The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
An ongoing Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News series examining the Trump administrationās overhaul of federal health care agencies.
1 - 20 of 61 Results
Federal health officials have ordered states to reverify the immigration status of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees. After seven months, findings from five states show the reviews have uncovered few immigrants without legal status who are improperly receiving benefits.
The federal governmentās Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.
Measles is at a 30-year high in the U.S., but technicalities may stave off the loss of the nationās measles elimination status.
An internal email claiming covid vaccines killed children triggered a formal response from a dozen past FDA commissioners. The email, sent by the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, outlines a framework that could have significant impact on the nationās vaccine policies.
Scientists are conducting genetic analyses to see if the measles outbreak that started in Texas is still spreading from state to state. Itās a contentious question, because the findings may determine whether America loses its measles-free status.
Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services increasingly uses its social media channels to promote Kennedy himself and his agenda. Interviews with over 20 former and current employees provide a look inside an agency where personality and politics steer communications with the public.
A CDC panel is reconsidering the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Renewed doubt could lead to fewer kids getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to an incurable, preventable virus that can be acquired by indirect contact with infected blood.
A reshaped CDC website suggesting that vaccines cause autism has appalled the medical community.
Under Trump policies, cancer registries in 2026 will have to classify sex data strictly as male, female, or unknown, a change scientists and advocates say will harm the health of one of the nationās most marginalized populations.
Fueled by covid backlash, a libertarian author created the Brownstone Institute in 2021. In recent months, people with ties to the group have catapulted to the highest levels of U.S. government, exercising significant authority over access to vaccines and scientific research.
Federal law allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to guard detainees at health care facilities, but patients can ask to speak privately with medical providers and lawyers.
The Trump administration has directed visa officers to consider common health ailments, including obesity and diabetes, when would-be immigrants seek visas to enter the U.S.
Clinicians and researchers are starting to embrace an effort to develop whatās known as āshame competenceā in physicians to combat burnout and prevent that uncomfortable emotion from being passed along to patients.
The health secretaryās statement doesnāt consider the impact that the Medicaid cuts advanced in the same law will have on health care in rural America.
Doctors say acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, is safe to take during pregnancy. Other over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen arenāt recommended because they can harm fetal development. Untreated fever in pregnancy can pose maternal and fetal health risks.
The decisions by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices matter, because insurers and federal programs rely on them, but they are not binding. States can follow the recommendations, or not.
Susan Monarez and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief medical officer Debra Houry described turmoil in an agency dominated by anti-vaccine political officials nominated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Education Departmentās civil rights office often intervenes when students face discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or disability and their families canāt resolve complaints locally. Parents fear the effort to gut the federal agency will leave them with nowhere to seek justice.
Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Stephanie Armour, Julie Rovner, and Arthur Allen and KFFās Josh Michaud discuss the biggest takeaways from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.ās hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.ās push to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. It marks a major offensive by Kennedy to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-science agenda, public health leaders say.
Ā© 2026 KFF