KFF Health News for the latest headlines
Morning Briefing
In This Edition:
- KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
- 1. Inside the High-Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
- 2. She Owed Her Insurer a Nickel, So It Canceled Her Coverage
- EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
- 9. Viewpoints: There Are Pitfalls To Using AI In Therapy; Congress, Regulators Have A Practical Plan To Rein In PBMs
From KFF Health News:
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
1. Inside the High-Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
Behind their warm-and-fuzzy marketing, infant formula industry giants Abbott, maker of Similac products, and Mead Johnson, maker of the Enfamil line, have turned neonatal intensive care units into arenas of brutal competition. (David Hilzenrath, 3/30)
2. She Owed Her Insurer a Nickel, So It Canceled Her Coverage
When medical bills started rolling in, a teacher’s aide in Florida wondered why her insurance suddenly wasn’t covering them. The answer? She owed a balance of 5 cents, so her insurer canceled her policy. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 3/30)
Here’s today’s health policy haiku:
A DRUG BY ANY OTHER NAME
Birth control skeptic?
Another way of saying
teenage pregnancy.
– Philippa Barron
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Usand let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
3. GOP Eyeing ACA Subsidy Cuts, Other Health Care Moves To Pay For Iran War
But redirecting health care funding during an election year might be a sticking point for moderate Republicans, who could thwart efforts that appear to chip away at constituents’ needs. Plus, the war is pinching health care supply chains.
Axios: GOP Weighs Health Care Moves To Pay For Iran War
Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement. New efforts to rein in health programs are sure to be controversial and open the GOP up to election-year attacks that they’re cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war. (Sullivan, 3/30)
On the Iran war’s effects on the health care industry —
Financial Times: Iran War Chokes Off Helium Supplies In Threat To Chipmakers And Healthcare
Fears of a helium crunch are mounting after a drop in global output since the start of the Iran war, as the conflict’s impact spreads beyond energy markets into other critical supply chains. The Gulf is a major exporter of helium, a byproduct of natural gas that is critical for the manufacturing of microchips — including those used to power the global AI boom — as well as for the functioning of some medical devices. (3/29)
The Hill: War In Iran Threatens Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Drug Prices
As President Trump’s war in Iran rages on, it’s posing a growing threat to the pharmaceutical supply chain and risks spiking the prices of many drugs, particularly those that depend on petrochemicals. The war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have caused energy prices to jump and disrupted supply chains for a range of industries. While the Middle East is not a major pharmaceutical producer like China or India, there are still products that originate from the region, and many drugs rely on petrochemicals to be made. (Choi, 3/29)
MedTech Dive: Stryker Restores Most Manufacturing After Cyberattack
The medtech company has been working to restore manufacturing, ordering and shipping operations since it was hit by a cyberattack on March 11. … The attack has been claimed by an Iran-linked threat actor tracked as Handala, according to Check Point Research. The group claims to have wiped thousands of servers and mobile devices and stolen data. (Zipp, 3/27)
Also —
The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive: Trump Weighs Military Operation To Extract Iran’s Uranium
The extraction of the material would likely need to be conducted by an elite special operations team specially trained to remove radioactive material from a conflict zone. The highly enriched uranium is likely contained in 40 to 50 special cylinders that resemble scuba tanks. They would need to be put into transportation casks to protect against accidents. That could fill several trucks, said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University and a former nuclear negotiator with Iran. (Ward, Seligman, Linskey and Gordon, 3/29)
4. ACA Exchange Plan Carriers Denied Nearly 1 in 5 Claims In 2024: Report
Fewer than 1% of denials were appealed by members, and insurers stood by their original decisions in 66% of challenges. The trade and advocacy group AHIP said in a statement: “The vast majority of denials are due to incorrect or incomplete claim submissions from providers, duplicate claims, claims for unproven or unsafe treatments and services, or for services that are not part of covered benefits.”
Modern Healthcare: ACA Exchange Plans Denied 19% Of In-Network Claims In 2024: KFF
Health insurance exchange carriers rejected nearly one-in-five in-network claims in 2024. That’s according to federal health insurance exchange claims data analyzed by the health policy research institute KFF. The 19% denial rate is tied with 2023 for the highest since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 marketplaces debuted in 2015. (Tepper, 3/27)
KFF Health News: She Owed Her Insurer A Nickel, So It Canceled Her Coverage
Last summer, Lorena Alvarado Hill received a series of unexpected medical bills. A teacher’s aide in Melbourne, Florida, Hill is a single mom who works shifts at J.Crew on the weekends to send her daughter to college. Hill and her mother, who lives with her, had been enrolled in an insurance plan through HealthFirst. Hill paid nothing toward the premiums for the government-subsidized plan, which previously had covered her scans and other appointments. Then the bills came. (Rosenthal, 3/30)
The Washington Post: Why Millions Of Seniors Have Suddenly Lost Health Care Coverage
Elderly people are forced to hunt for options when Medicare Advantage plans withdraw from unprofitable markets. (Rowland, 3/28)
Modern Healthcare: States Push Hospital Price Cap Legislation Despite Opposition
Legislative efforts to limit what hospitals can charge for services are gaining traction coast to coast. State legislators say capping prices for healthcare services is a decisive action against out-of-control costs that place financial burden on patients. Providers point to insurers and their increasing premiums as big drivers behind those rising costs, and say price caps could limit access to care. (Hudson, 3/27)
MedPage Today: What To Expect For Prior Authorization In 2026
Prior authorization requirements cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $35 billion each year, and their overuse has triggered a backlash, stirring some policymakers into action. Whether these changes actually fix prior authorization for patients and clinicians is an open question. Meanwhile, stakeholders are weighing the risks versus benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline processes, according to a recent Health Affairs Insider report. (Firth, 3/27)
Stat: Health Care Giants Are Trimming Jobs, Not Driving Employment Growth
Over the past five years, the American workforce has grown in large part due to the health care industry. But large, for-profit health care companies have not been driving that job growth. Some parts of health care — notably, health insurers — are cutting jobs, some of which has not been previously reported. (Herman, 3/30)
Los Angeles Times: Kaiser Made $9.3 Billion Last Year. Critics Say It Has Strayed From Its Charitable Mission
Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest non-profit health group, has veered from its charitable mission and is now scarcely distinguishable from a corporation keenly focused on its bottom line, according to critics. (Petersen, 3/29)
Politico: New Factories And Supersized Obamacare Premiums: North Carolina Considers What Trump Has Wrought
Democrats expect North Carolinians will make the GOP pay for cuts they made last year that have cost 200,000 residents their health insurance. Republicans think they’ll be rewarded for President Donald Trump’s push to create good-paying pharma factory jobs in decaying tobacco and textile towns. How North Carolina voters assess Republicans’ weighty health care moves could determine who replaces retiring Republican Thom Tillis in the Senate and controls the chamber. But in a recent swing through the Tar Heel State, POLITICO found voters, even ones directly affected by federal policy, are reluctant to switch sides. (Chu, 3/30)
In other health care industry developments —
Chicago Tribune and Pioneer Press: Deal To Re-Open West Suburban Medical Center Under Discussion
A deal might be in the works to keep West Suburban Medical Center open, after the Oak Park hospital abruptly announced it was suspending patient care this week. (Schencker and Hardy, 3/27)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ex-Mercy Exec Blackmailed For Construction Work, Filings Say
The trial scheduled to begin Monday in Clayton appeared, on the surface, to be a typical construction contract dispute. As the trial neared, however, Pitt Development Group — the Springfield, Missouri, builder that filed the 2023 lawsuit against Mercy Health — wanted to bring in evidence that made it anything but. (Barker, 3/29)
Bloomberg: Spotify Co-Founder Is Behind Body Scan Startup Competing With Prenuvo
It’s been 15 years since Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek brought the streaming platform to the US, changing the way Americans discover and consume music. His next project—a startup that offers full-body health scans—will soon arrive stateside with its own ambitious plans to reshape an industry. Neko Health, founded in 2018 as Ek began planning for life after Spotify Technology SA’s initial public offering, operates in Sweden and the UK. If Neko receives regulatory approval in the US, something it’s working through now, the company’s first American location will open in New York as soon as this spring, with more US clinics planned in the following months, says Chief Executive Officer Hjalmar Nilsonne. (Ojea, 3/27)
KFF Health News: Inside The High-Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
In 2013, a scientist at Abbott Laboratories saw study results with potentially big implications for the company’s profits and the lives of some of the world’s most fragile people: preterm infants. The upshot, she wrote in an email: Babies fed rival Mead Johnson Nutrition’s acidified liquid human milk fortifier — a nutritional supplement used in neonatal intensive care units — developed certain complications at higher rates than those given an Abbott fortifier, a researcher at the University of Nebraska had found. At least one of those complications can be deadly. (Hilzenrath, 3/30)
5. Trump Administration Looks To Shave 20% Off NIH Research Funding: Sources
The White House denies that it will call for less funding for the National Institutes of Health. Lawmakers last year rebuffed such a suggestion, even increasing the amount set aside for the biomedical research agency.
Roll Call: White House To Propose 20 Percent Cut To NIH Funding
The White House is expected to ask Congress to cut National Institutes of Health spending by 20 percent in the president’s fiscal 2027 budget request, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the planning. The budget request, slated for release next week, reflects President Donald Trump’s policy priorities and acts as a guide to lawmakers as they draft appropriations bills for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. (Cohen, 3/27)
More news about the Trump administration —
Los Angeles Times: Demonstrators Arrested, Tear Gassed At ‘No Kings’ Protest
More than 70 protesters were arrested Saturday evening after authorities shot tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd, leaving at least one teen with an eye wound and others with skin burns, according to demonstrators and police. The confrontation outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center came after hours of peaceful “No Kings” demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles and across the county. Authorities said the crowd that gathered at the federal building later in the afternoon, as the rally was winding down, had ignored orders to disperse. (Sheets and Tchekmedyian, 3/29)
Stat: FDA Briefs Lawmakers On Food Safety Priorities
Food and Drug Administration officials briefed senators on the agency’s plans for food policy for 2026, according to a person familiar with the meeting. The agency plans to focus on infant formula safety, updating food labels, defining ultra-processed foods, expanding inspections of food processing plants, and bolstering seafood safety programs, according to a document shared with lawmakers, obtained by STAT. (Payne, 3/27)
The Washington Post: Trump’s First Surgeon General Tries To Stop His Second From Confirmation
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams stood with President Donald Trump at the White House, serving as a prominent face of the president’s health agenda. Now Adams has taken a far different stand: trying to stop Trump’s nominee to be his successor, Casey Means, from being confirmed as the nation’s top doctor. (Diamond, 3/29)
Stat: For Next CDC Director, Confirmation Is Just The First Of Many Problems
Public health experts watching the leadership void at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been predicting for a while that finding someone to head the agency would be a Herculean task. (Branswell, 3/30)
In military health news —
The War Horse: Mental Health Issues Plague New Moms In The Military
Shawna Bush had been blissfully ignorant during her pregnancy: happy, excited, and expecting the best out of motherhood. It took just two days for the wrecking ball of postpartum depression to demolish her joy and leave her sobbing on the couch. “It hit me like a train,” Bush said. “I was not expecting any of it.” (Brookland, 3/29)
Military.com: You Took Separation Pay Years Ago. Now The VA Wants It Back From Your Disability Check.
Under federal law, a veteran cannot receive both separation pay and VA disability compensation for the same period of service. (Wile, 3/27)
6. Ex-ACIP Panelist Slams White House For Stifling RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policy
The Trump administration is making a political calculation that silencing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s talk about vaccines could help Republicans in the midterms, says Robert Malone, who quit as vice chair of the committee. It’s a move that is alienating the MAHA base, he warns.
Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Ally Says Vaccines Now A ‘Losing Issue’ With White House
The White House’s pullback on vaccine policy is a key strategic decision ahead of the midterm elections and is sidelining Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement, according to a close ally of the US health secretary. Robert Malone, former vice chair of a government panel that sets immunization policy, criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to silence discussions about vaccines on a podcast from the Informed Consent Action Network that posted on Friday. ICAN was founded by Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist and former communications director for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential bid. (Nix, 3/27)
Related news about flu, covid, measles, and more —
CIDRAP: Winter Respiratory Virus Season Slowly Subsiding
After a tough flu season, today’s respiratory virus update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a bit of good news: Doctors are seeing fewer people with influenza. Cases of flu are declining in most of the country. While influenza A is on its way out, rates of influenza B—which tends to peak later in flu season—vary by region. Levels of influenza A in wastewater are low. Influenza B is not monitored in wastewater. (Szabo, 3/27)
KTLA 5: What To Know About New ‘Cicada’ COVID Variant Detected In 25 States
The newest COVID variant is officially named variant BA.3.2, but it has been given the nickname of “Cicada.” It earned the nickname because BA.3.2 is an offshoot of the BA 3 variant, which hasn’t circulated widely for nearly four years, lying dormant as cicadas do. (Whiteside and Bink, 3/29)
CIDRAP: In Youngest US Kids, Uptake Drops For Flu, Hepatitis B, 3 Other Vaccines
Vaccination coverage among US children remained high for most routine immunizations through age two years in recent years, but declines in several vaccines—particularly influenza and the hepatitis B (HepB) birth dose—highlight growing gaps in vaccine coverage, according to a report yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Bergeson, 3/27)
CIDRAP: US Measles Cases Top 1,500 As Texas Outbreak Grows
Measles cases in the United States have climbed to 1,575, with 88 new infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in its weekly update today. The CDC confirmed 2,285 measles cases for all of last year, the most since 1991. The United States could top that number this spring. The country will likely lose its measles elimination status—which it gained in 2000—in November, when officials assess the data. Measles is widely considered to be one of the world’s most contagious diseases. (Wappes, 3/27)
NPR: Is Mexico’s Massive Measles Vaccine Campaign A Success?
In Mexico, a sweeping measles outbreak has triggered a sweeping response — a campaign to vaccinate 2.5 million people a week. In the capital, posters are plastered with QR codes for people to look up the nearest spot for vaccination. (Silver, 3/28)
More about RFK Jr. and MAHA —
Politico: ‘We Love You!’: The MAGA Base Gives RFK Jr. A Rousing Welcome
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to woo the MAGA base Saturday evening at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual base-rallying gathering that only a few years ago might have viewed some of Kennedy’s policy stances as too left-leaning. Kennedy said the Democratic Party “had lost its bearings” and that Trump was more aligned with him than liberals on fighting chronic disease, which is at the center of the health secretary’s Make America Healthy Again agenda. (Paun, 3/28)
Politico: Poll: MAHA Wants More. They May Turn To Democrats To Get It.
Republicans hope the Make America Healthy Again movement becomes a permanent fixture of a big GOP tent. But the party can’t count on its support heading into midterm elections this November. New results from The POLITICO Poll show both broad frustration and dissatisfaction w