In Rush To Satisfy Trump, GOP Delivers Blow to Health Industry
By Phil Galewitz and Stephanie Armour
The health industry couldn’t persuade GOP lawmakers to oppose big Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill for many reasons. A big one: Congressional Republicans were more worried about angering Trump than a backlash from hospitals and low-income constituents back home.
Vested Interests. Influence Muscle. At RFK Jr.’s HHS, It’s Not Pharma. It’s Wellness.
By Stephanie Armour
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lambasted federal agencies he accused of being overly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. But he and other “Make America Healthy Again” notables have their own financial ties to the vast and largely unregulated $6.3 trillion global wellness industry that ethicists say raise red flags.
Daily Edition for Friday, July 11, 2025
Obamacare affordability, housing crisis, Medicaid cuts, vaccines, immigrant health, opioid settlement funds, and more are in the news.
The Foster Care System Has a Suicide Problem. Federal Cuts Threaten To Slow Fixes.
By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
Children and young adults in the U.S. foster care system suffer from mental health disorders and die by suicide at far higher rates than the general population, yet the system doesn’t uniformly screen and treat children who are at risk.
Who’s Policing Opioid Settlement Spending? A Crowdsourced Database Might Help
By Aneri Pattani
Billions in opioid settlement money was meant to be spent on treating and preventing addiction — but what happens if it’s misspent? Some advocates say attorneys general need to pay closer attention. If they don’t, a new tool might empower the public.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Digesting Trump’s Big Budget Law
President Donald Trump’s big budget bill became his big budget law on July 4, codifying about $1 trillion in cuts to the Medicaid program. But the law includes many less-publicized provisions that could reshape the way the nation pays for and receives health care. Meanwhile, at the Department of Health and Human Services, uncertainty reigns as both staff and outside recipients of federal funds face cuts. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported the latest KFF Health News’ “Bill of the Month” feature, about some very pricey childhood immunizations.
Daily Edition for Thursday, July 10, 2025
Life expectancy in California, Medi-Cal, dangerous heat, immigrant health, homelessness, measles, and more are in the news.
Watch: She’s at High Risk of Breast Cancer. She Moved, and Her Screening Costs Soared.
By Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV and Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV
This installment of InvestigateTV and KFF Health News’ “Costly Care” series explores how the type of medical facility where a patient seeks care can affect the cost of that care — particularly when that facility is a hospital.
Doulas, Once a Luxury, Are Increasingly Covered by Medicaid — Even in GOP States
By Lauren Sausser and Katheryn Houghton
Even as states brace for significant reductions in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade, conservative legislatures across the country are passing laws that grant doula access to Medicaid beneficiaries.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, July 9, 2025
UC Health, Blue Shield Of California Reach Deal, Assuring Access To Care: Tens of thousands of patients who get medical care at UCSF and five other UC Health academic medical centers statewide through Blue Shield of California can continue accessing services at in-network rates after UC Health and Blue Shield reached a contract agreement. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle and The San Diego Union-Tribune.
