1. Medicaid
2.  

California Immigrants Face Tough Choice Between Health Coverage and Deportation Fears

Immigrants without legal status who live in the state are facing a Medi-Cal enrollment freeze next year. But the spate of immigration raids has raised fears that signing up before the deadline will put them on the radar of federal officials. (Claudia Boyd-Barrett, 6/27)

AP: Crucial Medicaid Clause In Trump Tax Bill Ruled In Violation Of Senate Rules

The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending bill does not adhere to the chamber’s procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow as Republicans rush to finish the package this week. Guidance from the parliamentarian is rarely ignored and Republican leaders are now forced to consider difficult options. Republicans were counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks, their top priority. Additionally, the parliamentarian, who is the Senate’s chief arbiter of its often complicated rules, advised against various GOP provisions barring certain immigrants from health care programs. (Mascaro, 6/26)

California Healthline: Unable to Work, Some Americans Fear Losing Health Coverage Under Trump’s Bill
Republicans claim 4.8 million Americans on Medicaid who could work choose not to. The GOP’s work-requirement legislation could sweep up disabled people who say they’re unable to hold jobs. (Galewitz and Armour, 6/27)

California Healthline and PolitiFact: Thune Claims Health Care Typically ‘Comes With a Job,’ But the Truth Is More Complicated
Sixty percent of Americans have health insurance through their own workplace or someone else’s job. But not all employers provide health insurance or offer plans to all their workers. When they do, cost and quality vary widely, making Thune’s statement an oversimplification. (Zionts, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Allows States to Block Medicaid Patients from Accessing Planned Parenthood Clinics
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states may exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from providing medical screenings and other healthcare for women on Medicaid. The court’s conservative majority cast aside the longstanding rule that said Medicaid patients may obtain medical care from any qualified provider. In a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled the Medicaid Act does not give patients an “individual right” to the provider of their choice. (Savage, 6/26)

1. HIV
2.  

Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Reinstates HIV Prevention Funding After Public Backlash
The Trump administration has lifted a freeze on federal funds for HIV prevention and surveillance programs, officials said, following an outcry from HIV prevention organizations, health experts and Democrats in Congress. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health received notice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday that it had been awarded nearly $20 million for HIV prevention for the 12-month period that began June 1 — an increase of $338,019 from the previous year. (Rust, 6/27)

1. Vaccines
2.  

CBS News: RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Panel Rejects Rarely Used Flu Shot Preservative, Endorses New RSV Vaccine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's panel of vaccine advisers voted Thursday in their first official move after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the committee's previous experts and replaced them with his own picks. A majority of the committee approved updated recommendations for a new shot for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and voted to urge Americans to avoid a small number of flu vaccines that use the preservative thimerosal despite evidence of its safety. (Tin and Moniuszko, 6/26)

California Healthline: Kennedy’s Vaccine Advisers Raise Concerns Amid Scientific Opposition To U.S. Shift On Vaccines
A new vaccine advisory panel appointed by the Health and Human Services secretary, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, reflected his unsupported claims about the safety of childhood inoculations. (Allen and Whitehead, 6/27)

ABC News: CDC Vaccine Panel To Review Childhood Immunization Schedule, Endorses RSV Vaccine For Infants The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee voted on Thursday to recommend infants receive a newer monoclonal antibody shot for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 5-2 to recommend clesrovimab, made by Merck, for infants 8 months and younger who are not protected by a maternal vaccine. (Kekatos, 6/26)

CNN: RFK Jr.’s New CDC Advisers To Review Childhood Vaccine Schedule, Including Hepatitis B And Measles Guidelines

At the first meeting of a controversial new group of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the committee announced new plans to study established vaccine guidelines. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will create new work groups to study the cumulative effects of the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedules, the hepatitis B vaccine dose given at birth and the combination measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox vaccine, new chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff announced at Wednesday’s meeting in Atlanta. (Tirrell, Goodman and Christensen, 6/25)

CIDRAP: Poll Finds 80% Of Americans Support Childhood Vaccine Mandates

A poll released today shows that 79% of US adults support requiring children to be vaccinated against preventable infectious diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella to attend school, with even two thirds of Republicans and those who support the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement agreeing with such measures. The poll of 2,509 adults, conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation, also found that, among the 21% who don't support school vaccine mandates, their reasoning focused more on parental choice than on safety concerns. (Wappes, 6/25)

Stat: Global Advancement In Childhood Vaccinations Is Losing Momentum  Childhood vaccination coverage has made leaps since 1980. But progress has significantly slowed in the last two decades. That is according to a study published in The Lancet Tuesday, which found stagnation and wide variation in childhood vaccination rates since 2010. (Paulus, 6/24)

1. LGBTQ+ Health
2.  

Los Angeles Times: Trump Cuts Crisis Hotline For LGBTQ+ Youth; Resources Available In L.A.
A national hotline will no longer provide services specifically for LGBTQ+ youths in crisis. The Trump administration is ending that support next month. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has counselors for anyone in emotional distress or contemplating suicide but also has connected LGBTQ+ youth with specially trained counselors. Research has shown this population experiences significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation. But that specialized service will end July 17. (Garcia, 6/26)

CBS News: Dozens Rally Against Children’s Hospital LA’s Decision To Stop Gender-Affirming Care Dozens of people protested outside Children's Hospital Los Angeles and demanded that the medical center reverse its decision to shut down its gender-affirming programs. ... In an internal email shared with CBS News Los Angeles, the CHLA administration stated that it had to close its Center for Transyouth Health and Development and terminate its gender-affirming surgical program in July due to the "increasingly severe impacts of federal administrative actions and proposed policies." (Pozen, 6/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford Medicine Suspends Gender-Affirming Surgeries For Youth Stanford Medicine has stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19 years old — becoming the second major health care provider in California to scale back transgender care for youths amid efforts by the Trump administration to restrict access to the specialized care.  (Ho, 6/24)

The 19th: Supreme Court’s Decision On Gender-Affirming Care Paves Way For New Legal Approaches The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to uphold a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth dealt a painful blow to families of trans kids — but the fight is not over. LGBTQ+ rights attorneys say that even as the Trump administration makes it harder for trans Americans to live without fear of discrimination, there are still openings — some left by the court ruling itself — to fight gender-affirming care bans and other anti-trans laws. (Rummler, 6/25)

1. Research Funding
2.  

Stat: NIH Research Funding Shortfall Increased Despite Resumption Of Grant Reviews At his confirmation hearing in March, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya assured the Senate health committee that he would restart grant reviews, after a months-long suspension by the Trump administration, and get all of the agency’s congressionally appropriated money out the door. When the key committees resumed meeting the next month, it appeared to be a positive step toward restoring the flow of billions of dollars in biomedical research funding to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and Parker, 6/27)

CalMatters: California Could Recover Millions In Health Research Grants Cut By Trump
Federal judges handed California researchers temporary victories in their quest to retrieve what’s likely tens of millions of dollars in federal grants the Trump administration cancelled this year. The judges issued the rulings in three cases Monday. In one case, more than 800 science research grants, including about 430 in California, need to be restored after a federal Massachusetts judge ruled the Trump administration’s cancellation of the grants was “illegal” as well as “arbitrary and capricious.” The list could grow as the trial advances. The judge said last week that he had “never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable” in his 40 years on the bench. A similar case filed by a national coalition of health researchers and graduate students affects a few dozen California research grants and hundreds of others across the country. (Zinshteyn, 6/24)

1. Children’s Health
2.  

CBS News: How An Innovative New Treatment For Scoliosis Is Benefiting Children In Delaware Doctors at Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware are treating a common spine condition with something called "magic rods." For one little girl with scoliosis, the rods are making a big difference. ... Sadie's spine is being treated with a technology called MAGnetic Expansion Control — or MAGEC rods. After the rods are surgically implanted, they can be slowly expanded with internal and external magnets, Dr. Suken Shah with Nemours Children's Hospital said. ... After the rods are surgically implanted, they can be slowly lengthened with internal and external magnets. (Stahl and Nau, 6/26)

The Hill: Nitrate Contamination In Water Linked To Low Birth Weight And Preterm Delivery

Exposure to a common agricultural contaminant in drinking water, even in small doses, may be linked to increased risks of preterm birth, a new study has found. The pollutant, called nitrate, is also associated with low birth weight in infants whose mothers consumed affected water during pregnancy, according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS Water. (Udasin, 6/25)

Measles Cases In California Exceed Entire 2024 Total: This month, the number of measles cases reported in California so far in 2025 jumped above the total for all of 2024. There have been 16 measles cases reported in the Golden State so far this year, compared to 15 total last year and just four the year before. Read more from Bay Area News Group.

1. Healthcare Workforce
2.  

Becker's Hospital Review: States Most at Risk for Healthcare Job Losses from Medicaid Reductions
California, New York and Texas are projected to lose the most healthcare jobs stemming from federal Medicaid spending reductions included in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a June 23 brief from the Commonwealth Fund. The budget reconciliation bill, passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, reduces federal funding for Medicaid by $863 billion over the next decade. (Emerson, 6/25)

NBC News: Hundreds of International Doctors Await Visa Approval to Begin Medical Residencies
A week before they are due to start work at U.S. hospitals, hundreds of doctors from abroad are still waiting to obtain visas granting them temporary stays in the country. Many of them have been in limbo since late May, when the State Department suspended applications for J-1 visas, which allow people to come to the U.S. for exchange visitor programs. The visas are the most common way for international doctors to attend residencies in the U.S., which provide medical graduates with training in a given specialty. (Bendix, McLaughlin and Berk, 6/24)

1. Healthcare Spending
2.  

Modern Healthcare: US Health Expenditures Expected To Reach $8.6 Trillion By 2033 U.S. households, businesses and governments will spend $8.6 trillion on healthcare in 2033, when the sector will comprise just over one-fifth of gross domestic product, according to a federal report issued Wednesday. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary attributes its forecast to factors such as a rapidly aging population and high demand for healthcare. The independent CMS division published its analysis in the journal Health Affairs. (Early, 6/25)

1. CA Budget
2.  

Bloomberg: California Strikes Budget Deal That Supports Hollywood While Reducing Free Health Care Programs California Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers struck a budget agreement that provides $750 million in tax credits for Hollywood while scaling back free health care for undocumented immigrants. The $321 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, marks Newsom’s third consecutive year facing a deficit, forcing trade-offs between the progressive policies he has championed and pro-business priorities. The agreement avoids higher levies on corporations and includes tax incentives for the film industry as well as cuts to some social programs. (Kamisher and Oxford, 6/25)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom And Democrats Reveal $321 Billion California Budget Agreement
California leaders reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night on the state budget, which hinges on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s demand that the Legislature pass a housing reform proposal. ... The cuts lawmakers and the governor ultimately agreed to will reduce the expansion of state-sponsored healthcare to undocumented immigrants and reinstate asset limit tests for Medi-Cal enrollees. The final deal, however, achieves less savings for the state than Newsom originally proposed. (Luna, 6/24)

1. Disparities
2.  

Los Angeles Times: Stark Environmental Health Inequities Between Latino And White Communities In L.A.
A new data tool from researchers at UCLA highlights significant environmental health disparities between Latino and white neighborhoods in L.A., providing critical insights amid escalating public health concerns linked to the places where climate change and the Trump administration’s recent immigration policy actions intersect. The Latino Climate and Health Dashboard, developed by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute with support from the California Wellness Foundation, consolidates county-specific data on how Latino communities disproportionately suffer from extreme heat and air pollution. (Magaña, 6/24)

The 19th: New Study Finds Evictions Negatively Impact Black Mothers’ Physical And Mental Health
Black mothers are more likely to face eviction and housing discrimination, which has lasting impacts on their mental and physical health — as well as that of their neighbors, a new report says. (Turner, 6/24)

1. Women’s Health
2.  

California's IVF Insurance Mandate Faces Potential Delay California lawmakers are poised to delay the state’s much-ballyhooed new law mandating in vitro fertilization insurance coverage for millions, set to take effect July 1. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to push the implementation date to January 2026, leaving patients, insurers, and employers in limbo. The law, SB 729, requires state-regulated health plans offered by large employers to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment, including IVF. (Kwon, 6/25)

1. Mental Health
2.  

ABC News: The Effects Of Extreme Heat On Individuals With Mental Illness As triple-digit temperatures hit the East Coast, individuals with a mental illness -- specifically those who take prescribed medication -- are at risk for heat intolerance, with psychiatric hospitalizations peaking in the summer months, according to experts. During heat waves or especially warm days, there is often an uptick in the frequency of psychiatric hospitalizations, with one study finding that "higher temperatures may trigger bipolar disorder relapses that require hospital admission, and higher expositions to sunlight may increase the risk of manic episodes." (Forrester, 6/24)