Alex Wayne
Executive Editor, KFF Health News
Read and republish everything we do for $0: kffhealthnews.org/about-us/
Florida man | Never cruise
*I do not respond to most PR pitches*
AlexW@kff.org
- TUNE IN NOW: Our reporters @julierovner.bsky.social @stephaniearmour.bsky.social and @dariustahir.bsky.social + @kff.org's Jen Kates discuss RFK Jr.'s appearances at two congressional committees today. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces heavy fiscal and political pressure to scale back his state's expansion of taxpayer-funded health care for immigrants. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: In Spencer, Iowa, the local hospital already loses $2 million a year on its mental health unit, where 40% of patients are covered by Medicaid. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Didn’t take long poking around on the new surgeon general nominee’s Instagram account to find a ridiculous claim.
- In his first term, Trump promised to end the HIV epidemic. But in his second term, his policies are poised to accelerate it. @amymaxmen.bsky.social reports from Mississippi. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- "At Social Security, these are the days of the living dead" Via @kffhealthnews.org for @cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com/news/social-...
- NEWS: The FDA's public records office is back in business, maybe kinda sorta? Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: Trump's HHS announced it'll invest $500 million in a new flu vaccine under development by two RFK Jr.-favored scientists at NIH. The unproven shot is based on technology abandoned in the seventies, puzzling other scientists. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Trump 2019: Supporting young scientists from diverse backgrounds is Good Trump 2025: Nope, that's Bad Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- The word "eligible" here is a very interesting qualifier. “When it comes to Medicaid, I have been very clear: I am not cutting benefits for any eligible recipient,” Mr. Lawler said. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/n...
- 👀 Medicaid news outta WVA ... "... House Deputy Speaker Matthew Rohrbach said lawmakers had received assurances from federal negotiators on the congressional budget resolution under consideration on Capitol Hill that the federal match would not be reduced." www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-n...
- "`Nontraditional' as a description for these people is not enough. We’re talking about beyond the outer fringes of medicine.” A look at HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's inner circle and its tensions with the White House, by @stephaniearmour.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Out: Maya Angelou In: Adolf Hitler Even if it’s just carelessness, it’s disgraceful. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/u...
- Exclusive: The Trump/Musk/Kennedy HHS cuts eliminated the office that annually sets the federal poverty level. “We were trying to support the MAHA agenda,” one fired social scientist told @arthurallen202.bsky.social Huge impacts if the work isn't restored. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Exclusive: RFK Jr.'s purge of HHS Freedom of Information Act offices spared one group of workers at FDA, who have been pulling documents on covid vaccines in response to a lawsuit by Kennedy ally Aaron Siri. By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- The president straight-up directing the Justice Department to conduct political prosecutions, in the United States of America. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
- NEWS: Trump's immigration crackdown on farms has kneecapped U.S. surveillance of the bird flu outbreak. The CDC reported two dozen human cases in the three months before his inauguration. Since then? Three. By @amymaxmen.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- BRAG: Our series on racial disparities in health care, led by @sabriyarice.bsky.social, has won the Columbia Journalism School's Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award. journalism.columbia.edu/news/berger-... Congratulations to all the @kffhealthnews.org staff involved in this important work.
- NEWS: Across the country, county health departments have canceled vaccine clinics after federal funding was cut. HHS says the money isn’t needed because the pandemic is over. The clinics gave flu and measles shots, too. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Nearly 300,000 people in House Speaker Mike Johnson's district depend on Medicaid. Some of them told us not only were they unaware of debate about cutting the program -- they didn't know Johnson was their representative. Via @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Mass layoffs have begun across HHS. We've got a roundup of coverage from @apnews.com @cbsnews.com @politico.com @statnews.com and others here: kffhealthnews.org/morning-brea...
- Exclusive: Trump and his GOP allies say their planned cuts to Medicaid and other public programs are in large part about cracking down on fraud. The president has granted clemency to at least 68 people involved in frauds, a @kffhealthnews.org examination found. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- Seen in Seattle this weekend
- I genuinely love this headline. Sometimes, adjectives are Good
- "Monkeys are pure gold. In the last five years, the average price of an endangered long-tailed macaque, used frequently for research, has quadrupled to as much as $24,000 per animal." Via @postandcourier.bsky.social www.postandcourier.com/news/special...
- Say it five times fast: Improper payments are not the same as fraud, waste and abuse. Improper payments are not the same as fraud, waste and abuse. Improper payments are not the same as ... From @kff.org www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...
- Exclusive: NIH officials have advised scientists to remove reference to mRNA vaccines from their grant applications, in expectation the Trump administration intends to abandon most research in the field. By @arthurallen202.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: Makary’s regarded as a brilliant surgeon, but his off-target pandemic claims included a February 2021 prediction that Covid would be “mostly gone” three months later. By @arthurallen202.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- ZEN: Do yourself a favor and take 4 minutes to *listen* to this Jackie Fortier report on the effort to save Washington's Anacostia river from the city's poop. Via @wamu.org.web.brid.gy and @kffhealthnews.org wamu.org/story/25/02/...
- NEWS: Some states can't resist dipping into opioid settlements to patch budget holes -- "a grave misuse of funds," one addiction recovery advocate says. @aneripattani.bsky.social looks at the debate over $5 million in Nevada. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- “The greatest opportunity of our lifetimes is before us." The $70 billion supplements industry -- vitamins, fish oil pills, protein powders, etc. -- is pretty, pretty excited to have RFK Jr. running HHS. By @arthurallen202.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: The Trump administration plans to terminate 10% of the CDC's employees, including "senior scientists," @celinegounder.com reports for CBS News "It's a chilling of the public health service," she says. www.cbsnews.com/video/cdc-lo...
- “Ms. Sassoon joined the Southern District in 2016. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, she clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court and is a member of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/n...
- Talk to us. If you're a current or former worker at HHS or its component agencies and *unusual things* are happening at the office that you think the public should know about: kffhealthnews.org/hhs-tips/ You can also contact me directly on Signal at 202-607-0453.
- Yet more casualties of “feeding USAID into the woodchipper” — parks, reefs, elephants, lions … www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/t...
- More fallout from "feeding USAID into the woodchipper": www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...
- What if the problem is that Republicans think too many people are enrolled in Medicaid?
- 92% of Medicaid adult enrollees are working, or are not working due to caregiving, an illness or disability, or school attendance. Work requirements are a solution in search of a problem. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...
- One silly thing about me is that I still like to think our elected representatives might sometimes take a stand for reasons beyond raw political calculation. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
- Finance Committee votes to send RFK Jr.'s nomination to the Senate floor. He has the support of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who expressed misgivings about the anti-vaccine activist leading U.S. health agencies. He looks very likely to be confirmed, at this point.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics, which calls vaccination "one of the greatest public health achievements," has no public position on the anti-vaccine activist Trump's nominated to run the U.S. health department. Via @rollcall.com rollcall.com/2025/02/03/k...
- Our colleagues @kff.org on Friday’s wipe of health data sets: www.kff.org/policy-watch...
- NEWS: Trump's order on gender-affirming care for people < 19 sent a signal to families of transgender children. One Missouri dad: “Every bone in my body is telling me I can’t keep my child safe from my government anymore." Via @kffhealthnews.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- NEWS: The CDC's scientific journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was published without interruption for 52 years -- until Trump reclaimed office last week. Two interesting studies on bird flu were delayed as a result, @amymaxmen.bsky.social reports. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- This is happening TODAY -->
- If only there was a national research, polling and journalism organization that published, say, a "Health Policy 101" on this stuff. www.kff.org/health-polic...
- What's behind the right-wing fascination with raw milk? @stephaniearmour.bsky.social talked to the California dairy farmer RFK Jr. wants regulating the stuff. (Who, btw, voluntarily recalled some of his products because of possible bird flu contamination.) kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- I recommend following along with our fact-checking partner @politifactpatron.bsky.social as the Senate Finance Committee questions Trump's nominee to lead HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. www.politifact.com/article/2025...
- Meanwhile, starting tomorrow: the RFK Jr. hearings. Via @kffhealthnews.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
- And after his second hearing on Thursday, join some of our best journalists to talk about their takeaways. kff-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
- While we continue to sort out what Trump's federal funding freeze means for health care, here's a lovely story about dogs in hospitals. Via @kffhealthnews.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
