Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today’s selections are on the presidential fitness test, Amtrak, 7Up, nurdles, and more.
Caregivers Bring Lawsuit Against Department Of Veterans Affairs
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
The lawsuit addresses the practice of dropping family caregiver application appeals once a veteran dies from military-related illnesses. The caregivers want to receive compensation for the time they provided care. Plus: Medicaid cuts, insurance denials, and more.
Fourth Person Dies From Legionnaires’ Disease In New York Outbreak
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
The bacteria has been found in 12 cooling towers on 10 buildings, including a city-run hospital and a sexual health clinic. Also, New York is seeing a rise in congenital syphilis cases, with three infant deaths this year alone. Other news comes out of Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Berkshire Hathaway Gobbles Up $1.6B In Shares Of UnitedHealth Group
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
The disclosure in a filing Thursday gave a much-needed boost to the beleaguered health insurance giant, which saw shares jump as much as 9.6% in post-market trading. In other news: Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife are giving $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute — the largest known single gift to a U.S. university, The Wall Street Journal reported.
To Align Drug Prices With Trump’s Priorities, Eli Lilly Raises Them Abroad
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
This list price for the highest dose of Mounjaro, for example, would go from roughly $165 to $447 in the United Kingdom. The drugmaker says this in effect would then “make them lower in the U.S.” Plus, a look at how President Trump’s tariffs would affect drug manufacturers that rely on Ireland.
Updated Blood Pressure Guidelines Frown On Alcohol Consumption
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
The guidelines, released Thursday, encourage doctors to recommend healthy lifestyle changes as a first course of action for the first three to six months before prescribing medication. Meanwhile, a study in China shows a link between lower blood pressure and a 15% lower risk of dementia.
Morning Briefing for Friday, August 15, 2025
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
Behind on your reading? Catch up on this week's KFF Health News stories with The Week in Brief, delivered every Friday to your inbox. Sign up here !
HHS Reinstates Defunct Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
In an effort to satisfy the demands of anti-vaccine activists, HHS announced Thursday that the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines will be restored. Experts are worried this move will undermine confidence in childhood vaccines.
Trump’s Wide Birth Control Mandate Exemptions Went Too Far, Judge Finds
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
The moral and religious carve-outs to contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act were deemed arbitrary, capricious, and an overreach of the administration’s authority, The Hill reports. Separately, scientists want to study mifepristone’s potential for breast cancer prevention but can’t.
Recortes a Medicaid impactarían muy fuerte en esta comunidad rural de Colorado
By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio
August 15, 2025
KFF Health News Original
La región es una de las más pobres del estado. En el condado de Alamosa, 2 de cada 5 residentes están inscritos en Health First Colorado, el programa estatal de Medicaid.
First Edition: Friday, Aug. 15, 2025
August 15, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Breaking Down Why Medicare Part D Premiums Are Likely To Go Up
By Julie Appleby
August 15, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Insurers will take drug costs, frequency of use, and other factors into account as they set premium amounts for the 2026 plan year.
Maryland Taps Affordable Care Act Fund To Help Pay for Abortion Care
By Scott Maucione, WYPR
August 15, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The state is using an old source of funding to pay for a new money crunch: assisting out-of-state patients with the costs associated with abortion.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: Trump Further Politicizes Science
August 14, 2025
Podcast
President Donald Trump’s latest executive order about science and medicine seeks to take funding decisions out of the hands of career scientists and give them to political appointees instead. And a gunman, reportedly disgruntled over covid vaccines, shoots at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a law enforcement officer. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Aaron Carroll, president and CEO of the health services research group AcademyHealth, about how to restore the public’s trust in public health.
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
August 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of the latest health research and news.
Brain-Eating Amoeba Case Reported In Missouri; West Nile Spikes In Chicago
August 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
The rare and mostly fatal amebic infection happens when a parasite enters the body of someone swimming in warm water. Also, the stratus covid variant is surging in 12 states.
NY Man Charged In Cyberstalking Of Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Relative
August 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
The man is accused of making repeated threatening calls to Brian Thompson’s family member. He is due in court today. Other news is about a Mission Health settlement, reduced workforces at Providence and CentraCare, and Oracle’s EHR platform.
In Study, People Who Used ADHD Meds Had Lower Risk Of Suicidal Behavior
August 14, 2025
Morning Briefing
The study also noted a 15% drop in substance misuse and showed benefit for patients who were taking stimulant medications rather than nonstimulants. Plus: developing new painkillers; how semaglutide affects muscle strength; and more.
