Expertos dicen que el secretario de Salud envió “ciencia basura” a congresistas para defender cambios en las vacunas contra covid
By Jackie Fortiér
Para apoyar el cambio en la política nacional sobre las vacunas contra covid-19, el HHS envió a legisladores un documento que cita estudios controversiales, y tergiversa otros.
Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say
By Jackie Fortiér
A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Batter Rural Hospital Finances, Researchers Say
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Rural hospitals would take an outsize hit from Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs. Researchers say the financial erosion would trigger hospital closures and service cuts, especially in communities where large shares of patients are enrolled in Medicaid.
Daily Edition for Thursday, June 12, 2025
Blue Shield-UC Health Contract Dispute Could Spell Trouble For Thousands Of Patients: Many Californians who get medical care at UC Health through Blue Shield of California — including many in the Bay Area who go to UCSF and One Medical, a UCSF affiliate — may need to find a different health insurer or pay out-of-network rates for services if the parties cannot reach a new contract by July 10. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Listen: With Vital Health Research Defunded, Who’s Losing Out?
By Rae Ellen Bichell
From Florida to California, National Institutes of Health grant cuts have halted research studies on HIV, vaccines, and health equity — affecting red and blue states alike.
Readers Endorse Doctor Migration and Shun ‘Elderspeak’
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, June 11, 2025
‘Less Lethal’ Weapons Reportedly Used In Protests Could Prove Costly For Los Angeles: There are reports that the LAPD is using rubber bullets against protesters, but it could end up costing the city: In March 2023, a federal jury awarded $375,000 to a man shot in the face with a rubber bullet by an LAPD officer during a May 2020 protest. Read more from Newsweek. Plus: WIRED explains how rubber bullets and tear gas affect the human body.
What Are ‘Improper’ Medicaid Payments, and Are They as High as a Trump Official Said?
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
The vast majority of improper payments stem from documentation mistakes and do not fit the definition of waste, fraud, or abuse. They also typically stem from health care providers’ actions, not beneficiaries’ abuse.
Four Ways Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Undermine Access to Obamacare
By Julie Appleby
The combination of the House-passed spending and tax bill and the Trump administration’s regulatory action could change Affordable Care Act enrollment and the cost of insurance. The result, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is that millions of people may become uninsured.