UK’s Zero-Tariff Deal On Pharma Will Bring More Jobs To The United States
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
The agreement “strengthens the global environment for innovative medicines and brings long-overdue balance to U.S.–U.K. pharmaceutical trade,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association has filed a lawsuit to try to block the 340B discount program.
Congress May Punt Funding Bills To January As Another Shutdown Looms
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) appeals to centrist Republicans in an effort to extend ACA subsidies before they expire at the end of the month.
Trump Signs Into Law Measure Funding Drug Addiction Recovery
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
The measure renews a public health program brought in during the first Trump administration. It includes services to help with drug addiction and mental health. Also in the news: A well-known vaccine critic is the new chief science officer at HHS.
US Opts Out Of World AIDS Day, Frustrating Activists On The Front Line
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
Other countries marked the day with public health declarations and commemorative ceremonies, while the Trump administration stayed silent about the epidemic. “I think it’s emblematic of an administration that doesn’t seem to care,” one activist said.
CMS To End Medicare Experiment Meant To Fix Kidney Dialysis Shortage
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
The trial, which will end Dec. 31, studied whether giving financial incentives to providers would move more patients with end-stage kidney disease onto home dialysis and through the transplant process, Stat reports. That approach was not proven to work.
Morning Briefing for Tuesday, December 2, 2025
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
Are you in a Golden State of mind? Check out our new newsletter, California Weekly Roundup. Each Wednesday, we’ll feature original reporting from our California Bureau , as well as a roundup of the latest health headlines from across the state. Sign up here!
First Edition: Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025
December 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Cada vez más personas cuidan en casa a familiares que agonizan. Una organización enseña cómo hacerlo
By Halle Parker, Verite News
December 2, 2025
KFF Health News Original
La demanda de atención médica en casa, incluyendo los cuidados paliativos domiciliarios, se ha disparado desde el inicio de la pandemia de covid, al igual que el número de personas que cuidan a familiares.
Gobierno prometió “transparencia radical”, pero oculta solicitudes de fondos para la salud rural
By Sarah Jane Tribble Arielle Zionts
December 2, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Drones que entregan medicamentos y telesalud en bibliotecas locales son algunas de las ideas que líderes estatales acaban de presentar para gastar su parte de un programa federal de salud rural de $50.000 millones.
Feds Promised ‘Radical Transparency’ but Are Withholding Rural Health Fund Applications
By Sarah Jane Tribble Arielle Zionts
December 2, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.
They Need a Ventilator To Stay Alive. Getting One Can Be a Nightmare.
By Jordan Rau
December 2, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Few nursing homes are set up to care for people needing help breathing with a ventilator because of ALS or other infirmities. Insurers often resist paying for ventilators at home, and innovative programs are now endangered by Medicaid cuts.
RFK Jr. Wants To Delay the Hepatitis B Vaccine. Here’s What Parents Need To Know.
By Jackie Fortiér
Updated December 5, 2025
Originally Published December 2, 2025
KFF Health News Original
A CDC panel is reconsidering the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Renewed doubt could lead to fewer kids getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to an incurable, preventable virus that can be acquired by indirect contact with infected blood.
Niños y adolescentes aceleran con las bicicletas eléctricas mientras se estanca la supervisión federal
By Kate Ruder
December 1, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Las regulaciones federales sobre bicicletas eléctricas son limitadas y los esfuerzos para ampliarlas se han estancado, lo que ha dejado a estados y condados con la tarea de llenar ese vacío.
Congress Looks To Trump As ACA Subsidies’ Expiration Draws Closer
December 1, 2025
Morning Briefing
Mixed signals from the president are muddying the path forward on health care as Congress returns to session today. Also: Charities that help those with outstanding medical bills report seeing a troubling increase in requests for help, and they warn it could get worse as Medicaid cuts take effect.
New Rating Rules May Give Medicare Advantage Insurers A $13B Boost
December 1, 2025
Morning Briefing
One proposed change to the star rating system is bringing back the “reward factor.” This provision, previously used until 2023, would increase payments to insurers that perform well. As a result, Medicare is scrapping the “health equity index” that was set to go into effect in 2027.
Smartphones Before 12 May Lead To Higher Rates Of Depression, Obesity
December 1, 2025
Morning Briefing
The study, published Monday, found that the younger kids were when they got their first smartphones, the greater their risk of obesity, depression, and poor sleep. Also: Some mental health apps are looking to integrate generative AI chatbots.
Experts Want FDA To Back Up Claim That Covid Vaccine Caused Kids’ Deaths
December 1, 2025
Morning Briefing
Vaccine regulator Vinay Prasad, whose memo calls for stricter vaccine regulation, needs to make public the evidence that directly ties the shots to fatal outcomes, scientists say. In other vaccine news, scientists are studying more modern techniques for making shots.
NYC Officials Knew About Toxins In Air On 9/11 But Hid Testing Results: Union
December 1, 2025
Morning Briefing
Dozens of boxes of records undisclosed until now have allegedly shown that New York City officials “had real testing done. And when that testing was done, it was suppressed. And everyone was told the air was safe; people would have made different choices,” a union official said. Also: An FDNY deputy chief whose firefighter son died on 9/11 has also now died of World Trade Center-related illnesses.
