President Donald Trump ordered a halt to gender-affirming medical care for transgender prisoners in federal custody, and to housing trans women in female prisons. The new policies raise alarms for a formerly incarcerated trans woman. She said the order denies lifesaving medical care and creates a road map for rape.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California warned of Trump administration “cuts” to Medicare telehealth access hitting March 31. But if Medicare recipients lose telemedicine benefits that day, it will be because Congress failed to act.
The Senate Finance Committee questioned Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. KFF Health News reporters discussed the biggest takeaways from the hearing.
Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promising field of medical research.
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.
The Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jeff Grant, who recently retired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after 41 years in government service.
President Donald Trump’s health team has deep financial ties to the supplements industry. Now they’re poised to boost its growth and remake the government’s approach to health.
The American Medical Association and the leading nursing home trade group both are lobbying Republicans in Congress on other priorities.
Last year, the government stopped cutting off people’s monthly Social Security benefits to claw back overpayments. Last week, under President Donald Trump, it reversed that change.
The proposal also would reverse a Biden administration policy that allowed “Dreamers” — immigrants in the country illegally who were brought here as children — from qualifying for subsidized ACA coverage.
