistas para defender cambios en las vacunas contra covid
By Jackie Fortiér
June 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
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.
Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say
By Jackie Fortiér
June 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
June 12, 2025
Podcast
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.
‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Batter Rural Hospital Finances, Researchers Say
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Updated June 12, 2025
Originally Published June 12, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Rural hospitals would take an outsize hit from Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs. Researchers say the financial erosion would trigger hospital closures and service cuts, especially in communities where large shares of patients are enrolled in Medicaid.
