Morning Briefing
In This Edition:
- KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
- 1. A Ban Won’t Stop Abortion Pill Access, Telehealth Providers Say
- 2. Even in Blue States, Hospitals Have Continued To Drop Gender-Affirming Care for Youths
- VACCINES
- 4. Study Showing Benefits Of Covid Vaccine Published In AMA Journal After CDC Refused To Run It In Theirs
- REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
- 7. Expensive, Risky IVF Add-On Procedures Don’t Always Improve Pregnancy Odds, Study Finds
- EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
- 9. Viewpoints: RFK Jr. Still Pursuing Anti-Vax Efforts, But Quietly Now; $0 Drug Copays Can Really Add Up
From KFF Health News:
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES1. A Ban Won’t Stop Abortion Pill Access, Telehealth Providers Say As a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place. (Kate Wells, 6/24)
2. Even in Blue States, Hospitals Have Continued To Drop Gender-Affirming Care for Youths Massachusetts passed laws and joined lawsuits to protect access to gender-affirming care for minors. But faced with the Trump administration’s threats, some hospitals voluntarily stopped care. Families are outraged. (Karen Brown, New England Public Media, 6/24)
Here’s today’s health policy haiku:
HEALTHCARE SHOULDN’T BE A CHOICE
We could have dodged this.
Bills, bills, bills, loan, bankruptcy.
Feeling healthy now?
– Erin Macey
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:
PHARMA AND TECH3. White House Policy Aide Reportedly In Running To Lead FDA
Heidi Overton is currently working on health issues as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy at the White House. She has a doctorate in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins University and is a medical doctor. Bloomberg reports she is among the final candidates being considered to run the FDA; however, no official decision has been made.
Bloomberg: Trump Administration Considering New Leader For FDA White House policy aide Heidi Overton is among the final candidates the Trump administration is considering to lead the Food and Drug Administration, according to people familiar with the matter. No final decision has been made, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. It’s unclear whether Overton has the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., some of the people said. (Cohrs Zhang, 6/23)
More pharma and tech news —
MedPage Today: FDA Greenlights Generic Rifapentine For Tuberculosis The FDA approved the first generic version of rifapentine (Priftin) to treat active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in adolescents and adults, as well as latent TB infection in patients as young as 2 years. (Rudd, 6/23)
Stat: FDA Drops Enforcement Against Whoop After It Tweaks Blood Pressure Feature The Food and Drug Administration quietly told wearable maker Whoop last week that it would not take further enforcement action over a controversial feature that gives users a reading of their blood pressure. (Aguilar, 6/23)
Stat: What An Abandoned Trial Reveals About FDA ‘Breakthrough’ Devices It wasn’t sure to be a slam dunk. By the time LivaNova launched a pivotal trial for its vagus nerve stimulator to treat heart failure in 2018, similar devices had shown mixed results. But the Food and Drug Administration had designated the device as a breakthrough, a label intended to speed promising technologies to patients with unmet needs: Maybe this would be the device to help heart failure patients when drugs weren’t enough. (Palmer, 6/24)
Verite News: Gene Therapy Cures Metro New Orleans Man Of Sickle Cell, Clears Path For Dream Of Becoming Pilot Tears glazed Daniel Cressy’s face as he became the first patient in the Gulf South to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease through gene editing on Monday. He said it felt like being reborn. “ God has given me another life, a new chapter. I was able to experience a second birthday, something that most people will never experience,” he said during a celebration at Manning Family Children’s, surrounded by his care team and top public officials including Gov. Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno. (Parker, 6/23)
The Hill: Serena Williams Comeback Has GLP-1 Critics Thinking She Has An Edge GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are a hot health topic. Now, critics are debating whether the medications should be banned in sports for potentially being performance-enhancing drugs. The debate comes after 23-time Grand Slam-winning superstar Serena Williams officially came back to tennis after stepping away from the game for four years. During that time, she admitted to using a GLP-1 medication to get back in shape, saying it helped her lose 34 pounds. (Sitz, 6/23)
VACCINES4. Study Showing Benefits Of Covid Vaccine Published In AMA Journal After CDC Refused To Run It In Theirs
The study was supposed to be published in March in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, but acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya raised concerns about the paper’s methodology, NBC News reported. In other news: Pentagon officials reportedly have told ABC News that the Army, Navy, and Air Force are once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees.
NBC News: Covid Vaccine Study The Acting CDC Director Blocked Is Published In An Outside Journal A study on Covid vaccines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s acting director blocked from publication came out Tuesday in a different journal. The findings show that Covid vaccines reduced the likelihood of severe illness by about half among adults last fall and winter. The study was originally scheduled to be released in March in the CDC’s flagship scientific publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Instead, it was published in JAMA Network Open, a highly regarded, peer-reviewed journal from the American Medical Association. (Bendix, 6/23)
Read the study on the JAMA Network —
On flu and measles —
ABC News: Military Services Again Requiring Recruits To Get Flu Shots As Air Force Outbreak Grows The services have already been given exceptions to the vaccine policy, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement provided to ABC News. As part of those exceptions to the policy, the Army, Navy and Air Force are once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees, according to officials. (Cobern, Martinez, Kekatos and Beynon, 6/24)
Chicago Tribune: Health Officials Warn Of Potential Measles Exposure At O’Hare Chicago health officials are investigating a case of measles in a traveler who arrived at O’Hare International Airport on June 17. (Schencker, 6/23)
Updates on the Ebola outbreak —
France 24: France Confirms First Ebola Case In Doctor Returning From DR Congo Mission A doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the country’s first case of the virus during the current outbreak, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The health ministry “confirms today the identification of a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory”, it said. Contacted by AFP, the ministry specified that the case was identified in mainland France. The patient is being isolated and authorities are contact tracing, the ministry said. (6/24)
The New York Times: Ebola Symptoms In Current Outbreak May Be Milder Than In Previous Ones Doctors treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the symptoms may be milder than in previous outbreaks of the disease. There is too little data yet to be certain, but an assessment by the ministry of health in Congo suggests that about 90 percent of patients do not seem to develop the extensive internal and external bleeding that can arise in the disease’s horrific end stages, according to Dr. Marie-Roseline Belizaire, who leads the World Health Organization’s response to the outbreak. Some early data also suggests that fewer people may be dying this time compared with previous outbreaks. (Mandavilli, 6/23)
NPR: Inside The Town Where The Ebola Outbreak Likely Started Joseph Mute witnessed a string of mysterious deaths in Mongbwalu long before the Congolese government declared an Ebola outbreak. A neighborhood leader in the town, Mute said that the characteristic feature of these deaths was the presence of blood. “They had blood in the nose, blood in the mouth,” he said, standing on an unpaved road in the Shuni neighborhood. A gold-mining town of about 130,000 people located in Ituri province, Mongbwalu is one of the epicenters of eastern Congo’s Ebola outbreak. The outbreak is believed to have started here, according to the World Health Organization, but this has yet to be fully confirmed. (Livingstone and Mpiana, 6/24)
HEALTH INDUSTRY5. Hospital Destroyed By Hurricane Katrina Will Get New Life As Research Hub
Twenty-one years after the disaster that devastated New Orleans, Tulane University has signed a purchase and sale agreement to buy Charity Hospital and transform it into a symbol of hope. The plan is to create a hub for research, education, spinoffs and startups, The Washington Post reported.
The Washington Post: New Orleans Hospital Destroyed By Katrina To Be Reborn As A Science Hub On Tuesday, Tulane leaders announced they would lead a sweeping redevelopment of Charity Hospital, investing $500 million to restore the massive structure and turn it into a hub for research, education, spin-offs and start-ups. (Svrluga, 6/24)
More healthcare industry developments —
MedPage Today: Hundreds Of Physicians, Other Clinicians At Banner Health File To Unionize More than 240 physicians and advanced practice providers from dozens of Banner Health locations throughout the Phoenix area have filed to unionize. The effort comes as clinicians have expressed concerns about patient panel sizes, staffing levels, and scheduling practices, which have gone unaddressed, leaving them “worried about patient safety, continuity of care, and increasing administrative burdens,” the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD) said in announcing the filing. (Henderson, 6/23)
Chicago Tribune: Workers To Strike At 6 Illinois Prime Healthcare Hospitals Skilled maintenance workers at six Prime Healthcare hospitals in Illinois plan to go on strike July 2, with their union alleging that Prime has interfered with their right to organize and bargain collectively. (Schencker, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: CHOP CEO Madeline Bell To Retire Oct. 1 Madeline Bell will step down as CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on Oct. 1 after nearly 40 years at the health system, including the last 11 years at the helm. Dr. Joseph Mitchell, who joined CHOP as president in April 2025, will add the title of CEO upon Bell’s retirement, the system said Tuesday. He has worked in leadership roles in healthcare for more than 20 years. Before joining the system, he was executive vice president at Boston Children’s Hospital and president of special hospital Franciscan Children’s. (6/23)
KFF Health News: Even In Blue States, Hospitals Have Continued To Drop Gender-Affirming Care For Youths One afternoon in late 2024, a sixth-grader nicknamed Bug came home from school with an announcement to make. Bug, who was assigned female at birth, told his parents he was a boy — and would be using he/him pronouns. “OK, cool,” his mother, J, remembered saying. (J asked to be identified by only her first initial, and Bug by his nickname, because the family fears harassment.) “‘What do you need to be supported?’” she recalled asking next. “He asked to get healthcare.” (Brown, 6/24)
On health costs and coverage —
Modern Healthcare: Why 2027 ACA Exchange Premiums Are Set For A Double-Digit Increase Health insurance companies are preparing another round of big premium hikes for the exchanges, preliminary filings to state regulators show. While the proposed rate increases aren’t as large as what Affordable Care Act of 2010 exchange users encountered this year, they still will stress an already shaky market and may further shrink enrollment. Insurers cite factors such as broad economic uncertainty, heightened costs for hospital care and pharmaceuticals, higher spending on out-of-network claims, and provider consolidation to justify heftier premiums. (Tepper, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: Elevance Health Exits Ohio Small-Group ACA Insurance Market Elevance Health is leaving the small-group Affordable Care Act exchanges market in Ohio at the end of the year. The company, operating under the Anthem brand in the state, will redirect resources toward different products such as Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and level-funded plans, a spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement. Smaller employers share risk under a MEWA, while employers in a level-funded plan pay a fixed monthly fee. (Tong, 6/23)
In related news —
AP: Philanthropic Donations Hit $617B In 2025, Says Giving USA 2026 In a year marked by economic uncertainty and political turbulence, philanthropic donations rose last year, according to an authoritative annual report on American giving. Donors gave U.S. charities $617 billion in 2025, an inflation-adjusted 3% increase over last year, according to “Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025.” Bequests last year jumped by nearly 17%, the third year of the last four to clock double-digit increases in this form of giving. The trend could signal the beginning of the long predicted Great Wealth Transfer — in which baby boomers begin passing their enormous wealth to their children and charities. (Childress, 6/23)
CAPITOL WATCH6. With Affordability At The Fore, Congress Moves To Bring Down Housing Costs
The bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act loosens federal regulations and lending rules, rewards communities that build, delivers aid to communities devastated by disasters, and limits the number of single-family homes institutional investors can own, The New York Times explains. President Donald Trump is expected to enact the measure today, a White House official said.
The New York Times: Congress Clears Housing Bill, Cementing A Rare Bipartisan Feat The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a landmark housing bill, notching a rare bipartisan accomplishment ahead of the midterm elections and clearing the way for President Trump to sign the most significant piece of housing legislation in 36 years. The bill’s passage, by a lopsided 358-to-32 vote, ended months of sparring between the House and the Senate over a sprawling measure that aims to tackle the housing crisis by boosting supply in a country facing an acute shortage of new homes. The Senate passed its version of the same bill Monday, by a vote of 85 to 5. (Kaysen, 6/23)
The Hill: Rand Paul Subpoenas Anthony Fauci Over Handling Of COVID-19 Pandemic Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing a subpoena from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to appear before his panel in July. In a post online late Monday, Paul said Fauci backed out of a voluntary agreement to testify in front of the committee this month. “Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us he will NOT voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so,” Paul wrote on social platform X. (Weixel, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare AI Regulation Shifts To States As Congress Idles States are charting the future of artificial intelligence in healthcare as Congress idles and President Donald Trump shows reluctance to interfere with a burgeoning industry. Federal lawmakers have talked a lot about AI and sometimes threatened to usurp state powers to regulate the technology. But Congress has not acted in a meaningful way and national regulators are busier using AI than defining or limiting how others use it. (McAuliff, 6/23)
In other news about the Trump administration —
Fierce Healthcare: DOJ Announces $6.5B Healthcare Fraud Takedown The Department of Justice unveiled charges against 455 people, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in healthcare schemes that involved more than $6.5 billion in false claims and other patient harm. The charges were part of a two-week coordinated fraud takedown headed by the DOJ Criminal Division’s Health Care Strike Force program, but reflects “a whole-of-government approach” that involved the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as international partners, law enforcement said in a press release issued Tuesday. (Muoio, 6/23)
Bloomberg: Germany Sticks To Plan For Cuts In Drug Prices Despite US Probe Germany signaled it will move ahead with plans to impose lower drug prices on pharmaceutical companies, calling a US accusation of unfair trade practices “unfounded.” Responding to a US probe into German drug pricing announced last week, which could lead to new tariffs, the health ministry in Berlin said deeper discounts on medicines are necessary to rein in unsustainable spending on Germany’s public healthcare system. (Kresge, 6/24)
MedPage Today: White House Denies Trump Got Unapproved Obesity Drug The White House aggressively denied a report that implied President Trump may have received the investigational obesity medication retatrutide. STAT on Tuesday reported that Eli Lilly and the FDA granted one request for compassionate use of the triple hormone receptor agonist in April to a 79-year-old man (Trump turned 80 on June 14). A senior NIH clinician requested it for a patient with “refractory” obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and pulmonary hypertension, according to the story. (Fiore, 6/23)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH7. Expensive, Risky IVF Add-On Procedures Don’t Always Improve Pregnancy Odds, Study Finds
Only three procedures designed to boost fertilization — endometrial scratching, physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and EmbryoGlue — were supported by rigorous studies, researchers found. Scientists think more funding to study the IVF add-ons would be beneficial.
The New York Times: Services Sold To Boost I.V.F. Odds Backed By Little Evidence, Study Finds Every year, patients undergo millions of in vitro fertilization procedures worldwide. Only a minority result in a live birth. In an effort to improve the odds, scientists have developed an array of “add-ons” that could in theory identify the most robust eggs, sperm and embryos or make the uterine lining more hospitable. Some patients pay thousands of dollars for these procedures, on top of the high costs of I.V.F. But a study published Tuesday found no indication that most of these add-ons work. (Astor, 6/23)
Undark: Advocacy Groups Express Mixed Views On Embryo Editing As Edward Donnell Ivy remembers it, many of the sickle cell episodes he endured in his 20s were akin to headaches or colds: They hurt, but he could still get up and go. Every so often, though, he would be gripped by pain that left him unable to function. “I can’t go out the house. I can’t leave the bed,” he recalled. Then a college student, he would often wind up in the emergency room and miss weeks of classes at a time. The disease was taking a toll. (Smart, 6/24)
NPR: Crisis Pregnancy Centers Questioned About Ectopic Pregnancy Tactic On Mother’s Day, the Trump administration launched the website Moms.gov, which directs “expecting parents who are navigating difficult or unexpected pregnancies” to crisis pregnancy centers around the country. “Many centers offer pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STD/STI testing and treatment, parenting support, childbirth classes, medical referrals, and material goods like clothes and diapers — at no cost to you,” Moms.gov explains. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/24)
KFF Health News: A Ban Won’t Stop Abortion Pill Access, Telehealth Providers Say Angel Foster had a backup plan.It was the first weekend in May. A federal appeals court had just made it illegal to mail mifepristone, a pill that’s part of the most widely used abortion method in the U.S. But Foster, a doctor who specializes in reproductive health, was prepared. As leader of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, which ships abortion pills to some 3,500 patients a month nationwide, including in states with abortion bans, she told patients they had three options. (Wells, 6/24)