1. Medicaid Funding
2.  

Federal Plans Could Undermine Provider Taxes, A Crucial Medicaid Funding Stream For States

Republican proposals to tighten the use of special taxes to fund Medicaid programs could deprive states of billions of dollars for safety net health care. In California, any such limit would come on top of Medicaid cuts proposed by California Democrats in response to a $12 billion state deficit. (Bernard J. Wolfson, 6/20)

KFF Health News: How The Budget Bill Could Impact Your Health Care   Health programs including Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies, and food assistance are facing cuts in the budget reconciliation bill making its way through Congress. If passed as written, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could dramatically reduce health care access for millions of Americans. And even those who don’t rely on these programs could see local hospitals close.  KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on June 18 to answer listeners’ questions and break down how the bill could reshape U.S. health care. (Rovner, 6/20)

Modern Healthcare: CBO Estimates GOP Tax Plan Could Slash $1 Trillion From Healthcare A new analysis of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 concludes the economic benefits of its tax breaks would be outweighed by its costs over time and confirms the healthcare sector faces a hefty $1 trillion loss. Although cuts to Medicaid, the health insurance exchanges and other programs, and some economic growth would partially offset its $3.7 trillion price tag, the bill would increase the federal budget deficit by $2.8 trillion over 10 years, according to a report the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation issued Tuesday. (McAuliff, 6/17)

Politico: Senate GOP’s Medicaid Proposal Shocks Hospitals
One of the most powerful lobbies in Washington is redoubling its efforts to avoid a cut to Medicaid payments in the GOP’s megabill. Hospital executives weren’t happy last month when the House included a provision in its version of the bill freezing a loophole states have used to boost payments to hospitals serving the low-income patients enrolled in Medicaid. Hospitals have long enjoyed deference from lawmakers — since they both care for and employ their constituents. (King, Oprysko, Carney and Chu, 6/17)

The New York Times: Senate Bill Proposes Major Medicaid Cuts, Setting Stage for Clash With House

Senate Republicans on Monday released legislation that would cut Medicaid far more aggressively than would the House-passed bill to deliver President Trump’s domestic agenda, while also salvaging or slowing the elimination of some clean-energy tax credits, setting up a fight over their party’s marquee policy package. (Edmondson, Sanger-Katz, Romm and Plumer, 6/16)

Stat: Study Links 16,000 Deaths To Medicaid Cuts In GOP Budget Plan
Key health care provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, especially the proposed Medicaid cuts and Affordable Care Act marketplace reforms, would lead to 16,642 preventable deaths every year if implemented, according to a new analysis published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine. (Russo, 6/16)

AP: Most Americans Support Maintaining Or Boosting Medicaid And Food Stamp Funding, AP-NORC Poll Finds
As Republican senators consider President Donald Trump’s big bill that could slash federal spending and extend tax cuts, a new survey shows most U.S. adults don’t think the government is overspending on the programs the GOP has focused on cutting, like Medicaid and food stamps. Americans broadly support increasing or maintaining existing levels of funding for popular safety net programs, including Social Security and Medicare, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. They’re more divided on spending around the military and border security, and most think the government is spending too much on foreign aid. (Sanders, 6/16)

1. Healthcare Workforce
2.  

Becker's Hospital Review: MemorialCare Hospitals Announce 58 More Layoffs
Fountain Valley Calif.-based MemorialCare laid off 58 employees on June 16 at its Long Beach Medical Center and Long Beach-based Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital, according to a WARN notice. ... Affected roles include administrative functions, nonclinical positions, interpreter services and respiratory care. (Ashley, 6/18)

The New York Times: Trump’s Travel Ban Blocks Foreign Medical Residents Needed In U.S. Hospitals
Travel and visa restrictions imposed by the Trump administration threaten patient care at hundreds of hospitals that depend on medical residents recruited from overseas. Foreign medical residents often serve as the frontline caregivers at busy safety-net hospitals in low-income communities. Normally the residents begin work on July 1. Orientation programs for some of them already started this week. Now some of those hospitals are racing to prevent staffing shortages. (Rabin, 6/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser, Pepperdine To Launch MD/MBA Program
The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, Calif., is partnering with the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in Los Angeles to launch an integrated MD/MBA program. The dual-degree program is designed to equip medical students with essential business, leadership and financial skills alongside their clinical education. The program allows students to earn both degrees concurrently, rather than pursuing an MBA later in their careers. (Bean, 6/19)

KFF Health News: As Geriatrician Numbers Fall, Nurse Practitioners Become Essential For Older Adult Care On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight in all. Pregnant with her second child, she schleps a backpack instead of a traditional black bag to carry a laptop and essential medical supplies — stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and pulse oximeter. Forget a lunch break; she often eats a sandwich or some nuts as she heads to her next patient visit. (Arvin, 6/18)

1. LGBTQ+ Health
2.  

ABC7 San Francisco: The Trevor Project Launches Petition to Oppose Trump’s Proposed Cuts to 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Crisis Services

The Trevor Project has started a petition to reverse the planned cuts. "This lifeline has had more than 1.3 million people use it in less than three years," The Trevor Project interim vice president of advocacy and public affairs Mark Henson said. "And the concept of it being shutdown abruptly with short-notice is devastating." The State of California is investing $4.7 billion towards what's known as "A Master Plan for Kids' Mental Health," which includes continuing a partnership with the Trevor Project to keep support lines open. (Dorsey, 6/19)

AP: Examining the Effects of the Supreme Court Decision on Transgender Care
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming surgery for transgender youth in a ruling that’s likely to reverberate across the country. Most Republican-controlled states already have similar bans. In his majority opinion Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Tennessee’s ban does not violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which requires the government to treat similarly situated people the same. Since President Donald Trump returned to office this year, the federal government has been trying to restrict access. Here are some things to know about gender-affirming care and the court’s ruling. (Mulvihill, 6/18)

NPR: Trump Administration Terminates 988 Crisis Line Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth The Trump administration is ending specialized suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. While anyone in a mental health crisis can call or text 988 and be connected to a trained counselor, the line has specially trained counselors, often with similar life experiences, for high-risk groups like veterans and LGBTQ+ youth. (Chatterjee and Simmons-Duffin, 6/18)

1. Internet Access
2.  

KFF Health News: Trump Administration’s Changes Delay Billions In Broadband Expansion Millions of Americans who have waited decades for fast internet connections will keep waiting after the Trump administration threw a $42 billion high-speed internet program into disarray. The Commerce Department, which runs the massive Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, announced new rules in early June requiring states — some of which were ready to begin construction later this year — to solicit new bids from internet service providers. The delay leaves millions of rural Americans stranded in places where health care is hard to access and telehealth is out of reach. (Tribble, 6/20)

1. Vaccines
2.  

Stat: Vaccine Advisers To Review MMRV Vaccines And Thimerosal-Containing Flu Shots In Shortened Meeting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked panel of vaccines advisers will weigh in on two long-approved shots at its first meeting next week, an agenda posted on Wednesday shows. The panel will vote next week on recommendations related to “thimerosal containing” flu vaccines, and also reconsider recommendations related to the use of the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine for children under 5. (Cirruzzo, 6/18)

MedPage Today: Removed ACIP Officials Say ‘U.S. Vaccine Program Severely Weakened’

The dismissal of all 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel and their quick replacement, along with cuts to CDC staff, have "left the U.S. vaccine program critically weakened," all of the ousted members wrote in a Viewpoint in JAMA. They charged that the actions may "roll back the achievements of U.S. immunization policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put U.S. families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses." (Fiore, 6/16)

1. Measles
2.  

CIDRAP: Measles Cases Increase In States Associated With West Texas Outbreak  In a large measles outbreak centered in West Texas, Texas and other states with linked cases—Kansas and Oklahoma — have reported a few more infections, according to the latest updates from health departments. In Texas, cases continue a downward trend. Yesterday the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) reported 6 more cases since its last update on June 10, lifting the outbreak total to 750 across 35 counties. However, the number of counties with ongoing transmission has declined to three, including the original epicenter Gaines, along with Lamar and Lubbock. Of the 750 cases, 707 people were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, 22 had received one dose, and 21 had gotten two or more doses. (Schnirring, 6/18)

CIDRAP: US Measles Cases Near 1,200 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today in its weekly measles update reported 29 more cases, bringing the national total to 1,197 cases and coming within 77 cases of matching the total from 2019, which was the most since the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000. So far, 35 states have reported cases, one more than a week ago, which likely reflects Arizona’s first cases of the year. (Schnirring, 6/13)

CBS News: CDC Recommends Summer Camps Screen For Measles Immunity As Cases Rise In U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now urging summer camp operators to check for documentation of immunity from measles through vaccination or prior infection for all children, staff and volunteers, amid a deadly year of outbreaks that is now near record levels. "Measles can spread quickly in summer camps because campers and staff spend a lot of time together in close contact with each other. Measles is more than just a rash — it can cause serious complications or even death," the CDC warned in a "checklist" for operators of summer camps published this week. (Tin, 6/13)

1. Mental Health
2.  

CNN: Fathers’ Mental Health Vital For Healthy Child Development, Study Reports  Mothers bear much of the burden for a child’s healthy development, from pregnancy through their teen years. But a large, new study adds to the growing body of evidence saying fathers, too, are responsible for the types of development that help children grow physically, emotionally and cognitively. (Rogers, 6/16)

NPR: Study Finds Link Between Screen Addiction And Suicidal Behaviors In Teens A new study finds that addiction to social media, mobile phones and video games is linked to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The study, published in JAMA on Wednesday, looked at data on more than 4,000 kids from an ongoing longitudinal study following them for years, starting at ages 9 to 10. It found that by age 14, about a third of the kids had become increasingly addicted to social media, about a quarter had become increasingly addicted to their mobile phone and more than 40% showed signs of addiction to video games. (Chatterjee, 6/18)

1. Research Funding
2.  

The New York Times: Judge Declares Trump Administration’s NIH Grant Cuts Affecting Minority Groups Illegal
A federal judge on Monday declared some of the Trump administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health grants “void and illegal,” accusing the government of racial discrimination and prejudice against L.G.B.T.Q. individuals. Ruling from the bench, Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts delivered a damning assessment of the Trump administrations’ motives in targeting hundreds of grants that focused on the health of Black communities, women and L.G.B.T.Q. people. (Montague, 6/16)

Stat: NIH Indirect Cost Reforms Recommended By University Coalition
Facing billions of dollars in proposed cuts to research overhead payments from the Trump administration, a coalition of academic groups has devised plans it believes could be more sensible, measured ways to revamp how the federal government pays for scientific research. (Wosen, 6/13)

1. Education Protections
2.  

Politico: Energy Department Moves To Roll Back Title IX Protections In Women’s Education Programs
The Trump administration is seeking to rescind key civil rights protections for sex discrimination in sports and education programs through a swift regulatory process at an unlikely agency: the Department of Energy. Buried in a list of more than three dozen regulation changes published in May, the DOE is moving to rescind regulations that oversee sports participation and sex discrimination protections for students in education programs. (Quilantan, 6/16)

1. Immigration
2.  

AP: Immigrant Medicaid Enrollee Information Provided to Deportation Authorities Under Trump President Donald Trump’s administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data -- including the immigration status -- on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. (Kindy and Seitz, 6/14)