Morning Briefing for Thursday, February 20, 2025
February 20, 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.
Under Trump-Endorsed House Bill, Medicaid And SNAP Take $1T Hit
February 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Despite promising just hours earlier to protect safety net programs, Trump said he supports a Republican-led proposal floated in the House that trims $880 billion from Medicaid and about $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
HHS Revises Sex-Based Definitions That Omit Gender Identity References
February 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
The move to recast sex as an “immutable biological classification” comes as data shows a pronounced uptick in the number of Americans who identify as LGBTQ. Separately, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been advised to find a scientist who “can prove vaccines do cause autism.”
First Edition: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025
February 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
An Ice Rink To Fight Opioid Crisis: Drug-Free Fun vs. Misuse of Settlement Cash
By Aneri Pattani
February 20, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A decision about how to spend settlement funds in Carter County, Kentucky, which was hit hard by the opioid epidemic, offers a window into the choices that surround this windfall.
Study Shows Lifestyle More To Blame For Premature Death Than Genetics
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
In the age-old question of nature vs. nurture, it looks like we might have a winner. In other news: Bioengineers think they have found the key to reversing aging on a cellular level; supplements could harm your liver; and Apple starts a new health study based off of users’ data.
Nearly A Year After Cyberattack, Ascension Hasn’t Fully Rebounded
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
Modern Healthcare reports that the St. Louis-based health system spent about $140 million in response to the May 2024 hack and saw operating losses of almost $1 billion. Other names in the news include MultiPlan, CVS Caremark, and the Cleveland Clinic.
IVF Treatment Should Cost Less, Trump Says In Latest Executive Order
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
On average, a patient spends $15,000 on each round of in vitro fertilization, and many patients require multiple treatments, The Hill reported. Still, President Donald Trump is likely to get pushback from anti-abortion conservatives and also Senate Republicans, who have blocked consideration of IVF legislation several times in the past.
Childhood Vaccine Schedule Will Be Scrutinized, RFK Jr. Pledges
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
Despite his pre-confirmation assurances that he would not make changes, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to investigate topics that “were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.” Additional news is about cuts to the 9/11 survivor program, an FDA official’s ousting, and more.
Lawmakers Ban Gender-Affirming Care For Minors In Kansas, Overriding Veto
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
Kansas is now the 27th state to ban or restrict this type of health care. In California, a law trying to stop pharmaceutical companies from paying to keep generic drugs off the shelves for longer has been struck down. More news comes from Georgia, Texas, New York, and Colorado.
Morning Briefing for Wednesday, February 19, 2025
February 19, 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.
White House Backs Off Plan To Shut Down Covid Website, Discard Tests
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
The federal government will keep its stockpile of tests, and people may still order them through COVIDtests.gov. In other news, more Americans are skipping covid vaccines, complicating the path to herd immunity.
USDA Mistakenly Fires Officials Working On Bird Flu Response
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Department of Agriculture is scrambling to reverse the terminations. Meanwhile, many CDC scientists who worked in a lab program created to address embarrassing lab-safety failures, and improve outbreak responses, have been let go.
First Edition: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025
February 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Republicans Are Eyeing Cuts to Medicaid. What’s Medicaid, Again?
By Renuka Rayasam Sam Whitehead
February 19, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Republicans in Congress have suggested big cuts to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The complex, multifaceted program touches millions of Americans and has become deeply woven into state budgets and the U.S. health care system.
The Covid ‘Contrarians’ Are in Power. We Still Haven’t Hashed Out Whether They Were Right.
By Arthur Allen
February 19, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Jay Bhattacharya, nominated to lead the National Institutes of Health, opposed most covid mandates. Without an honest public debate about what worked and what didn’t, public health experts say, we’re even less prepared for the next pandemic.
Deny and Delay? California Seeks Penalties for Insurers That Repeatedly Get It Wrong
By Christine Mai-Duc
February 18, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A state lawmaker wants health insurers to disclose denial rates and explain those denials as anger grows over rising costs and uncovered medical care. If the bill is signed into law, health experts say, it could be one of the boldest attempts in the nation to rein in denials.
