Morning Briefing for Friday, June 27, 2025
June 27, 2025
Morning Briefing
Medicaid cuts in tax bill; Supreme Court’s Planned Parenthood ruling; vaccine advisory panel meets; and more. Plus, your weekend reads.
GOP Scrambling After Senate Ruling On Medicaid Provision Of Tax Bill
June 27, 2025
Morning Briefing
Republicans are going back to the drawing board after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that Medicaid cuts proposed in President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spend bill are ineligible for a majority vote. Other administration news from the health agencies makes the day’s headlines.
First Edition: Friday, June 27, 2025
June 27, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Thune Says Health Care Often ‘Comes With a Job.’ The Reality’s Not Simple or Straightforward.
By Arielle Zionts
June 27, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Sixty percent of Americans have health insurance through their own workplace or someone else’s job. But not all employers provide health insurance or offer plans to all their workers. When they do, cost and quality vary widely, making Thune’s statement an oversimplification.
Too Sick To Work, Some Americans Worry Trump’s Bill Will Strip Their Health Insurance
By Phil Galewitz Stephanie Armour
June 27, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Republicans claim 4.8 million Americans on Medicaid who could work choose not to. The GOP’s work-requirement legislation could sweep up disabled people who say they’re unable to hold jobs.
Kennedy’s Vaccine Advisers Sow Doubts as Scientists Protest US Pivot on Shots
By Arthur Allen Sam Whitehead
June 27, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A new vaccine advisory panel appointed by the HHS secretary, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, reflected his unsupported claims about the safety of childhood inoculations.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Live From Aspen — Governors and an HHS Secretary Sound Off
June 26, 2025
Podcast
In this special episode taped before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, three former governors — one of whom also served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services — discuss how state and federal officials can work together to improve Americans’ health. Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas governor and HHS secretary under President Barack Obama; Republican Chris Sununu, former New Hampshire governor; and Democrat Roy Cooper, former North Carolina governor, join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner.
CDC Nominee Susan Monarez Skirts Questions On RFK Jr. During Hearing
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
In Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Monarez told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that she “values vaccines, public health interventions, and rigorous scientific evidence.” In other news: the NIH has stopped grant terminations.
Protesters In Wheelchairs Zip-Tied As Lawmakers Squabble Over Medicaid
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
The demonstrators, 34 of whom were arrested, oppose cuts to Medicaid and other programs that senators are considering. Congress is still hashing out health care-related provisions in the megabill, including a rural hospital relief fund, provider taxes, the effects of payments to states, and more.
Health Care Spending To Top One-Fifth Of GDP By 2033, CMS Report Predicts
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
National health expenditures will increase 5.8% a year on average from 2024 to 2033, at which point $8.6 trillion will be spent on health care, Modern Healthcare reports. More news is on: layoffs at UCSF Health; CVS’ overbilling ruling; and more.
New York Judge Fired For Opposing Trump’s Order On Gender Identity
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
Administrative Judge Karen Ortiz, who worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was let go a month after opposing an executive order decreeing male and female as two “immutable” sexes. Other states making news: Tennessee, California, North Carolina, Oregon, and Missouri.
Study Suggests Disposable Vapes Have More Toxic Metals Than Cigarettes
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
A study by UC Davis found that some disposable e-cigarettes emit in a single day the same amount of lead as 20 packs of conventional cigarettes. More news is on nitrates in water linked to preterm births; heart attack deaths; and a cancer-fighting compound.
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of the latest health research and news.
ACIP Will Revisit Vaccine Schedule, Give HepB And MMR Another Look
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
The advisory panel has created three work groups to study shots that have already undergone rigorous scientific study, medical experts say. The panel today may discuss an RSV jab for infants.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, June 26, 2025
June 26, 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.
First Edition: Thursday, June 26, 2025
June 26, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
At Some Federal Beaches, Surf’s Up but the Lifeguard Chair’s Empty
By Stephanie Armour
June 26, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Some of the nation’s most well-known beaches are managed by the National Park Service, which saw about 1,000 employees laid off in February by the quasi-agency Department of Government Efficiency, then led by Elon Musk. The void has become a serious public health and safety concern.
En algunas playas federales hay olas para surfear, pero los salvavidas brillan por su ausencia
By Stephanie Armour
June 26, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Justo en los días en que multitudes de turistas visitan los parques nacionales para disfrutar del verano, algunas playas del National Park Service están reduciendo los horarios en que hay guardia de salvavidas
Dual Threats From Trump and GOP Imperil Nursing Homes and Their Foreign-Born Workers
By Jordan Rau
June 26, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Understaffed nursing homes face a workforce crisis if President Donald Trump and Republicans further curtail immigration and cut Medicaid.
