Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
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.
Why Are More Older People Dying After Falls?
Some researchers suspect that rising prescription drug use may explain a disturbing trend.
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.
A Surgical Team Was About To Harvest This Man’s Organs — Until His Doctor Intervened
A 22-year-old was shot in the head in St. Louis. As a surgical team prepared him for organ harvesting, his neurosurgeon raced to the operating room to stop it, saying that his patient had a chance at life. Today, the man is alive, sharing his story.
Watch: Why Is Having a Baby So Expensive in the US?
KFF Health News video producer Hannah Norman breaks down why new parents are getting billed thousands of dollars for births.
Under Trump, FDA Seeks To Abandon Expert Reviews of New Drugs
Advisory committee meetings help FDA scientists make decisions and increase public understanding of drug regulation, and abandoning them doesn’t make sense, former officials said.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Government Shutdown
With less than three weeks before the deadline to pass legislation to keep the federal government running, lawmakers are still far apart on a strategy. Democrats hope Republicans will agree to extend expanded tax credits for the Affordable Care Act as part of a compromise, but so far Republicans are not negotiating. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” report, with few specific action items. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Climate Activists Cite Health Hazards in Bid To Stop Trump From ‘Unleashing’ Fossil Fuels
Buoyed by a Montana court ruling upholding state residents’ right to a “clean and healthful environment,” nearly two dozen people ages 7 to 24 hope to block the Trump administration’s executive orders on energy.
Affirmative Action Critics Refuse To Back Down in Fight Over Medical Bias Training
A nonprofit fighting affirmative action in medicine and a Los Angeles ophthalmologist have launched a long-shot legal appeal aimed at ending California’s requirement that every continuing medical education class include training to recognize and address unconscious bias.
Watch: Patient Numbers at NIH Hospital Tumble After Trump Cuts
Fewer people are seeking care at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, a renowned research hospital, under the second Trump administration.
Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Were Aimed at ‘Able-Bodied Adults.’ Hospitals Say Kids Will Be Hurt.
The GOP said its overhaul of Medicaid was aimed at reducing fraud and getting more adult beneficiaries to work. Among the likely side effects: fewer services and doctors for treating sick children.
Lice Pose No Health Threat, Yet Some Parents Push Back on Rules To Allow Affected Kids in Class
Public health officials see lice as a nuisance, not a health threat, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended for years that students with live lice be allowed to remain in class. But as “no-nit” policies have been dropped in favor of “nonexclusion” rules, some school districts have seen parents and teachers push back.
RFK Jr. Said ‘Everybody Can Get’ a Covid Vaccine. Is That True?
Although the FDA has approved the vaccines for anyone 65 or older and anyone at least 6 months old who is at risk of a severe covid infection, barriers to coverage and access persist.
Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
Independent and rural hospitals are collaborating with their neighbors to shore up their finances instead of joining larger health systems to stay afloat.
In the Fallout From Trump’s Health Funding Cuts, States Face Tough Budget Decisions
The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.
Researchers Shift Tactics To Tackle Extremism as Public Health Threat
As extremism and radicalization worsen in the United States, a group of researchers is trying out a new approach that addresses the issue as a public health problem.
In a survey by the National Funeral Directors Association, more than 60% of respondents said they would be interested in exploring green and natural burial alternatives.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': On Capitol Hill, RFK Defends Firings at CDC
A combative Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, appeared before a Senate committee Thursday, defending his firing of the newly confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other changes that could limit the availability of vaccines. Meanwhile, Congress has only a few weeks to complete work on annual spending bills to avoid a possible government shutdown and to ward off potentially large increases in premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who discusses his “Bill of the Month” report about a woman’s unfortunate interaction with a bat — and her even more unfortunate interaction with the bill for her rabies prevention treatment.
He Built Michigan’s Medicaid Work Requirement System. Now He’s Warning Other States.
Michigan’s former top health official spent a year and $30 million building a system to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The difficulties he encountered have him worried about 40 states and Washington, D.C., having to launch such systems by 2027.
