Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Visit KFF Health News for the latest headlines
Morning Briefing
DO YOU LIVE IN A RURAL AREA?
Each month, KFF Health News’ Rural Dispatch newsletter covers health issues in places where accessing care can be more challenging. Check out our Montana, Colorado, Georgia, and California newsletters, too. Sign up here!
In This Edition:
- KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
- 1. Where Florida’s Gun Violence Exacts Its Biggest Toll on Black and Latino Children
- 2. The Medicare GLP-1 Discount Has One Big Catch: Some Sick Patients Don’t Qualify
- 3. California Weighs Penalties for Healthcare Providers That Don’t Rein In Costs
- HEALTH INDUSTRY
- 4. New NIH Publishing Policy Could Cost Researchers Big Bucks — And From Their Own Pockets
- PHARMA AND TECH
- 7. Certain Blood Transfusions Put Patients At Risk Of Experiencing Symptoms of Alpha-Gal Syndrome, Study Finds
- EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
- 10. Viewpoints: Montana Licenses Centers For Unapproved Therapies; Where’s The Federal Definition Of Ultraprocessed Foods?
From KFF Health News:
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES1. Where Florida’s Gun Violence Exacts Its Biggest Toll on Black and Latino Children An analysis of hospital claims data in Florida found that firearm injuries of children disproportionately hit families in a handful of ZIP codes, almost all of them in Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, or Tampa Bay. (Daniel Chang and Fred Clasen-Kelly and Olga Pierce, The Trace and Yona Gavino, Action News Jax and Daralene Jones, WFTV, 8/25)
2. The Medicare GLP-1 Discount Has One Big Catch: Some Sick Patients Don’t Qualify The new Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program promises eligible beneficiaries access to popular weight loss drugs for as little as $50 a month. But for some, having the very medical conditions these drugs are approved to treat means they don’t qualify for the discount. (Jackie Fortiér, 8/25)
3. California Weighs Penalties for Healthcare Providers That Don’t Rein In Costs About half of U.S. adults say they can’t afford healthcare. California is among at least eight states that have set spending growth targets for the healthcare sector. It may soon impose enforcement penalties aimed at pushing hospitals and other providers to meet those goals. (Claudia Boyd-Barrett, 8/24)
Here’s today’s health policy haiku:
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
“Medicare for All.”
Yale: Saves 1 trillion! Many
bankrupt providers.
– Anonymous
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:
HEALTH INDUSTRY4. New NIH Publishing Policy Could Cost Researchers Big Bucks — And From Their Own Pockets
The NIH’s updated policy requires that manuscripts be publicly available as soon as they are published. In light of this, publishers require hefty open-access payments to compensate them for lost subscriptions caused by the new policy, MedPage Today reported. But NIH specifically disallows the use of its funds to pay for submissions.
MedPage Today: Researchers Could Pay $100M To Comply With NIH Publishing Policy NIH-funded researchers could pay journal publishers as much as $104 million per year in additional fees to comply with NIH’s updated policy that requires manuscripts to be publicly available as soon as they are published. That’s the total estimated by assessing about 24,000 manuscripts associated with NIH grants in 2024 that would likely have to pay to comply with the policy, Ryan Huebinger, MD, of the University of New Mexico, and colleagues reported in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Clark, 8/24)
Stat: Comments On OMB Research Rule Mysteriously Removed From Federal Website For the past couple of years, Magdeleine Bradford-Butcher has been living on the cutting edge of science. When prenatal testing showed the baby she was carrying had cystic fibrosis, her doctor put her on Trikafta — a relatively new treatment aimed at preventing severe complications from the genetic disease after birth. (Oza, 8/25)
The Trump administration again tries to restrict H-1B visas for some —
The Washington Post: Trump Administration Proposes $103,000 Fee For H-1B Visas After Legal Setback Trump tried to implement a similar $100,000 fee last year through a presidential proclamation, but it was invalidated by a federal judge in June. … The new proposed regulation, set to formally publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, seeks to carve a different legal path by proposing to use the fees to offset the cost of running the immigration system. It exempts some groups, such as most U.S. colleges, universities and nonprofit hospitals affiliated with academic institutions. But unlike last year’s proposal, it would apply to many people who already reside in the United States, not just those submitting petitions from abroad. (Hesson and Gurley, 8/24)
In other healthcare industry developments —
Chicago Tribune: Nurses At Chicago’s St. Mary Hospital Plan One-Day Strike Hundreds of registered nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago plan to again go on a one-day strike as they try to reach their first contract with the hospital’s new owner Prime Healthcare. (Schencker, 8/24)
The CT Mirror: Lawrence+Memorial Staff Seek Better Conditions, Higher Pay Healthcare workers rallied outside Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London on Monday, demanding higher compensation to help alleviate issues with staff recruitment and retention that they say are compromising patient care. (Golvala, 8/24)
KFF Health News: California Weighs Penalties For Healthcare Providers That Don’t Rein In Costs California is weighing stiff penalties for hospitals and other healthcare entities that don’t stay under state spending limits, potentially levying hundreds of millions of dollars in fines if these providers don’t take steps to rein in rising healthcare costs. If the state Office of Health Care Affordability adopts the fines next week, hospitals, medical groups, insurers, and others could face penalties that amount to as much as 125% of the total they spend above the state’s annual growth targets. (Boyd-Barrett, 8/24)
Asheville Watchdog: 92 New WNC Hospital Beds Up For Grabs Amid Anger At HCA The hearing August 19 at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College was a routine part of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) certificate of need process. It was an opportunity for state regulators to hear public comments and presentations on the competing proposals before them. But today, even routine administrative healthcare proceedings have become highly charged. (Clifford, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: Advocate-Owned Atrium, Morehouse Win Approval For Atlanta Hospital Atrium Health has received state approval to build a hospital campus in Atlanta in collaboration with the Morehouse School of Medicine. Atrium — part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health — plans to invest more than $700 million in the hospital and surrounding care network, according to a Friday news release. The organizations did not specify a timeline for the hospital’s opening. Updates will follow meetings with stakeholders as planning continues, the news release said. (Hudson, 8/24)
Charlotte Ledger: As Atrium Pursues WakeMed, A Look Inside Its Last Big North Carolina Deal As Atrium Health continues its push to join forces with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, its leaders have repeatedly pointed to another North Carolina deal as evidence of what to expect: its 2020 combination with Winston-Salem-based Wake Forest Baptist. (Crouch, 8/24)
Modern Healthcare: Las Vegas Raiders Donate $25M To Intermountain Health The Las Vegas Raiders and its owners have donated $25 million to Intermountain Health toward the construction of a new children’s hospital, the National Football League team announced Monday. The project will result in Nevada’s first standalone children’s medical center, according to a news release. The Salt Lake City-based health system has been the official healthcare partner of the Raiders since 2019. (DeSilva, 8/24)
Stat: With Medicaid Cuts Looming, Rural Hospitals Already Making Changes Last year, Republicans set American health care on a new path: They slashed $1 trillion from expected Medicaid funding over the next decade and allowed tens of billions of dollars in annual insurance subsidies to expire. (Payne, 8/25)
Also —
Stat: AI Software To Detect Hospital Drug Diversion Has A Problem: Humans In late September 2024, patients noticed a nurse at Adventist Health in Bakersfield, Calif., was acting strangely. The nurse was walking barefoot through the intensive care unit, talking to herself and acting abrasively toward others. Family members of patients noticed the nurse sloppily taking out IV needles but were afraid to confront her. “I know she was on something because you can tell,” one family member told federal investigators after the incident. (Byrne, 8/25)
VACCINES5. Florida Looks To Reduce Number Of Vaccines Required For Public School Attendance
Floridians have 21 days to comment about a proposed rule that would lift a requirement for children to be vaccinated against chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), and pneumococcal disease. In the private school sector, Catholic bishops say they will stand their ground in rejecting vaccine exemptions for their students.
NOTUS: Florida Prepares To Roll Back School Vaccine Requirements Florida is set to roll back four vaccine requirements for children attending the state’s public schools, according to a new rule published Monday by the state Department of Health. The proposed guidelines come after Florida’s surgeon general launched an effort last fall to eliminate all vaccine mandates for school children. The rule would allow Florida children to attend school without receiving immunizations for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B and pneumococcal disease. The Department of Health purports that the proposed rule eliminates vaccine mandates for shots that aren’t required under state law. (Monnin, 8/24)
CIDRAP: Catholic Bishops Tell Florida AG There’s No Theological Reason For School Vaccine Exemptions Catholic bishops in Florida are warning the state’s attorney general to respect their religious liberty when it comes to parochial schools’ approach to vaccine exemptions. Florida’s Catholic schools do not accept religious exemptions for vaccines. In a letter to Attorney General James Uthmeier, made public last week, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said Florida bishops don’t have to justify their position, but are doing so “out of respect for you and your office.” (Boden, 8/24)
Florida Phoenix: Did School Vaccines Just Become A Campaign Issue In Florida? GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Byron Donalds says he’d like to “study and really engage it” before making a decision about whether to repeal statutory vaccine requirements for schools. (Perry, 8/24)
MedPage Today: HHS Call For Input May Shed Light On Trump Administration’s Vaccine Plans In the wake of a controversial executive order that shrinks the number of universally recommended vaccines for children, HHS is asking the public to weigh in on whether three categories used in federal vaccine recommendations are adequate. The three categories up for discussion are routine, risk-based, and shared clinical decision-making. The agency is seeking input on whether it should implement additional or different categories. (Henderson, 8/24)
Also —
The Hill: Public Health Experts Warn Back-To-School Season Will Worsen Record Measles Outbreak With kids returning to school amid the worst year of measles in more than 30 years and as a record number of children report exemptions from vaccines, the likelihood that the spread of measles will worsen is all but certain according to public health leaders. The majority of U.S. public schools will have begun their 2026-27 academic years by the end of August, and students will be returning as the country has recorded nearly 3,000 measles cases across 47 jurisdictions and 36 new outbreaks this year. (Choi, 8/24)
The Baltimore Sun: Measles Outbreak Declared In 3 Maryland Counties Maryland officials declared a measles outbreak in three counties as cases continue to rise, according to the Maryland Department of Health. (Scarglato, 8/24)
LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH6. Study: At Least 25% Of NFL Players Could End Up With Brain Disease
Researchers noted that the rate of actual chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is likely higher given that not all players’ brains were tested after they died. “I bet the real number is a lot bigger,” said former Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Randy Grimes, who lost two teammates who were found to have had CTE. Scientists hope this information leads to reforms to minimize the disease’s occurrence.
The New York Times: At Least 1 In 4 NFL Players Gets CTE, Major New Study Finds Since the degenerative brain disease known as C.T.E. was first scientifically linked to football about 20 years ago, and as hundreds of former professional football players have been diagnosed with the disease after their deaths, a haunting question has lingered: Just how many N.F.L. players will end up with C.T.E.? New data provides a sobering indication: At least one in four of all the people who have played in the N.F.L. might expect to end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a study of hundreds of cases over a recent six-year period. (Branch, 8/25)
The New York Times: Many N.F.L. Players Get Brain Disease. Why Hasn’t OSHA Intervened? The most notorious form of workplace illness in the United States might be black lung disease. Scientists say that 10 to 20 percent of coal miners who have worked 25 years or more have gotten it. It has long been considered an epidemic. Imagine an American job that is less safe than that, where one in four workers (and maybe far more) ends up with an incurable, degenerative brain disease that withers the mind, sometimes after just a few years of exposure. (Branch, 8/25)
The New York Times: Your Child Plays Football. How Can You Minimize Risk Of C.T.E.? Researchers say it’s all about reducing the total number of blows to the head. (Branch, 8/25)
More health and wellness news —
The Baltimore Sun: People Can Sense Mental Decline, Says New Research Powered By Smartwatches Older adults may be better judges of their moment-to-moment mental sharpness than scientists once assumed, according to a University of California, Davis study — which relied on familiar technology: the smartwatch. (Mutasa, 8/24)
Medical Xpress: Oxalate In Spinach And Almonds May Worsen Gut Inflammation In IBD Spinach, almonds and sweet potatoes are celebrated as some of the healthiest foods on the planet. But for the millions of Americans living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a new study from the UNC School of Medicine suggests that these same foods may be quietly worsening gut inflammation through a compound most people have never heard of. (Harley, 8/23)
Phys.org: Engineered Yeasts Help Turn PET Plastic And Crop Waste Into Protein-Rich Cookies Plastic might be the last ingredient you would ever add to a cookie recipe. But a team of researchers is looking to change that. They’ve programmed yeasts to turn plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins and flavoring molecules, creating a treat from trash. The technology not only offers a new upcycling method but could also sustain life in disaster zones or even deep-space missions with humans aboard. (8/24)
PHARMA AND TECH7. Certain Blood Transfusions Put Patients At Risk Of Experiencing Symptoms of Alpha-Gal Syndrome, Study Finds
MedPage Today reported that in regions of the U.S. with a high prevalence of tick-induced alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), researchers found that people with type O blood who received B or AB platelet or plasma units were nearly four times more likely to have an allergic transfusion reaction compared with those who received O units. Researchers said the findings would likely lead to a change in transfusion practices.
MedPage Today: Study Warns On Alpha-Gal Syndrome And Blood Transfusions In areas with high prevalence of tick-induced alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), patients with blood type O appeared to be at significantly increased risk for allergic transfusion reactions to B or AB blood units, according to a retrospective cohort study. (Rudd, 8/24)
The Washington Post: FDA Approves A Blood Test To Detect Alzheimer’s Disease The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new blood test for Alzheimer’s that can detect a presence in the brain of amyloid plaque, which has been considered a key indicator of the disease. The test is not meant for routine screening but can be pivotal for a diagnosis when cognitive problems are causing doctors to suspect Alzheimer’s. … The FDA approved the first Alzheimer’s blood test in 2025. That test, sold by Fujirebio, measures two proteins. Roche said its test is the first to measure a single protein, which serves as a “biomarker” for amyloid. (Rowland, 8/24)
Stat: FDA Pauses Regenxbio Hunter Syndrome Gene Therapy Trial The Food and Drug Administration has again paused trials for Regenxbio’s gene therapy for a rare childhood brain disorder, after small masses were found on the spines of five patients, the company said Monday. (Mast, 8/24)
Military.com: Army Veteran Becomes First VA Patient To Receive Minimally Invasive Epilepsy Treatment U.S. Army veteran Robert Lindemann has become the first patient in the VA system to undergo a minimally invasive laser procedure to treat his epilepsy. Lindemann, who served nearly 33 years before retiring, received the procedure at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said. (Gramegna, 8/25)
On GLP-1s —
KFF Health News: The Medicare GLP-1 Discount Has One Big Catch: Some Sick Patients Don’t Qualify In January, Jeff La Marca got a prescription for the popular weight loss drug Zepbound. But he couldn’t afford the $750 monthly price tag. Then Medicare launched an 18-month pilot program that offers GLP-1 medications to some enrollees for only $50 a month. La Marca thought he might finally be able to afford the drug. (Fortiér, 8/25)
The Hill: GLP-1 Drugs May Help Treat Addiction, Studies Show From unexpected babies to “Ozempic teeth,” the ultra-popular class of GLP-1 medications is turning out to have a few unanticipated side effects. Emerging research shows the drugs, which have proven effective in treating obesity and diabetes, may also be useful in treating addiction. The medications’ full potential is coming to light as more people are prescribed a GLP-1, which includes the brand names Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy and Zepbound. As 15 percent of Americans say they’ve tried a GLP-1, researchers are learning more about how it impacts all aspects of life, not just diet. (Martichoux, 8/24)
On street drugs —
The New York Times: The Ruthless Efficiency Of Ultrapotent Street Drugs On a crisp, sunny day in February 2025, a local nicknamed Sleepy, 44, stood across the street from the neat white house in West Baltimore where he had been raised by his grandmother. His parents had lived there, too, lost to heroin addiction. As a boy, Sleepy vowed to become a police officer. (He asked not to use his full name to avoid police scrutiny.). But the streets called, and by his early teens he was selling crack and heroin. In 2007, just a few blocks from his childhood home, he fired a gun into a car carrying gang members whom he feared were hunting him. He went to prison on an attempted murder charge and was released in 2022. (Richtel, 8/24)
The New York Times: Why Getting High Has Only Gotten Cheaper In the early 1970s, the American government launched what became known as the war on drugs. The goal was to reduce substance abuse. The strategy: Crimp the demand for heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances by disrupting the supply and making drug use expensive. A key way “we measured success was getting the price up,” said Robert DuPont, who served as the White House drug czar from 1973 to 1977. “It meant we got the job done.” (Richtel and Hwang, 8/24)