Latest Morning Briefing Stories

University of California Researchers, Patients Wary of Trump Cuts Even as Some Dollars Flow Again

KFF Health News Original

Biomedical researchers and patients are caught in the middle as the Trump administration continues its campaign to strip grants from universities accused of bias. Courts have restored some frozen funds to California universities, but academics studying brain tumors, lung cancer, and strokes worry their grant dollars remain a bargaining chip.

Wary of RFK Jr., Colorado Started Revamping Its Vaccine Policies in the Spring

KFF Health News Original

Amid concerns that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is undermining trust in vaccines and public health science, some states are seeking new sources of scientific consensus and changing how they regulate insurance companies, prescribers, and pharmacists. Colorado has been at the front of this wave.

Why Democrats Are Casting the Government Shutdown as a Health Care Showdown

KFF Health News Original

Democrats are pressuring Republicans to extend billions of dollars in federal tax credits that have dramatically lowered premiums and contributed to record-low rates of uninsured Americans. It’s a chance to talk about a winning issue — and maybe regain support from working-class voters.

GOP Falsely Ties Shutdown to Democrats’ Alleged Drive To Give All Immigrants Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status are generally ineligible for federally funded health care programs. Democrats’ funding proposal would restore access to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace for legal immigrants who will lose access once certain provisions of the Republicans’ tax and spending law take effect.

Nuclear Missile Workers Are Contracting Cancer. They Blame the Bases.

KFF Health News Original

People who maintained the nation’s land-based nuclear missile arsenal are coming down with similar cancers. The Air Force is wrapping up a large study of the health risks they may have faced.

Health Centers Face Risks as Government Funding Lapses

KFF Health News Original

Community health centers are key to delivering care in underserved communities around the country, but their services could be disrupted or scaled back after governments did not renew their funding.

Workers’ Wages Siphoned To Pay Medical Bills, Despite Consumer Protections

KFF Health News Original

Health care providers and debt collectors are biting from people’s paychecks to cover old medical bills. A KFF Health News investigation in Colorado shows that this aggressive collection practice is widespread even in a state considered to have strong consumer protections.

At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.

KFF Health News Original

As a warming climate intensifies storms, KFF Health News has identified more than 170 U.S. hospitals at risk of significant and potentially dangerous flooding. Climate experts warn that the Trump administration’s cuts leave the nation less prepared.

Health Care’s Employment Growth Clouded by Immigration Crackdown, Medicaid Cuts

KFF Health News Original

The health care sector has accounted for nearly half of this year’s U.S. job growth. But economists say immigration crackdowns and Medicaid cuts could create a drag on the sector just as more workers are needed to support a growing population of older Americans.

Where Jobs Are Scarce, Over 1 Million People Could Dodge Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules

KFF Health News Original

Under a new law, many Americans will have to meet a work requirement to obtain and keep their Medicaid coverage. But due to an exemption, millions living in areas of high unemployment could be spared.

States Target Ultraprocessed Foods in Bipartisan Push

KFF Health News Original

States are taking aim at chemicals and additives in foods as Republicans and Democrats alike embrace at least one aspect of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” push. It’s a shift for Republicans, who had vilified past Democratic efforts to impose government will on what people eat and drink.

20 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Still Struggles With Evacuation Plans That Minimize Health Risks

KFF Health News Original

As the climate changes, hurricanes are intensifying more quickly, leaving Louisiana’s current mass evacuation plan in limbo. But transportation officials say the price is too high to switch to methods used in Florida and Texas.