Watch: Why Is Having a Baby So Expensive in the US?
By Hannah Norman
KFF Health News video producer Hannah Norman breaks down why new parents are getting billed thousands of dollars for births.
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.
Daily Edition for Thursday, September 11, 2025
Remains Of 9/11 Victim From California Identified: Barbara Keating, 72, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 who split her time between Palm Springs and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her remains and those of two other victims were identified last month through DNA analysis. After 24 years, 1,100 victims at the World Trade Center site still have not had their remains identified — but forensics experts haven't given up. Read more from CNN, the Palm Springs Post, and NPR.
Climate Activists Cite Health Hazards in Bid To Stop Trump From ‘Unleashing’ Fossil Fuels
By Jim Robbins
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
By Ronnie Cohen
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
By Rachana Pradhan
Fewer people are seeking care at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, a renowned research hospital, under the second Trump administration.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, September 10, 2025
California Again Has America's Highest Poverty Rate: California continued to have the highest poverty rate in the nation last year at 17.7%, tied only with Louisiana, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, nearly 7 million Californians were unable to afford basic necessities like food, housing, and medical care. Read more from The Sacramento Bee.
Lice Pose No Health Threat, Yet Some Parents Push Back on Rules To Allow Affected Kids in Class
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
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.
Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Were Aimed at ‘Able-Bodied Adults.’ Hospitals Say Kids Will Be Hurt.
By Phil Galewitz
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.
RFK Jr. Said ‘Everybody Can Get’ a Covid Vaccine. Is That True?
By Grace Abels, PolitiFact and Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFact
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.
