Morning Briefing: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Errors in rehab hospitals, HHS layoffs resume, Medicare doc pay, Medicaid cuts, mass overdose, vaccine rates, and more are in the news.
Search
Filter
Clear All661 - 680 of 6,239 Results
-
Here Come the ACA Premium Hikes
Episode 407Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well. Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in Trump’s big budget law, and polls suggest many don’t like what they see. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews historian Jonathan Oberlander to mark Medicare’s 60th anniversary.
-
-
MRNA Vaccines, Once a Trump Boast, Now Face Attacks From Some in GOP
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.
-
In New York, Providers Must Put Patient Costs on the Table
The governor’s fiscal year 2026 budget revises a law designed to limit unexpected bills that can put people at risk for unfair medical billing practices and reduce medical debt. Consumer groups say it doesn’t go far enough.
-
Public Health Risks of Urban Wildfire Smoke Prompt Push for More Monitoring
As the fires burned in Los Angeles, scientists and local air regulators deployed monitors to measure the levels of heavy metals, carcinogens, and other toxic substances released into the air when homes, buildings, and cars burned. They hope their efforts will inform ongoing cleanup efforts and protect the public in future fires.
RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
Episode 401Health 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.
-
After Shutdown, Federal Employees Face New Uncertainty: Affording Health Insurance
Average premium payments in the federal government’s insurance program for its employees are set to jump more than 12% next year, on top of a 13.5% hike in 2025. The two-year increase is higher than many private employers and their workers are experiencing.
A Headless CDC
Episode 439The Trump administration faces the challenge of naming a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who can both satisfy the Make America Healthy Again movement and get confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, a new Senate bill to rescind the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is again elevating the abortion debate, which some Republicans would prefer to stay on the back burner until after the midterms. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss the news. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown University Law Center’s Katie Keith about the state of the Affordable Care Act on its 16th anniversary.
-
-
Immigration Detention Center Contractor Sues Over California Health Inspections
A private immigration detention center contractor has sued to block a California law allowing local public health officials to inspect facilities in response to allegations of medical neglect or unsanitary conditions.
-
This Geriatrics Training Program Escaped the Ax. For Now.
The Trump administration has restored promised funds to a program that teaches people in health care how to work with aging Americans.
By Paula Span Live From AHCJ: Shock and Awe in Federal Health Policy
Episode 399This episode was taped live on Friday, May 30, at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Los Angeles. Host Julie Rovner moderated a panel featuring Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for policy at The Commonwealth Fund; Berenice Núñez Constant, senior vice president of government relations and civic engagement at AltaMed Health Services; and Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The panelists discussed the national, state, and local implications of funding cuts made over the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the potential fallout of reductions that have been proposed but not yet implemented. The panelists also took questions from health reporters in the audience.
-
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Trump Turns To Medicare
President Donald Trump, dogged by an impeachment inquiry, tries to change the subject by unveiling an executive order aimed at expanding the role of private Medicare health plans. The Trump administration also launched an effort this week to expand “wellness” programs aimed at getting people with insurance to practice better health habits – even though research has shown the efforts don’t generally improve health or save money. This week, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
A Listener Fighting the Good Fight
Season 12, Episode 10A 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.
-
These Women Had Their Breasts Removed To Thwart Cancer. Then Came the Pain.
Post-mastectomy pain syndrome, or PMPS, is estimated to afflict tens of thousands of U.S. women each year. And yet it is not well understood and is inconsistently treated.
By Brett Kelman and Amy Maxmen -
Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage
Health care professionals fear that new caps on federal student lending, set to start in July, will put medical school out of reach for many who want to become doctors and exacerbate physician shortages. Others say unlimited federal lending has fed a rise in academic costs, saddling families and, ultimately, taxpayers with debt.
-
This Doctor-Senator Who Backed RFK Jr. Now Faces a Fight for His Job — And His Legacy
A year after Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, warily cast the vote ensuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ascension to Health and Human Services secretary, his life’s work — in medicine and in politics — is unraveling.
By Amanda Seitz -
Farmers Now Owe a Lot More for Health Insurance
More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, a much larger share than the overall percentage of U.S. adults. After a tough year for farmers, the loss of enhanced ACA subsidies is putting health insurance out of reach for many.
-