Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Fearing Medicaid Coverage Loss, Some Parents Rush To Vaccinate Their Kids

Worried parents are hurrying to get their children vaccinated, fearing future federal policy changes will limit access to free immunizations. Pediatricians worry that any changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will leave families without affordable options for essential shots.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Here Come the ACA Premium Hikes

Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well. Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in Trump’s big budget law, and polls suggest many don’t like what they see. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews historian Jonathan Oberlander to mark Medicare’s 60th anniversary.

Lost in Translation: Interpreter Cutbacks Could Put Patient Lives on the Line 

Recent federal reductions in funding for language assistance and President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States have some health advocates worried that millions of people with limited English proficiency will be left without adequate support and more likely to experience medical errors.

Vested Interests. Influence Muscle. At RFK Jr.’s HHS, It’s Not Pharma. It’s Wellness.

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.