Indiana State Senator Moves To Scrap Hospital Monopoly Law He Helped Create
By Samantha Liss
January 8, 2025
KFF Health News Original
After rival hospitals in Terre Haute scuttled plans to merge, a state senator has introduced a bill to forbid similar mergers by repealing a state law he helped write.
Medicaid Expansion Debate Will Affect Other Health Policy Issues Before Montana Legislature
By Mike Dennison Sue O'Connell
January 8, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Legislative leaders say the decision whether to renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program this year will loom over behavioral health spending and hospital regulation, among other topics.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
January 7, 2025
KFF Health News Original
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week.
Puberty Blockers Prescribed To Less Than 0.1% Of US Children, Study Finds
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
Researchers say among those with private insurance, not one transgender person under 12 was prescribed gender-affirming hormones. “There’s not some massive wave of folks accessing care,” the report’s lead author says. Separately, more than 30,000 veterans who were dismissed over sexuality might get their discharge status upgraded, opening the door to benefits they’ve been denied.
Texas Needs More Funding To Properly Staff 988 Suicide Hotline
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
Also in the news: A Tennessee judge largely blocks a law requiring porn site age verification; Indiana death row inmates reject Biden’s commutation; and Donald Trump brings a new wrinkle to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s unfinished project of health care.
Study: Prescription Drugs Release ‘Forever Chemicals’ Into Wastewater
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
The research, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also concluded that large municipal wastewater treatment plants are unable to fully remove the chemicals during treatment. Separately, dancing may help with depression among those with Parkinson’s disease, concussions rise among female athletes, and more.
America’s First Human Bird Flu Death Logged In Louisiana
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
The patient, who had underlying medical conditions, was exposed to the virus through a backyard flock and wild birds. As Iowa records its first H5N1 case in a domestic flock this year, officials warn to be wary of signs of possible infection in birds.
Medical Debt Now Banned From Credit Reports, But New Rule Faces Hurdles
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has estimated that this could boost the credit scores of people with medical debt by an average of 20 points, potentially improving their access to housing and lowering the threat of homelessness. Still, the rule may face a court challenge or could be struck down by incoming President Donald Trump.
FDA Sets New — And Unenforceable — Lead Level Guidance For Baby Food
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
Critics, however, say the move is too little, too late. Other FDA and pharma news is on AI-enabled medical devices, smaller PBMs, and more.
Key GOP Senator, Who’s Also A Doctor, Balks At RFK Jr.’s View Of Vaccines
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is the incoming chairman of the Senate HELP committee. Cassidy was one of just seven Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial in 2021. He is scheduled to meet with HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week.
First Edition: Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025
January 7, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
An Arm and a Leg: A Listener Fighting the Good Fight
By Dan Weissmann
January 7, 2025
Podcast
A medical resident who listens to “An Arm and a Leg” is pushing for change with the American Medical Association and at the hospital where he works.
Biden Administration Bars Medical Debt From Credit Scores
By Noam N. Levey
January 7, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The move, which comes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, represents a challenge to the new administration.
Health Care Is Newsom’s Biggest Unfinished Project. Trump Complicates That Task.
By Angela Hart Christine Mai-Duc
January 7, 2025
KFF Health News Original
As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, health care stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents. The issue will likely shape his national profile for better or worse. And now, Donald Trump brings a new wrinkle.
La salud, un proyecto inconcluso del gobernador de California
By Angela Hart Christine Mai-Duc
January 7, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Algunas de las iniciativas emblemáticas de Newsom en materia de salud, que podrían definir su perfil en el escenario nacional, están en peligro con el regreso de Donald Trump a la Casa Blanca.
California Governor Issues Executive Order To Limit Ultra-Processed Foods
January 6, 2025
Morning Briefing
In other news, California homelessness increased by 3% in one year; Minnesota now requires insurance companies to cover wigs for cancer patients; and more.
Former Virginia NICU Nurse Charged With Abusing Babies In Her Care
January 6, 2025
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, a Florida ob-gyn is reprimanded for abortion care; some insurers are denying coverage of prosthetic limbs as not necessary; AI in health care; and more.
