Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed. Read this @kffhealthnews.org story here -- www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/h...

At least three people died after a flash flood struck a mountain village in New Mexico on Tuesday, according to officials. The emergency comes days after deadly floods in neighboring Texas left more than 100 people dead. Watch the full video: 🎥 https://on.wsj.com/44LlTtw

In the middle of this wild week of other news, the amazing Jackie Fortiér and I were running down this story that published today on @npr.org and @kffhealthnews.org Here's what happened, and why I think it's worth paying attention even with all of....this....going on 👇

Thanks to our loyal #WTHealth podcast listeners for sticking with us for 400 episodes! More to come from the smartest health reporters in Washington. :) kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

lovely

Today in D.C., thousands of veterans are rallying against President Trump’s cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs and his slashing of staff throughout the government. “I didn’t think I’d be doing this at my age, but I can’t stand by,” said Reed Radcliffe, 68, who spent two decades in the Navy.

Read this @propublica.org story on how VA contracts were ID'd for cancellation. The DOGE programmer knew little abt veterans’ care & admits errors: "It's like that Office episode where Steve Carell drives into the lake because Google Maps says drive into the lake." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Read this @kffhealthnews.org story here about federal actions impacting black lung disease that coal miners suffer from. www.cnn.com/2025/05/26/h...

worth the wait - this week's #WTHealth podcast! With @alicemiranda.bsky.social, @annaedney.bsky.social, and @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social, plus @maryrziegler.bsky.social on her new personhood book! kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

Just in the DC-Md-Va area, food banks have lost the funding for at least 1.4 million meals so far because of Pres. Trump's cuts. More info here in this story: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

BREAKING: Trump's big bill advances out of committee in rare weekend vote as conservative holdouts let legislation move forward.

"At Social Security, these are the days of the living dead" Via @kffhealthnews.org for @cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com/news/social-...

In space, Venus flanks Earth on the left, with a hellfire greenhouse effect. Mars on the right, which long ago had running water. Today, it's bone dry. Something bad happened on each planet. Seems like the wrong time to limit the Nation’s capacity to conduct climate research.

interesting article here: www.propublica.org/article/doge...

Republicans are twice as likely (1 in 5) as Democrats (1 in 10) to believe the measles shot is worse than the disease. kffhealthnews.org/news/article... I'm surprised that the number is that high for both parties. Ace graphic on the risks from both by @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social

NIH funding cuts affect both red and blue states. The story below has details. (News organizations can republish this story and other @kffhealthnews.org stories for free under these guidelines: kffhealthnews.org/syndication)

Check out the story linked below

Measles misinformation is on the rise — and Americans are hearing it, survey finds. Read the @arthurallen202.bsky.social story here - www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/m... via @statnews.com

Something has happened in the last three months that has led basically every economic forecaster to predict that inflation will be substantially higher than they previously thought.

BREAKING: Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard after the university defies its demands over campus protests.

Getting vaccinated against shingles not only lowers the risk of infection, but may also offer some protection against dementia, a new study suggests.

In his first term, President Trump granted pardons or clemency to more than 60 convicted fraudsters. Now, Trump says cracking down on fraud is a priority. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality helped improve health care safety in a country where thousands die of medical errors each year. It was effectively dissolved Tuesday. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

On this week's #WTHealth podcast: All about the HHS cuts. With @laurenweberhp.bsky.social, @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social, and @rachelcohrs.bsky.social. Plus Julie Appleby with the latest @kffhealthnews.org "Bill of the Month." kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

We talked with @julierovner.bsky.social of @kffhealthnews.org to unpack the sweeping cuts and reorganization at HHS. Her take: "I really do feel like the purpose here is not to make things better. It’s to break it." Listen to the full conversation: tradeoffs.org/2025/04/03/m...

Final rule is out - CMS chooses not to finalize the Medicare/Medicaid coverage of anti-obesity medications proposal from the NPRM. www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe.... I had written about that part of the proposed rule for Health Affairs here www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore....

NEWS: A federal judge has ordered the return of a Salvadoran man who the Trump administration admits was erroneously deported to his home country despite a court order saying he had credible fear of persecution. This sets up a potential clash w the White House. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

BREAKING: Dow drops 2,000 as the U.S. market plunge deepens after China retaliates against President Trump's tariffs.

Sue Sheridan’s baby, Cal, suffered brain damage from undetected jaundice. Helen Haskell’s teen son, Lewis, died after surgery. Each woman became a safety research advocate. HHS gutted the organization that supported that research. Details in @kffhealthnews.org story here: www.cnn.com/2025/04/04/h...

😳 The top vaccine regulator ousted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the health secretary’s team has sought nonexistent data to justify antivaccine narratives and pushed to water down regulation of unproven stem-cell treatments. @lizessleywhyte.bsky.social

U.S. measles cases in all of 2024: 285 U.S. measles cases in Q1 of 2025: 483

US stocks plunged on Friday, with the Dow tumbling 716 points and the S&P 500 on track for its worst quarter since 2022. Investors were digesting slightly stubborn inflation data and weakening consumer sentiment while wrestling with continued tariff anxiety. cnn.it/42ddcH2

It's only the end of March but already 2025 has logged more #measles cases than all but 2 other years since the US achieved measles elimination status in 2000. #CDC reported there'd been 483 confirmed cases in 19 states as of 3/27. Likely out of date, with TX reporting Friday its count has hit 400

HHS Secretary RFK Jr.'s plans for mass layoffs take an axe to the FDA and CDC in particular: 3,500 people to be cut from FDA (roughly 1 in 5 workers) 2,400 from the CDC (ditto) In total across HHS agencies, 10,000 employees will be laid off. www.hhs.gov/about/news/h...

Breaking News: President Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported cars. The measure, intended to bring factories to the U.S., could significantly raise prices.

Reporter Brett Kelman and data editor Holly Hacker of @kffhealthnews.org identified 230 US counties with a dangerous combination of dentist shortages and unfluoridated water, which raises the risks of tooth decay in those places. Read here via @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/03/26/n...

As the Texas measles outbreak continues, doctors there are treating some children given so much vitamin A that they have signs of liver damage. Story by @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/h...

Concerns about imminent price hikes come just as the auto market shows signs of stabilizing.

Spending cuts, immigration, and Medicaid are at the top of the Washington agenda. That climate provides fertile ground for misinformation and myths to multiply on social networks. Some of the most common are those surrounding immigrants, Latinos, and Medicaid. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Love this. And @kffhealthnews.org articles are never paywalled. Other news outlets can publish KFF Health News stories for free under these guidelines - kffhealthnews.org/syndication/

"We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think." Echoes the VP's statements.

“Never has the government brought such leverage against an institution of higher education,” said former Columbia Univ. president Lee C. Bollinger, who left in 2023 after 21 years. “It is an existential threat.” The administration is targeting other colleges, too, and trying to exert gov't control.

A Politico story from earlier this week starts: "In 2021, JD Vance proclaimed 'the universities are the enemy.' This week, the White House declared war against them." Here's the latest from @apnews.com: apnews.com/article/trum...

New government survey data shows the biggest growth in ACA enrollment has come in red states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. The enhanced premium aid that fueled this increase in enrollment expires at the end of this year unless Congress extends it. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/he...

James K. Polk expanded the U.S. more than any other president. Now his portrait hangs in the Oval Office, a signal that President Trump’s ambition to take over Canada, Greenland and other territory is more than just talk.

Meanwhile:

This letter appeared in the Bloomsburg PA Press Enterprise this morning. I am assured the writer is who he purports to be, an Air Force veteran.

A federal judge blocked most of a White House executive order punishing the law firm Perkins Coie, saying the administration improperly targeted the law firm based on President Trump’s dislike of its clients’ political positions

This is really, really bad. Columbia made the mistake of thinking that placating the administration would spare them. Other universities made the mistake of thinking it would stop with Columbia. It won’t stop without disciplined pushback; it’s an existential question for American universities.