Morning Briefing
CATCH UP WITH THE NEWS
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In This Edition:
- KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
- 1. States Face Another Challenge With Medicaid Work Rules: Staffing Shortages
- 2. Farm Bureau Plans Are a Less Pricey Alternative to ACA Coverage — With Trade-Offs
- 3. Political Cartoon: ‘Hallucinogenix?’
- EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
- 11. Viewpoints: Palliative Care Doc Wary Of $100M Infusion For Medicare; Rare Disease Treatment Breakthrough Near
From KFF Health News:
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
1. States Face Another Challenge With Medicaid Work Rules: Staffing Shortages
Some states already don’t have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees’ phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result. (Sam Whitehead, 4/9)
2. Farm Bureau Plans Are a Less Pricey Alternative to ACA Coverage — With Trade-Offs
Fourteen states now allow health coverage through state farm bureaus. Though they generally share many features of Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, they aren’t insurance. Neither are they typically subject to federal or state health insurance requirements, and the benefits may be less generous or predictable than those of Obamacare plans. (Michelle Andrews, 4/9)
3. Political Cartoon: ‘Hallucinogenix?’
KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with “Political Cartoon: ‘Hallucinogenix?'” by Dave Coverly.
Here’s today’s health policy haiku:
TOO FAR GONE?
Depoliticize
CDC, says Dr. Jay.
Such good luck with that.
– 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:
4. From Gloves To Helium for MRIs, Iran War Is Rattling Medical Supply Chain
News outlets report on how the Middle East conflict is impacting medical supplies, drug prices, and even the amount of fluoride in some of Maryland’s drinking water. Plus: An update on NIH payments.
Health Policy Watch: War In Iran Threatens Helium Supplies For The World’s MRI Machines
The gas that keeps hospital MRI scanners running has been caught in the crossfire of the war in Iran, raising the prospect of diagnostic delays, rising costs and rationing of one of modern medicine’s most important imaging tools. (Anderson, 4/6)
Bloomberg: Malaysian Glove Maker WRP To Shut Down Over Iran War Shocks
Malaysian rubber glove maker WRP Asia Pacific Sdn. will begin winding down its business operations this month, citing “severe disruptions across global energy and petrochemical supply chains” caused by the Middle East conflict. … The announcement comes as the US- and Israel-led war creates the largest oil supply shock in decades, stoking inflation, rattling financial markets and pushing up costs for everything from food to fuel. It has also put industries such as glove manufacturers at risk, as they rely on imports of nitrile latex — a synthetic rubber — whose prices are linked to energy markets. (Melin and Raghu, 4/8)
NPR: Medical Supplies Are Stuck In Dubai, As Clinics Around The World Face Shortages
The war in Iran has slowed down international shipping, much of which contains medical and humanitarian goods destined for Asia and Africa. (Tanis, 4/6)
Axios: Why Pharma Fallout From The Iran Conflict Won’t End With A Ceasefire
Effects could be felt for months in the form on higher prices for generic drugs and spot shortages. (Sullivan, 4/9)
The Washington Post: Maryland Utility Reduces Fluoride In Water, Citing The Middle East Conflict
The water utility for Maryland’s two largest counties has temporarily reduced the level of fluoride added to drinking water, citing nationwide supply chain challenges partly brought about by the war in Iran. (Scott and Hedgpeth, 4/9)
In other Trump administration news —
Stat: Trump Administration Drops Court Fight To Cap NIH Payments For Research Overhead Costs
The Trump administration will not be asking the Supreme Court to take up its fight to slash federal support for funding that the nation’s science enterprise relies on for basic operating costs. The deadline to do so came and went this week without a petition from Trump’s Department of Justice, effectively ending the 14-month standoff over a controversial policy to drastically reduce the rate of reimbursement for “indirect costs” on federal grants. The legal battle between the administration and the research community started last February, when the National Institutes of Health abruptly announced it would cap payments for research overhead at 15%. Three lawsuits opposing the caps were immediately filed by state attorneys general and organizations representing private and public universities, hospitals, and academic medical centers. (Molteni, 4/8)
5. Most Of Trump’s Major Policy Changes Benefit Health Insurers, Experts Say
The most recent action — higher payments to Medicare Advantage plans — will put $13 billion more in insurers’ pockets, Stat reported. The policy also abandons reform that would have led to more accurate, and lower, insurance payments.
Stat: Trump Promised To Clamp Down On Health Insurers. His Policies Are Enriching Them
Almost every major decision Trump officials have made since reclaiming the White House has benefitted insurers and their bottom lines. The most recent action — finalizing higher payments to Medicare Advantage plans in 2027 — will funnel an extra $13 billion toward the industry while abandoning a reform that would have led to more accurate, and lower, payments. (Herman, 4/9)
More on the high cost of health care —
The New York Times: Patients Are Using Chatbots To Fight Medical Bills, With Mixed Results
As chatbots become a fixture in everyday medical care, patients are using them not only to make lists of questions for doctors’ visits or decipher test results, but increasingly to pick apart the financial paperwork that follows, including challenging medical bills. When Jackie Davalos, 34, received a notice from a collections agency that she owed $22,604 to a hospital for an emergency room visit after she fell down some stairs two years earlier, her partner, Walter Kerr, used the chatbot Claude to help challenge the hospital’s charges. (Kwon, 4/8)
KFF Health News: Farm Bureau Plans Are A Less Pricey Alternative To ACA Coverage — With Trade-Offs
Robin Carlton pays about $650 a month for a plan on the Missouri health insurance exchange that covers him and his two teenage kids. That monthly total is $200 higher than what he paid last year, due in part to the expiration in December of covid pandemic-era premium tax credits. But the self-employed St. Louis property manager isn’t in any hurry to investigate a new type of coverage that might be cheaper than his marketplace plan: farm bureau health plans. “Although I’m not a fan of rising costs, I’m not going to sacrifice coverage for my kids to save a buck,” Carlton said. (Andrews, 4/9)
Stat: Influential Democratic Think Tank Pushes Plan For Government To Lower Health Care Costs
The latest blueprint comes from the Center for American Progress, first reported by The Bulwark. The CAP report, which the group is calling a “Patients’ Bill of Rights,” focuses on what it considers the main drivers of rising insurance costs. It calls for limiting insurance premiums increases, banning prior authorization by insurers, and capping hospitals’ charges. (Wilkerson, 4/8)
Modern Healthcare: Why Health Insurers Are Shifting Venture Capital Arm Strategies
Venture capital funds associated with insurers are switching up their investment formulas as priorities shift and budgets tighten. Health insurance conglomerates — forced to rethink core operations across business lines amid increased regulatory scrutiny, rising costs and Wall Street disapproval — are investing more deliberately and prioritizing different types of startups and emerging companies. (Tong, 4/8)
In other news about the health care industry —
AP: 3 Ex-Employees Of DC Psychiatric Hospital Charged In Patient’s Death
Three former employees of a privately operated psychiatric hospital in the nation’s capital have been charged with criminal negligence in the death of a patient, the city’s top federal prosecutor said Wednesday. The three former employees of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington failed to provide adequate medical care to the patient before he died nearly six years ago, their indictment alleges. (Kunzelman, 4/8)
Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Expand Behavioral Health Services To Meet Demand
Health systems struggling to fill gaps in mental healthcare are hiring staff and redeploying capital to try to keep pace with rising demand. Systems including Hartford Healthcare, Sentara Health and Northern Light Health are expanding their mental health networks and ramping up care coordination teams. Still, health system leaders fear they will not be able to move quickly enough to patch an eroding safety net for mental health patients. (Kacik, 4/8)
Fierce Healthcare: Nurses’ Job Satisfaction Stumbles After Post-COVID Gains: Survey
A new annual survey report brings warnings of sharp drops among nurses’ views of their jobs and careers during the past year. Released this week, it found a year-to-year drop in reported job satisfaction among nearly 2,100 nurses from 55% to 47%. It’s the first time since 2022’s 28% low that the measure hasn’t improved from the prior year, according to nurse.org, which conducted the survey. (Muoio, 4/8)
6. RFK Jr. Broadening Reach Of His MAHA Message With A Health Policy Podcast
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he intends to expose the “corruption” and “lies” that have harmed Americans. “We’re going to name the names of the forces that obstruct the paths to public health,” he said in a teaser video. Critics fear a podcast is just another way for him to spread misinformation.
AP: RFK Jr. Is Launching His Own Health Podcast
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a new podcast that he says will begin “a new era of radical transparency in government,” according to a teaser video first obtained by The Associated Press. The show, titled “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast,” will launch next week and feature Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine crusader who has reshaped the country’s health policy, in conversation with doctors, scientists and agency staff, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials told the AP ahead of the launch. (Swenson, 4/8)
In related news about vaccine skepticism —
The Washington Post: CDC Delays Report Showing Covid Vaccine Benefits, Scientists Say
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed publication of a CDC report showing the covid-19 vaccine cut the likelihood of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter by about half, according to two scientists familiar with the decision. The scientists spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The move has raised concerns among current and former officials that information about the vaccine’s benefits are being downplayed because they conflict with the views of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been an outspoken critic of the shots. (Sun, 4/9)
On vaccines for yellow fever and hookworm —
MedPage Today: Next-Gen Yellow Fever Vaccine Hits The Mark In Mid-Stage Trial
An investigational yellow fever vaccine (vYF) that could help avoid shortages matched the immunogenicity and safety profile of the FDA-approved shot (YF-VAX), according to a phase II trial. (Rudd, 4/8)
CIDRAP: Watch Out, Hookworms: An Effective Vaccine Might Be On The Horizon
Promising results from an experimental hookworm vaccine trial offer hope for the more than 400 million who contract the parasitic infection every year. (Boden, 4/8)
More health threats —
CIDRAP: South Carolina Sees No New Measles Activity As Utah Becomes Epicenter Of US Outbreaks
Yesterday the South Carolina Department of Public Health once again reported no new measles cases, as the state marches toward an official end of the largest US measles outbreak in recent history with 997 cases. (Soucheray, 4/8)
Modern Healthcare: Epic Systems Launches Health Alerts To Track Conditions
Epic Systems’ research division has launched a monitoring system to track health conditions by county across the U.S. Health Alerts will publish website and email alerts when a higher-than-usual rate of an illness is diagnosed in a county, the electronic health record vendor team said Wednesday. (DeSilva, 4/8)
The Hill: Respiratory Viruses Lingering Longer Than Usual This Year
While spring has officially begun, concerns about respiratory viruses are lingering longer than usual, with cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cropping up later than expected and a new COVID-19 variant spreading across much of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a recent update that RSV had started later than expected throughout most of the U.S. (Choi, 4/8)
7. US Fertility Rate Falls To Record Low As Teen Pregnancies Decrease
Plus: Two hair-growth products have been recalled because of a poisoning risk to children; how to reverse cognitive decline from social media use; and more.
The New York Times: U.S. Fertility Rates Drop To Another Record Low
The U.S. fertility rate fell slightly in 2025, to another record low, extending two decades of declines, according to federal data released on Thursday. The fertility rate — the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age — dropped to 53.1, from 53.8 in 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The number of births dropped too, falling by 1 percent from the previous year, to 3,606,400. (Tavernise, 4/9)
In other health and wellness news —
The Hill: Tuymec Hair, TecFloc Growth Serum Products Recalled For Poisoning Risk: CSPC
Two hair growth serum products were recalled last week after their packaging was found to pose a poisoning risk. The products, Tuymec’s Minoxidil Hair Growth Spray and TecFlox Hair and Beard Growth Serum, contain minoxidil, which is required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act to be in child-resistant packaging. About 6,200 have been recalled. “The hair serum’s packaging is not child-resistant, posing a risk of serious injury or death from poisoning if the contents are swallowed by young children,” the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said of the products. (Taub, 4/8)
MedPage Today: Is Kissing For Celiacs Gluten-Free? Study Weighs In
While people with celiac disease have a number of challenges in leading a gluten-free life, it appears kissing is not one of them. In a prospective study of couples in which one partner had celiac disease, it was possible to transfer gluten through kissing, but it usually involved small amounts considered safe, reported Anne R. Lee, EdD, RDN, of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues in Gastroenterology. (Bassett, 4/8)
NBC News: These Simple Lifestyle Changes Could Decrease Dementia Risk By 25%
Are you sitting right now? If you want to protect your brain, you should take a walk and be sure to go to bed early. Regular exercise and about seven hours of sleep a night could protect brain health in the long term, a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One found. Long bouts of sedentary behavior may increase dementia risk. (Sullivan, 4/8)
The Washington Post: This Detox May Erase 10 Years Of Social Media Brain Damage, Researchers Say
Studies show that taking even short breaks could reverse measures of cognitive decline. (Cha, 4/9)
8. Dealer Who Sold ‘Friends’ Star Fatal Ketamine Dose Sentenced To 15 Years
‘Ketamine Queen’ Jasveen Sangha is among the five people who pleaded guilty in the drug overdose death of actor Matthew Perry. She faced up to 65 years in prison. Plus, news about gabapentinoids, hormone replacement therapy, GLP-1 weight loss drugs, and more.
The New York Times: ‘Ketamine Queen’ Sentenced To 15 Years In Matthew Perry’s Overdose Death
A Los Angeles woman who illegally sold the ketamine that killed the actor Matthew Perry was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison, by far the stiffest sentence yet handed to a person charged in the star’s death. The woman, Jasveen Sangha, pleaded guilty last year to five federal charges connected with Mr. Perry’s overdose: three counts of distribution of ketamine; one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury; and one count of “maintaining a drug-involved premises.” (Morgan and Stevens, 4/8)
In related news about substance use —