Journalists Follow the Fallout of CDC Director’s Firing and Trump’s Health Policies
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
All Coverage
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Mercury in Your Hot Dog? Vaccine Skeptics Face Their Limits at Crucial CDC Meeting
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meeting on vaccines pitted scientific expertise against vaccine skepticism. An often confusing debate ended with critics of the current vaccine schedule tabling a vote to remove one of its cornerstones.
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Disability Bias Complaints Peak as the Office That Investigates Them Is Gutted
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
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Listen: The Surprising Power of Pushback When Health Insurance Won’t Pay
Denied coverage for preventive care? You’re not powerless. In this new episode of NPR’s “Life Kit” podcast, KFF Health News reporter Jackie Fortiér explores why denials happen and how to avoid common pitfalls.
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Exactech Will Pay $8M To Settle Lawsuits Over Defective Knee Implant Parts
Whistleblower lawsuits alleged that Exactech covered up defects in knee implants while patient injuries mounted.
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Kennedy’s Take on Vaccine Science Fractures Cohesive National Public Health Strategies
A lack of faith in the soundness of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new direction has led states to explore enacting their own vaccine policies. A patchwork of divergent recommendations and requirements could result.
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Ousted CDC Officials Clap Back at RFK Jr.
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Ticks Are Migrating, Raising Disease Risks if They Can’t Be Tracked Quickly Enough
Doctors need to know when to screen for tick-borne diseases in their communities. But it’s getting harder for local health departments to get funding for tick surveys as federal public health grants from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dry up.
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Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages
In a rural, largely Republican region of California, homegrown efforts to bolster the medical workforce face an uphill battle, in part because of federal health care cuts approved by the GOP Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July, as well as a state budget deficit.
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Watch: Fired CDC Chief Says RFK Jr. Demanded She Roll Back Vaccine Policies Without Evidence
Susan Monarez and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief medical officer Debra Houry described turmoil in an agency dominated by anti-vaccine political officials nominated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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Projected Surge in Uninsured Will Strain Local Health Systems
In South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, many people go without health insurance, and the health system struggles as a result. Similar communities dot the nation, and more could face such difficulties under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law.
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Montana Advocates Worry About Federal Impacts on Support for Students With Disabilities
Montana has a waitlist for people with disabilities who need vocational training, even as schools and disability advocates are concerned about how federal cuts will affect those programs.
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Team Trump’s Answer to Ballooning Obamacare Premiums: Less Generous Coverage
Tens of millions of people face sticker shock enrolling in Affordable Care Act insurance for 2026. To save money, the Trump administration wants them to consider less generous coverage.
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An HIV Outbreak in Maine Shows the Risk of Trump’s Crackdown on Homelessness and Drug Use
Public health experts and advocates say the outbreak has been fueled by a confluence of local factors, including the sweeping of a homeless encampment and shuttering of a sterile-syringe program. But those issues may not remain local for long. The Trump administration is leading efforts to promote similar tactics nationwide.
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RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children
A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that could open the door to a comeback for a disease virtually eradicated among U.S. children.
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An AI Assistant Can Interpret Those Lab Results for You
While patients wait to hear back from their doctors about test results, many turn to AI assistants for answers despite cautions over privacy and accuracy.
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Why Are More Older People Dying After Falls?
Some researchers suspect that rising prescription drug use may explain a disturbing trend.
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Parents Fear Losing Disability Protections as Trump Slashes Civil Rights Office
The Education Department’s civil rights office often intervenes when students face discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or disability and their families can’t resolve complaints locally. Parents fear the effort to gut the federal agency will leave them with nowhere to seek justice.
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Journalists Talk New ‘MAHA’ Strategy, RFK Jr.’s Tack at HHS, and Plight of Rural Hospitals
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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Collaborative Networks Become Popular Lifeline for Rural Hospitals
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
