Daily Edition for Monday, July 21, 2025
Federal Cuts Deal A ‘Big, Devastating Blow’ To Los Angeles Health System: Leaders at the Los Angeles Department of Public Health and Department of Health Services are warning that the cuts in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will devastate their agencies. A hiring freeze went into effect Friday at the health services agency, and layoffs are likely. Read more from the Los Angeles Times. Scroll down for more about the effects of Medicaid cuts.
$50B Rural Health ‘Slush Fund’ Faces Questions, Skepticism
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Lawmakers added a $50 billion program for rural health to President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package with promises it would help plug the hole left by Medicaid cuts. Rural hospital and clinic leaders worry the infusion won’t reach the right places.
Louisiana Upholds Its HIV Exposure Law as Other States Change or Repeal Theirs
By Halle Parker, Verite News
State lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to extend the law this year to cover the intentional exposure of other sexually transmitted infections.
Georgia Shows Rough Road Ahead for States as Medicaid Work Requirements Loom
By Renuka Rayasam and Sam Whitehead
President Donald Trump signed legislation that requires many Medicaid recipients to prove they’re working to qualify for health care coverage, allocating $200 million for states that expanded Medicaid to prepare systems to verify people’s eligibility. Georgia’s program, which has been expensive and difficult to administer, has had limited enrollment.
Daily Edition for Friday, July 18, 2025
ICE access to Medicaid data, CalMatters premiums, surprise medical bills, layoffs, medical clinics brace for changes, and more news.
Surprise Medical Bills Were Supposed To Be a Thing of the Past. Surprise — They’re Not.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
The No Surprises Act, which was signed in 2020 and took effect in 2022, was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation that would protect people who had health insurance from receiving surprise medical bills. And yet bills that take patients by surprise keep coming.
Insurers and Customers Brace for Double Whammy to Obamacare Premiums
By Julie Appleby
Consumers face both rising premiums and falling subsidies next year in Obamacare plans, with insurers seeking increases to cover not only rising costs but also some policy changes advanced by President Donald Trump and the GOP.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Senate Saves PEPFAR Funding — For Now
The Senate narrowly approved the Trump administration’s request to claw back about $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting but refused to cut funding for the international AIDS/HIV program PEPFAR. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone, which could allow states to block other FDA-approved drugs. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Daily Edition for Thursday, July 17, 2025
California Extends Lifeline To LGBTQ+ Community: California will partner with the Trevor Project to provide suicide prevention support to LGBTQ+ youth, state officials announced Wednesday. The “Press 3 option” linking LGBTQ+ youth and young adults with 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline counselors is set to end today. Read more from the Bay Area News Group and The Hill.
Los Angeles Weighs a Disaster Registry. Disability Advocates Warn Against False Assurances.
By Miranda Green
Amid increasingly frequent natural disasters, several states have turned to registries to prioritize help for vulnerable residents. But while some politicians see these registries as a potential solution to a public health problem, many disability advocates say they endanger residents with mobility problems by giving a false sense of security.
