Category: CDC

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: A Colorful Cast Could Lead Key Health Agencies

President-elect Donald Trump has made his choices to fill some top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. They include controversial figures who were vocal critics of the Biden administration’s handling of the covid pandemic and have proposed sweeping changes to the agencies they would lead. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard its first two health-related cases of the term, challenging a Tennessee law barring transgender medical care for minors and, separately, challenging the FDA’s handling of e-cigarettes. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University and Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post Well+Being “Bill of the Month” feature, about an emergency room bill for a visit that didn’t get past the waiting room.

Scientists Fear What’s Next for Public Health if RFK Jr. Is Allowed To ‘Go Wild’

As federal health scientists await an unprecedented takeover by medical skeptics in the second Trump administration, some are said to be preparing résumés or retirement papers.

What’s at Stake: A Pivotal Election for Six Big Health Issues

In the final days of the campaign, stark disagreements between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump over the future of American health care are on display — in particular, in sober warnings about abortion access, the specter of future cuts to the Affordable Care Act, and bold pronouncements about empowering activists eager […]

Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress

The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.

Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu

Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals.

Trump Leads, and His Party Follows, on Vaccine Skepticism

Former President Donald Trump has presided over a landslide shift in Republican views on vaccines, reflected in false claims by candidates in election primaries, puzzling conspiracies from prominent conservatives, and a surge in anti-vaccine policies in statehouses.

Trump Leads, and His Party Follows, on Vaccine Skepticism

Former President Donald Trump has presided over a landslide shift in Republican views on vaccines, reflected in false claims by candidates in election primaries, puzzling conspiracies from prominent conservatives, and a surge in anti-vaccine policies in statehouses.

With Only Gloves To Protect Them, Farmworkers Say They Tend Sick Cows Amid Bird Flu

A Colorado picnic celebrated Farmworker Appreciation Day. But some dairy workers there said they aren’t feeling appreciated: They don’t have basic protective gear, even as bird flu spreads through area farms.

Inside Project 2025: Former Trump Official Outlines Hard Right Turn Against Abortion

Former President Donald Trump has distanced himself from a Heritage Foundation document that outlines positions on abortion and a range of other social issues. But Democrats view it as a window into the far right’s to-do list and a clear opening for political attack.

Bird Flu Cases Are Going Undetected, New Study Suggests. It’s a Problem for All of Us.

Dairy workers in Texas show signs of prior, uncounted bird flu infections in a new study. Without labor protection and better health care, cases are bound to quietly rise as the outbreak among livestock blazes in the United States.