Public Health Archives - Page 3 of 182

HHS Gets Funding, But How Will Trump Spend It?

Episode 432

Feb. 5, 2026

Congress has passed — and President Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss that story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam about a new reporting project, “Priced Out.”

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A young child with two braids and a light blue dress with frilly skirt swings on a swing set with barefeet. The rest of the playground and park in the background have a motion blur while the child is in focus.

Poison at Play: Unsafe Levels of Lead Found in Half of New Orleans Playgrounds

Verite News’ reporters tested soil in more than 80 playgrounds for lead contamination. Even in trace amounts, lead exposure in children can result in lower IQs, learning challenges, and behavioral issues.

By Tristan Baurick, Verite News and Halle Parker, Verite News

Feb. 5, 2026

A photo of a Black man in winter clothes outside in D.C.

Listen: Many Tents Are Gone, but Washington’s Homeless — And Their Health Problems — Aren’t

Sweeps of encampments scatter homeless people, as medications are tossed and street medicine providers scramble to reconnect with their patients. KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses the aftermath on the Jan. 28 edition of WAMU’s “Health Hub.”

By Angela Hart

Feb. 4, 2026

A researcher sits at her desk indoors. A laptop is in front of her.

NIH Grant Disruptions Slow Down Breast Cancer Research

The Trump administration has made the future of federal funding for cancer research uncertain. At one groundbreaking breast cancer research lab, work that could save lives has slowed significantly.

By Martha Bebinger, WBUR

Feb. 3, 2026

The Week in Brief

Trump’s Covid Views Don’t Track With Reality That Recent Studies Suggest

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

By Stephanie Armour

Jan. 30, 2026

A man wearing a white t-shirt and red pants sits on a couch next to a woman wearing glasses and a denim jacket

This Teen Never Got His Day in Vaccine Court. His Former Lawyer Now Advises RFK on Its Overhaul.

The federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.

By Maia Rosenfeld

Jan. 29, 2026

Two gloved hands hold a sample tray in a lab.

Trump Policies at Odds With Emerging Understanding of Covid’s Long-Term Harm

Studies increasingly offer insights into the health risks and burdens faced by people who have had covid infections. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has narrowed covid vaccine recommendations and cut research.

By Stephanie Armour

Jan. 27, 2026

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Health Spending Is Moving in Congress

Episode 430

Jan. 22, 2026

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is bleaker for the health care outline released by President Trump last week. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your Ice Cream.”

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As US Is Poised To Lose Measles-Free Status, RFK Jr.’s New CDC Deputy Downplays Its Significance

Measles is at a 30-year high in the U.S., but technicalities may stave off the loss of the nation’s measles elimination status.

By Amy Maxmen

Jan. 21, 2026

A woman wearing a yellow headband and a brown sweatshirt stands in front of a garage door, posing for a portrait.

Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell: Companies Get Paid Only if Costly Gene Therapies Work

The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program — created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump — could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.

By Phil Galewitz

Jan. 21, 2026

KFF Health News On Air

Physician-Journalist Shines Light on Measles Upsurge and New GLP-1 Study

KFF Health News' editor-at-large for public health recently took to the airwaves to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of her appearances.

Jan. 17, 2026

How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.

Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 16, 2026

A photo of Martha Santana-Chin smiling in front of a wall painted blue. The wall appears decorated for Thanksgiving: a string of pennants spells out "Give Thanks." Images of employees' heads are superimposed on turkeys.

GOP Cuts Will Cripple Medicaid Enrollment, Warns CEO of Largest Public Health Plan

Martha Santana-Chin, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, last year took the helm of L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. She warns that looming federal cuts will push up to 650,000 people off L.A. Care’s Medicaid rolls by the end of 2028.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Jan. 15, 2026

A photo of an older man having a bandage placed on his arm after receiving a vaccine.

The New Old Age

Vaccines Are Helping Older People More Than We Knew

Many shots seem to have “off-target” benefits, such as lowering the risk of dementia, studies have found.

By Paula Span

Jan. 14, 2026

A photo zoomed in close-up on an ingredients list. The focus is on a list of food dyes.

RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Has Picked Up Steam in Statehouses. Here’s What To Expect in 2026.

“Make America Healthy Again” policies driven by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made major strides in state legislatures, with food additives among the most common targets. The trend is expected to continue this year.

By Alan Greenblatt

Jan. 13, 2026

The Week in Brief

Vaccines Jettisoned by CDC Safeguarded Millions From Disease

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

By Arthur Allen and Jackie Fortiér

Jan. 9, 2026

A photo of a store exterior with graffiti tags on the outside.

Postcard From New Orleans

Thrift Store. Clinic. Roller Rink. Center Becomes ‘Radical’ Lifeline Amid Homelessness, Drug Crises.

Located in the Lower 9th Ward, this abandoned building has become a community sanctuary and resource.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 9, 2026

A man with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing a dark blue t-shirt stands near a building under construction.

In Lodge Grass, Montana, a Crow Community Works To Rebuild From Meth’s Destruction

Meth is a problem most everywhere, but particularly in Indian Country. On the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, new buildings serve as symbols of a town trying to rebuild after being devastated by addiction.

By Katheryn Houghton

Jan. 8, 2026

Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine

The experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 7, 2026

A woman holds a young child, who is wearing a tie-dye shirt and a bandage, on her hip

The CDC Just Sidelined These Childhood Vaccines. Here’s What They Prevent.

The CDC is recommending fewer childhood vaccines, although the ones it has jettisoned from the recommended schedule have successfully battled serious illness for years. Experts warn that if vaccine uptake falls, millions could be hospitalized — or worse — as a result of preventable diseases.

By Arthur Allen and Jackie Fortiér

Jan. 6, 2026

Trump 2.0

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