First Edition: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
June 18, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations. Note to readers: KFF Health News’ First Edition will not be published Thursday in observance of Juneteenth. Look for it again in your inbox on Friday.
An Arm and a Leg: The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part I
By Dan Weissmann
June 18, 2025
Podcast
In Part 1 of a two-part series on dealing with the high price of prescription drugs, a father explains the strategies he used to get his daughter the medicine she needs to treat her epilepsy.
Nurse Practitioners Critical in Treating Older Adults as Ranks of Geriatricians Shrink
By Jariel Arvin
June 18, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The number of nurse practitioners specializing in geriatrics has more than tripled since 2010.
Have Job-Based Health Coverage at 65? You May Still Want To Sign Up for Medicare
By Michelle Andrews
June 18, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Patient advocates say they frequently hear from people who thought they didn’t need to sign up for Medicare when they turned 65 because they had group health coverage. That delay sometimes forces people to cover medical expenses themselves.
Must Crisis Pregnancy Centers Abide By State Subpoenas? High Court To Decide
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
First Choice Women’s Resource Centers argues that the First Amendment allows it to protect donor information from New Jersey officials investigating whether the clinics are misrepresenting themselves to donors and patients. Also, Ohio lawmakers are revisiting abortion ban plans.
NC Republicans Propose Recognizing Just Two Sexes, Spurn Gender Identity
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
Senate Republicans added language defining biological sex to a bill regulating online pornography that won unanimous support in the House. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill. More news comes from Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, California, and Washington, D.C.
Morning Briefing for Tuesday, June 17, 2025
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
We’d like to speak with personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services or its component agencies about what’s happening within the federal health bureaucracy. Please message us on Signal at (415) 519-8778 or get in touch here.
Senate Bill Calls For Deeper Medicaid Cuts Than House-Passed Bill
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Senate bill would expand Medicaid work requirements to include the parents of older children, not just childless adults. Other Medicaid news covers a poll indicating Americans’ support for federal health programs, the effects of cuts in rural America, and more.
NIH Cuts To Minority Groups’ Grants Are Illegal, Discriminatory, Judge Rules
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
On Monday, Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered much of the funding to be restored, pending an appeal. “I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,” he said. Plus: VA hospital rules, asbestos, and more.
CDC Official Who Tracked Hospital Trends From Infectious Diseases Quits
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
“I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions,” Dr. Fiona Havers told colleagues. And in MAHA news: Kraft Heinz says it will stop using certain artificial dyes by the end of 2027.
Bills In House, Senate Would Create Medicare ‘Part E’ For ‘All Americans’
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
The legislation introduced Monday in both chambers would essentially allow Medicare to compete with private insurance, Fierce Healthcare reported. Part E would sustain itself through premiums, and enrollees could sign up through their employers or any state or federal marketplace.
States Agree To New $7.4 Billion Purdue Pharma Opioid Settlement
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
If finalized, the deal, which was also signed on to by the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, would pay out over the next 15 years. Also: Eli Lilly’s experimental weight loss drug, a new Lupus drug, milli-spinner thrombectomy for stroke treatment, and more.
First Edition: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
June 17, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
‘MAGA’ Backers Like Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ — Until They Learn of Health Consequences
By Phil Galewitz
June 17, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A new poll finds that most adults oppose the GOP bill that would extend many of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts while reducing spending on domestic programs including Medicaid. Most Trump backers support the plan until they learn that millions would lose health coverage and local hospitals would lose funding.
The Price You Pay for an Obamacare Plan Could Surge Next Year
By Daniel Chang
June 17, 2025
KFF Health News Original
An estimated 4 million Americans will lose health insurance over the next decade if Congress doesn’t extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, which expire at the end of the year. Florida and Texas would see the biggest losses, in part because they have not expanded Medicaid eligibility.
El precio que pagas por un plan del Obamacare podría aumentar el próximo año
By Daniel Chang
June 17, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Los subsidios mejorados durante la pandemia expiran a fines de 2025. Esto podría generar una catarata de aumentos que afectarían a los consumidores.
23andMe Co-Founder’s Nonprofit Wins Bidding War To Buy Most Of Its Assets
June 16, 2025
Morning Briefing
TTAM Research Institute, the nonprofit led by 23andMe’s former CEO Anne Wojcicki, has won back 23andMe’s core assets: its Personal Genome Service, Research Services, and telehealth subsidiary Lemonaid Health. Other industry news includes gene therapy, layoffs, nurse shortages, and more.
As Doctors Suss Out Ovarian Cancer Cause, More Advise Salpingectomy
June 16, 2025
Morning Briefing
Since the 1990s, pathologists have been zeroing in on the fallopian tubes as the potential place where some female cancers start. Now, tube removal is on the rise. Other health and wellness news is about dementia risk in men, loneliness, joy, and more.
A Dose Of Upbeat And Inspiring News
June 16, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s stories are on family medicine, limb regeneration, weight loss, and more.
