HHS Archives - Page 6 of 28

The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA

Episode 423

Nov. 20, 2025

Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the CDC altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy.

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A closely cropped shot of a preschool-aged girl coughing while holding a thermometer.

Waning Immunity and Falling Vaccination Rates Fuel Pertussis Outbreaks

New details from health officials suggest the whooping-cough surge may be part of a national pattern driven by slipping vaccine coverage and waning immunity, with infants bearing the brunt of the consequences.

By Céline Gounder

Nov. 20, 2025

A Small Texas Think Tank Cultivated Covid Dissidents. Now They’re Running US Health Policy.

Fueled by covid backlash, a libertarian author created the Brownstone Institute in 2021. In recent months, people with ties to the group have catapulted to the highest levels of U.S. government, exercising significant authority over access to vaccines and scientific research.

By Rachana Pradhan

Nov. 19, 2025

Wielding Obscure Budget Tools, Trump’s ‘Reaper’ Vought Sows Turmoil in Public Health

Through shrouded bureaucratic maneuvers, White House budget director Russell Vought and DOGE have quietly upended outbreak response, HIV treatment, and dementia care in communities across America.

By Amy Maxmen

Nov. 7, 2025

A vector illustration of a woman standing a bit hunched over in the middle of the frame while three dashed-line outlines of hands point at her.

While Politicos Dispense Blame, These Doctors Aim To Take Shame Out of Medicine

Clinicians and researchers are starting to embrace an effort to develop what’s known as “shame competence” in physicians to combat burnout and prevent that uncomfortable emotion from being passed along to patients.

By Charlotte Huff

Nov. 5, 2025

A sign is carved at the entrance to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building. It reads, "Department of Health and Human Services."

Trump’s HHS Orders State Medicaid Programs To Help Find Undocumented Immigrants

Federal health authorities have taken the "unprecedented" step of instructing states to investigate certain individuals on Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they’ve received more than 170,000 names collectively.

By Phil Galewitz

Nov. 3, 2025

A man sorts through a food delivery at a food bank

The Nation’s Largest Food Aid Program Is About To See Cuts. Here’s What You Should Know.

The federal government is making sweeping changes to SNAP, the program that helped feed about 42 million people in the U.S. last year. Here’s a breakdown of the changes to come and potential impacts.

By Katheryn Houghton, Samantha Liss, and Renuka Rayasam

Oct. 31, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Happy Open Enrollment Eve!

Episode 420

Oct. 30, 2025

A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are demanding Republicans agree to extend ACA tax credits, but there has been little negotiating — even as customers are learning what they’ll pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can’t pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

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A photo of a woman in a medical office filling out a form.

The Quiet Collapse of America’s Reproductive Health Safety Net

The HHS office that administers the Title X family planning program has been effectively shut down. And with cuts to federal funding for other family health programs, expected Medicaid cuts, and the potential lapse of ACA subsidies, health leaders fear they are seeing the biggest setback to U.S. reproductive care in half a century.

By Céline Gounder

Oct. 30, 2025

A photo of a woman in a headscarf facing away from the camera.

Refugees Will Be Among the First To Lose Food Stamps Under Federal Changes

Under the budget law that Republicans call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, food assistance for refugees will be sliced. The change is sowing fear, uncertainty, and a struggle for survival — a sign of what’s to come for millions of Americans.

By Renuka Rayasam

Oct. 30, 2025

A photo of Mehmet Oz holding up a phone during a White House meeting about health care and technology.

Officials Show Little Proof That New Tech Will Help Medicaid Enrollees Meet Work Rules

The Trump administration says it’s developing a digital tool to help people prove they’re meeting new Medicaid work requirements. KFF Health News talked to officials from the two states running pilot programs and found little evidence of new — or effective — technology.

By Rae Ellen Bichell and Sam Whitehead

Oct. 23, 2025

A photo of gloved hands putting a bandage on a patient's arm after giving them a vaccine.

Despite the Hoopla, Vaccines Should Be in Reach This Cough-and-Cold Season

Recommendations surrounding covid vaccinations and other such shots have been confusing. Ultimately, though, little has changed. Here’s what you need to know.

By Michelle Andrews

Oct. 22, 2025

The Week in Brief

‘Chemtrail’ Theories Warn of Health Dangers From Contrails. The Idea Takes Wing at Kennedy’s HHS.

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Stephanie Armour

Oct. 17, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Schrödinger’s Government Shutdown

Episode 418

Oct. 16, 2025

Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to lay off workers from programs supported mostly by Democrats. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris about Medicare open enrollment.

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A photo illustration of a sky filled with airplanes releasing contrails behind them.

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Chemtrail? New Conspiracy Theory Takes Wing at Kennedy’s HHS

The idea that airplane vapors are toxic to people or that there are ongoing efforts to intentionally change the climate made the social media rounds. Now, it has found advocates at the Department of Health and Human Services.

By Stephanie Armour

Oct. 16, 2025

KFF Health News & PolitiFact HealthCheck

RFK Jr. Misses Mark in Touting Rural Health Transformation Fund as Historic Infusion of Cash

The health secretary’s statement doesn’t consider the impact that the Medicaid cuts advanced in the same law will have on health care in rural America.

By Arielle Zionts

Oct. 15, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Starting To Feel the Shutdown’s Bite

Episode 417

Oct. 9, 2025

The government shutdown continues with no end in sight, and while it theoretically should not affect entitlement programs, the lapse of some related authorizations — like for Medicare telehealth programs — is leaving some doctors and patients high and dry. Meanwhile, the FDA quietly approved a new generic abortion pill. Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also, Rovner interviews Sarah Grusin of the National Health Law Program.

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A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Senate hearing.

Inside the High-Stakes Battle Over Vaccine Injury Compensation, Autism, and Public Trust

The evidence is unequivocal: Vaccines do not cause autism. Yet adding autism to the list of conditions covered by a federal payout program, as health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems inclined to do, could threaten its financial viability. Such a move also would suggest that the science is unsettled, that vaccines may be riskier than diseases, which is a fallacy.

By Céline Gounder

Oct. 6, 2025

A photo of a hand holding a syringe of the hepatitis B vaccine.

In Hepatitis B Vaccine Debate, CDC Panel Sidesteps Key Exposure Risk

At a recent meeting of a key vaccine advisory panel, members debated changes to the timing of hepatitis B vaccination, while largely ignoring the risk of early childhood transmission from day care or household contact. A few days later, President Donald Trump did the same.

By Jackie Fortiér

Sept. 29, 2025

The Week in Brief

‘Historic’ White House Announcement on Autism and Tylenol Causes Confusion

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Amy Maxmen

Sept. 26, 2025

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