Scientist Whose Work Led FDA To Ban Food Dye Says Agency Overstated Risk
By Phil Galewitz
Updated March 18, 2025
Originally Published March 17, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Almost 40 years ago, Joseph Borzelleca published a study on red dye No. 3, a petroleum-based food coloring. The FDA cited his work to ban the additive in January. But Borzelleca says it’s safe.
Watch: The Dr. Oz Show Comes to Congress
By Julie Rovner Rachana Pradhan Stephanie Armour
Video by Hannah Norman
March 17, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The Senate Finance Committee questioned Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. KFF Health News reporters discussed the biggest takeaways from the hearing.
Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants
By Arthur Allen
March 16, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promising field of medical research.
Journalists Share How Additives Enter Food Supply and Measles Harms Kids’ Immune Systems
March 15, 2025
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
‘Dead Zones’ Where Internet and Health Care Lag
By Sarah Jane Tribble
March 14, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Health Experts Say Covid Now Acts Like An Endemic Disease, Akin To Flu
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Covid is now less deadly but is expected to continue experiencing waves, experts told The Washington Post. Separately, scientists suggest that the development of MIS-C complications in kids following a covid infection may be linked to reactivation of a latent Epstein-Barr virus.
Texas Tech Med School Says It Won’t Consider Race For Admissions
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Settling a lawsuit brought by a former applicant who alleged Texas Tech Medical School rejected him in favor of lower-performing students of color, the school said it wouldn’t consider a student’s race in future applications, and says it never did so. Also: calls for increased Medicare doctors’ pay.
Health Employers In Arkansas Banned From Using Physician Noncompetes
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Arkansas is the latest state to limit noncompete agreements, Modern Healthcare reports, after Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill voiding such provisions in physician contracts. Other news is from Maryland, Missouri, Connecticut, Michigan, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and California.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today’s selections are on sickle cell anemia, Xanax, microplastics, covid, and more.
HHS Girds For More Budget Cuts, Staff Reductions, Revised Policy Priorities
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Trump administration is planning sweeping changes in its effort to shrink the federal government, Politico reports. Disclosure of possible changes at the Department of Health and Human Services comes as separate federal judges ruled the Office of Personnel Management lacked legal authority to direct mass firings across government agencies.
Dr. Oz’s Tax Payments For Medicare, Social Security Come Under Scrutiny
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Senate Finance Committee Democratic staff allege the CMS nominee relied on a chancy tax exemption that allowed him to avoid paying $440,000 in taxes for the programs. That issue and his ties to the insurance industry are likely to come up today at his confirmation hearing.
FDA Gives 2025-26 Flu Shot Guidance, Minus Input From Advisory Committee
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
After studying this year’s influenza information, the recommendation is that flu vaccines for next year be trivalent, reports CNN. Also in the news, Vermont reports its first measles case in a school-aged child; disease detectives search airplanes for pathogens; and more.
Morning Briefing for Friday, March 14, 2025
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Want to catch up on this week's KFF Health News stories? Check out The Week in Brief, delivered every Friday afternoon. Sign up here !
First Edition: Friday, March 14, 2025
March 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections in California, But Newsom Could Balk
By Vanessa G. Sánchez
March 14, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.
Barbershop Killing Escalates Trauma for Boston Neighborhood Riven by Gun Violence
By Chaseedaw Giles
March 14, 2025
KFF Health News Original
American communities plagued by gun violence, including Four Corners in Boston, honor pockets of safety as sacred spaces. A brazen barbershop killing was a new and traumatic violation.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Cutting Continues
March 13, 2025
Podcast
The Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jeff Grant, who recently retired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after 41 years in government service.
California Borrows $3.4 Billion for Medicaid Overrun as Congress Eyes Steep Cuts
By Christine Mai-Duc
Updated March 13, 2025
Originally Published March 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, borrowed $3.4 billion from the state — and will likely need even more — due to higher prescription costs and increased eligibility for seniors and immigrants. The top Republican in the state Senate is demanding a hearing “so the public knows exactly where their tax dollars are going.”
Can House Republicans Cut $880 Billion Without Slashing Medicaid? It’s Likely Impossible.
By Madison Czopek, PolitiFact Amy Sherman, PolitiFact
March 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A Republican House resolution, which needs the Senate’s buy-in, directed a committee to propose ways to reduce the deficit by at least $880 billion over a decade. Lawmakers have taken Medicare off the table for cuts, which makes it impossible to reach $880 billion without cutting Medicaid.
