Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Democrats To Propose Bill Capping Out-Of-Pocket Medicare Costs For Enrollees Sen. Ron Wyden and 14 Democratic co-sponsors plan to introduce legislation Thursday to cap consumers’ potential out-of-pocket costs in traditional Medicare, resurfacing a long-running debate over why the program doesn’t limit beneficiary spending. Even the bill’s backers say securing passage this year is a long shot. But the effort is one more opportunity for Democrats to highlight voters’ frustration about healthcare costs leading into the November election. Polls show Americans are very concerned about affordability, with a recent Gallup survey finding fewer than half of Americans say they can consistently afford healthcare. (Appleby, 6/25)
KFF Health News: Opioid Settlement Money Pays For Services To Battle Addiction In Rural Kentucky Drugs and the consequences of addiction are woven into the fabric of Jamie Madden’s life. Her earliest memory is of standing on the passenger seat of her dad’s car as a toddler, wearing a peach-colored blouse, while he drove from their Kentucky home to Florida to pick up drugs. On a stop for a burger, she met Ronald McDonald. “I grew up with the impression that that’s how you paid your bills,” Madden said. “That’s how your kids got things.” (Sisk, 6/25)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ Zach Dyer reads the week’s news: The U.S. is getting its first new sunscreen ingredient in decades. Plus, at-home cancer tests have their limits. (Zenda, 6/25)
HEALTHCARE COSTS AND COVERAGE
Modern Healthcare: US Health Spending Projected To Hit $9T By 2034: CMS National health expenditures will rise to nearly $9 trillion and comprise 20.6% of gross domestic product by 2034, according to a federal report released Wednesday. Spending is projected to have increased 7.3% to $5.7 trillion in 2025, which would mark the third consecutive year when the rate surpassed 7%, according to a study the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Centers Office of the Actuary published in the journal Health Affairs. The share of GDP committed to healthcare rose slightly to 18.4% last year, the actuaries project. The agency is slated to issue a final report on 2025 spending later this year. (Early, 6/24)
HealthDay: UnitedHealth, Humana And CVS Denied Post-Hospital Care At Some Of The Highest Rates The three largest Medicare Advantage insurers turned down requests for post-hospital care at some of the highest rates among major plans, a federal watchdog has found. UnitedHealth Group, Humana and CVS Health, the parent company of Aetna, each denied many requests to move patients into long-term care hospitals or rehabilitation facilities after a hospital stay, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). (Vohnoutka, 6/24)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Extends Pause On New Medicaid Enrollments The Maryland Department of Health is extending a temporary pause on new Medicaid enrollments for certain behavioral health providers as the state continues reviewing the provider network for potential fraud, waste and abuse. (Karpovich, 6/24)
News Service of Florida: Children’s Healthcare Giant Challenges Florida AHCA Over Medicaid Rate Change A large children's healthcare provider is challenging the Florida agency overseeing Medicaid, claiming it incorrectly cut reimbursement rates, jeopardizing care for the children served by the group. (Rohrer, 6/24)
AP: States May Owe Millions For Food Aid Errors In SNAP Program Several dozen states could have to fork over millions of dollars to provide food aid to lower-income residents, if they don’t cut down on payment errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Nine states, meanwhile, won’t have to pay a penny toward SNAP benefits, because their error rates are so low that they won an exemption from a cost-sharing requirement included in a big tax-and-spending law signed by President Donald Trump. Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides a first look at the winners — and potential losers — under the new law. (Lieb, 6/25)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
NBC News: Federal Firefighters Will Be Encouraged To Wear N95 Respirators In Major Policy Reversal For the first time, federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear respirators to protect them against smoke-related hazards as they work to put out wildland blazes. The Forest Service announced Wednesday that firefighters were authorized to use N95 respirators on the fire line, a major policy reversal as the agency for decades did not allow such protections, even as studies demonstrated the health harms of wildfire smoke. (Bush and Lozano, 6/24)
The Hill: Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order Against DOJ's Subpoenas For Transgender Medical Records A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Justice Department (DOJ) prosecutors from accessing the medical records of transgender individuals treated at New York City hospitals. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of the Southern District of New York, granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order against the DOJ, thereby barring the Trump administration from seeking, receiving, using, retaining or disseminating any identifying or sensitive information pertaining to the plaintiffs. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment on Failla’s ruling. (Rego, 6/24)
The Washington Post: Internal Memo Orders Staff Not To Reveal Deaths In National Parks Guidance issued by the Interior Department instructs National Park Service staff not to confirm deaths, the severity of injuries or other details. (Spring, 6/23)
CIDRAP: Petition Urges FDA To End Routine Antibiotic Use On Farms A coalition of 65 health, environmental, consumer, and animal welfare groups has filed a petition with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the routine use of antibiotics in food-producing animals. The citizen’s petition, sent last week to the FDA, calls on the agency to withdraw approval of medically important antibiotics that are administered in animal feed and water when not associated with a diagnosed illness. The target of the petition is use of antibiotics for disease prevention and “maintenance of growth” in poultry, swine, dairy cattle, and beef cattle—uses the groups argue are unnecessary and contribute to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (Dall, 6/24)
CAPITOL WATCH
The Washington Post: Trump Abruptly Cancels Signing Of Bipartisan Bill On Affordable Housing President Donald Trump abruptly canceled an event to sign a bipartisan affordable-housing bill Wednesday, announcing the ceremony was off as he fumed about the Senate not passing his bill to impose new rules on elections. An hour and a half before he was due to sign the bill at the Capitol at noon, the president caught lawmakers and some staff by surprise, declaring on social media that a news conference and signing ceremony was “hereby cancelled until such a time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.” (Allison, Alfaro, Dillard and Meyer, 6/23)
Politico: Republicans Debate Insulin Pricing Cap Ahead Of Daunting Midterms A group of Senate Republicans wants to ensure private insurance patients with diabetes don’t have to pay more than $35 a month for insulin. The move is a major shift for a party that’s long viewed price controls as anathema to free markets. And it’s the latest sign that GOP lawmakers are trying to address affordability issues ahead of the midterms. (King and Lim, 6/24)
Stat: New Bill Aims To Expand Methadone Access For Opioid Treatment Two senators are renewing their push to greatly expand access to methadone treatment for opioid addiction. On Thursday, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are introducing an updated version of legislation that would allow doctors who hold board certifications in addiction medicine to prescribe methadone directly to patients for pickup at a pharmacy. (Facher, 6/25)
The Washington Post: Bill To Raise Minimum Wage To $25 An Hour Will Be Introduced In Senate The minimum wage would be raised to $25 an hour under a new bill to be introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) on Thursday, in a bid to enthuse the working-class voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party. The legislation, dubbed the Living Wage for All Act, has a companion bill already introduced in the House. (Choi and Beggin, 6/24)
Roll Call: RFK Jr.’s Moves On Animal Testing Spur Capitol Hill Action In his first two years on the job, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has become a polarizing figure on Capitol Hill, largely because of his vaccine skepticism and distrust of the status quo. But one of his quieter pushes — ending animal testing in medical research — has earned him accolades among some Democrats and Republicans alike. (Cohen, 6/24)
The New York Times: Representative Tom Kean, Missing For Months, Is Back Home In New Jersey Aides had said that Mr. Kean, 57, was being treated for a health condition and was expected to fully recover, but had offered no additional details as their boss missed more than 100 floor votes since the middle of March. (Tully, 6/24)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Bloomberg: RFK Jr.'s HHS To Divert Funds From Teen Pregnancy Grant Program The Department of Health and Human Services is canceling millions of dollars in teen pregnancy prevention grants as it restructures priorities for the reproductive health program. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, housed under HHS’ Office of Population Affairs, funds local grants to reduce unintended pregnancies among tweens, teens, and young adults. (Raman, 6/24)
The Hill: Senate Democrats Raise Concerns Over Moms.Gov's Anti-Abortion Links Ten Democratic senators, along with one independent, on Wednesday flagged “profound concerns” with the Trump administration’s website for new and expecting mothers, with the lawmakers saying the site drives families toward crisis pregnancy centers (CPC) for treatment. Moms.gov, launched on Mother’s Day, features resources from 2,750 pregnancy centers, which Planned Parenthood calls “crisis pregnancy centers” that it says are traditionally run by anti-abortion advocates. (Fields, 6/24)
The New York Times: Support Builds On The Right For Prosecuting Women Who Get Abortions In its quest to outlaw abortion across the country, the antiabortion movement has been largely unified around a core idea: Women who get the procedure should be spared punishment, while doctors and others who make it available should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But a growing number of conservative leaders are starting to argue that the only way to stop women from ending their pregnancies could be to arrest them. (Kitchener, 6/24)
The Hill: Abortion Rights Group Launches Multi-Million Dollar Midterm Campaign A major reproductive rights group is launching a multimillion-dollar midterm election campaign to mobilize voters and flip key battleground districts by electing Democrats who support abortion rights. Reproductive Freedom For All (RFFA) is investing $23.5 million this year, the most it has ever spent on a midterm election. (Weixel, 6/24)
Chicago Tribune: New Illinois Law Shields Abortion Records From Out-Of-State Access Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure into law Wednesday shielding patients from having electronic medical records related to abortion and other reproductive health services received in Illinois disclosed without their consent to out-of-state providers. (Petrella, 6/24)
Stateline: Four Years After The Dobbs Decision, Miscarriage Management Is Muddled Mylissa McNeill never expected to be a mother. But when she learned she was pregnant in the spring of 2022, at age 41, she and her partner were happy and excited at the prospect of parenting a little girl they planned to name Maeve. (Resnick, 6/24)
CIDRAP: ‘Everyone Who Has A Cervix Is At Risk’: Transgender People Often Miss Out On Cervical Cancer Screenings Carsen Rhys Beckwith has had a complicated relationship with their body. As a teenager, they were horrified when they developed the curves typically associated with a female body. Beckwith didn’t want to be perceived as a woman; they wanted to present themself as masculine. The anxiety caused Beckwith, who identifies as transmasculine and nonbinary, to develop a serious eating disorder that threatened their health. (Szabo, 6/24)
NBC News: Nara Organics Infant Formula Recalled Due To Botulism Months After First Ever Infant Formula Botulism Outbreak Angel Carter had breastfed her baby, Ashaan, exclusively from the day he was born. But last November, when Ashaan was 9 months old, it was time for Carter to transition her son to a sippy cup. (Edwards, 6/24)
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
The Texas Tribune: Mexican Man Dies In ICE Custody In Laredo A 63-year-old man died in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Laredo this month, marking at least the fifth death in Texas ICE detention centers this year, a quarter of the nationwide total, as the fatalities have skyrocketed to a record pace not seen in decades. (Kriel, 6/24)
Verite News: Rural Emergency Care Is Struggling To Keep Up With ICE Detention Demand Emergency responders sped out of a Pennsylvania immigrant detention center on a recent Saturday morning, sirens blaring as they drove past more than 20 protesters demanding the lockup’s closure. It was the Moshannon Valley EMS crew’s second run to the Geo Group-owned site that day. The number of detained immigrants the crew serves has grown by 44% since President Donald Trump returned to office. The Moshannon Valley Processing Center now holds nearly 1,700 people, according to the Deportation Data Project — a population more than half the size of the town. (Llanos, 6/24)
CNN: The Hidden Stakes Of The Birthright Citizenship Case: Healthcare For Babies The birthright citizenship case in front of the US Supreme Court is about much more than just citizenship. It’s also about an issue that was little discussed in court arguments: babies’ immediate access to safety net programs and medical tests that need to be done within the first couple days of life. (Christensen, 6/24)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
Reuters: Trump Seeks More Than $1.4 Billion In Ebola Funding From Congress The White House is seeking more than $1.4 billion in new funds from Congress to address the widening Ebola virus outbreak, including $800 million for humanitarian crisis response, according to a Trump administration official. The move is part of a larger supplemental funding request made by the White House on Wednesday in a letter to Congress. It includes $800 million for a quarantine center in Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus, supplies, treatment, contact tracing, a regional logistics network and infection-control practices, the official said. (Hunnicutt and Steenhuysen, 6/24)
Stat: WHO Will Test Two American Drugs Against African Ebola Outbreak A clinical trial testing two drugs against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which is driving a fast-moving outbreak in Central Africa, is set to begin next week, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. (Branswell, 6/24)
Bloomberg: Ebola Scientists Lack Virus Samples Needed To Test Vaccine In Congo Outbreak Scientists racing to develop potential vaccines and treatments against a deadly Ebola outbreak are having to do so without a viable sample of the virus, highlighting growing disputes over pathogen sharing and the difficulty of moving infectious materials across borders for research. (Furlong and Gale, 6/25)
The Hill: CDC Ends US Response To Hantavirus Outbreak The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially ended its Hantavirus response Wednesday, more than a month after the first Americans were evacuated following an outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the North Atlantic. The wind-down comes after the final 42-day quarantine period for the Americans who were exposed to the virus ended earlier this week. (Weixel, 6/24)
CIDRAP: Vaccine Integrity Project, The Evidence Collective Announce Projects To Improve Vaccine Policy, Restore Trust To bolster the US government’s vaccine policymaking process and restore trust in immunization, the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and The Evidence Collective today announced new research efforts. (Holohan, 6/24)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare To Sell 31 Home Health, Hospice Sites To Deaconess HCA Healthcare has agreed to sell 31 home health and hospice locations in eight states to Deaconess Associations Incorporated. The deal is expected to close in a few months pending regulatory approval, said Deaconess CEO Trey Crabb in an interview Wednesday. Financial details were not disclosed. (Eastabrook, 6/24)
Modern Healthcare: Utah's Doctronic AI Pilot Dispute Shifts Toward Collaboration Controversy in Utah over the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare may be taking a more collaborative turn. Utah’s medical licensing board said last week in a special meeting it will establish a working group with the state’s Office of AI Policy to review new AI use cases for healthcare. Tensions rose between the two groups earlier this year when the state launched a yearlong pilot with AI platform Doctronic, which uses a chatbot to manage prescription renewals. (Hudson, 6/24)
Modern Healthcare: How Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Ruling Has Impacted Healthcare The healthcare system remains largely untouched by a historic Supreme Court ruling that undercut the power of federal agencies. The high court’s Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision in 2024 reversed a precedent known as “Chevron deference,” which for more than 40 years dictated that the judicial branch should yield to the executive branch when statutory language is ambiguous. (Early, 6/24)
The Baltimore Sun: TikTok Is Reinventing Healthcare. Should You Trust It? Monica Carter, a nurse practitioner specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, appears on a TikTok screen, saying she is seeing so much “trich” in her clinic. Trichomonas is a sexually transmitted infection caused by a parasite, not a virus, she tells her 15,000 followers. “It is supercurable, and it’s rampant and common, and honestly, it’s not tested with routine testing. I am seeing it every day,” she exclaims on her post, which elicited more than 36,500 likes. (Goodman, 6/24)
PHARMACEUTICALS
The New York Times: Shortage Of Chemotherapy Drugs Brings Rationing Fears For Cancer Patients Doctors treating cancer patients nationwide are facing a shortage of essential generic chemotherapy drugs, a situation that many fear could lead to widespread rationing. The shortages stem from manufacturing problems, shipping delays and decisions by some companies to stop producing the medications, according to the Food and Drug Administration. (Jewett, 6/24)
MedPage Today: Long-Term CAR-T Results In Lymphoma Confirm Early Promise Ten years after receiving a single dose of CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapy, almost a third of patients with aggressive lymphomas and no treatment options remained lymphoma free, updated results from a landmark trial showed. (Bankhead, 6/24)
MedPage Today: How A Drug With More Negative Than Positive Studies Won FDA Approval The FDA should require negative studies of a new drug to be included in the product's labeling -- not just those studies with a beneficial finding -- to prevent physicians and consumers from being misled about the drug's safety and efficacy. That's the conclusion of researchers who examined the nearly decades-long journey of rejections that led up to the FDA's final approval of gepirone extended release (Exxua) for major depressive disorder in 2023, despite scant evidence of effectiveness. The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry. (Clark, 6/24)
Stat: Eli Lilly Dives Into Hair Loss Treatments With Investment In AI Startup Absci The pharmaceutical giants behind the monumentally successful weight loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro have been teasing an expansion into other aesthetic fields like hair loss or skin care. Now, one of them is making a move, investing in a small startup developing a medication to spur hair growth, and potentially also treat endometriosis. (DeAngelis, 6/24)
STATE WATCH
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Wins Federal OK To Import Prescription Drugs From Canada After seven years of planning and applying and reapplying and waiting, Colorado last week won federal approval to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada to sell in Colorado pharmacies. (Ingold, 6/24)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Council Approves Spending To Keep Nurses At St. Louis County Jail The St. Louis County Council on Wednesday approved spending $3 million on nurses and medical staff at the county jail and juvenile detention center. The vote came after weeks of back-and-forth between the council, County Executive Sam Page and health Director Dr. Kanika Cunningham over approving funds to keep 23 contract medical workers. (Landis, 6/24)
MPR News: Provider Trade Group Alleges Intentional Dismantling Of Family Residential Services Seven years ago, Shawn Engman, a Minnesotan with developmental disabilities, moved from a group home into a facility run by a program called Family Residential Services (FRS), also known as Adult Foster Care. In these facilities, up to four residents live and receive care directly in their provider’s home. (Roth, 6/24)
Verite News: New Orleans Could Start Replacing Lead Pipes If Louisiana Amendment Passes Louisiana voters will decide in November whether to ensure local water utilities can use federal funding to pay to replace residents’ lead pipes. The Louisiana Legislature also passed a framework to reduce other barriers to local lead pipe replacements that became law on June 21. In New Orleans, the Sewerage & Water Board has been awarded $152 million in federal dollars to start replacing lead lines. Lead, a toxic heavy metal, is common in water across the city, and the water utility predicts that at least half of its service lines contain lead. It’s unclear how many of the service lines on private property contain lead. (Parker, 6/24)
AP: Florida Set To Carry Out 9th Execution This Year A Florida man convicted of fatally stabbing his wife decades ago is set to be executed Thursday evening. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1992 stabbing death of his wife Karen. If carried out, this would be Florida’s ninth execution to date this year following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions. (6/25)
Chicago Tribune: Wheaton Woman, 87, Is Oldest Known Kidney Recipient In Illinois When Sheila Perry learned that she was a record-setter at 87 years old, she was surrounded by family, and all the group could do was laugh. Indeed, they had much to smile about. The Wheaton local is the oldest known female in Illinois — and among the oldest in the United States — to have a successful kidney transplant. (Kiehl, 6/24)
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