A dozen scientists interviewed for this article said that any crimes or errors committed by Munster, who was transporting vials of inactivated mpox for research purposes, seemed to be over paperwork and posed no threat to the public.

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 2w ago

“There is an anti-science movement,” said Philip Stewart, a retired NIH scientist. “We are targets, and if it hadn’t been Vincent, it would have been someone else.” @k-hought.bsky.social & @arthurallen202.bsky.social report ⤵️

One of my goals as a journalist this year is to do a better job showing where my stories come from and how I report them. It's the best way I can think of to build trust. So let me pull back the curtain on my latest video for @kffhealthnews.org and @npr.org...

Boatloads of ivermectin, little evidence or oversight. “This is about political identity. This is about creating distrust in the existing biomedical community. This is about money,” said @caulfieldtim.bsky.social By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & Brett Kelman kffhealthnews.org/health-indus...

Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads’ - KFF Health News

Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation’s first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly conc...

kffhealthnews.org

President Trump has taken a pro-tobacco regulatory stance in office. There has also been an extraordinary flow of money between Trump and the tobacco industry, including as much as $1.64 million in Philips Morris stock. My latest, with @kffhealthnews.org: kffhealthnews.org/courts/fda-t...

Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards - KFF Health News

The Trump administration has pursued an extensive pro-tobacco agenda as the president and his political movement have been buoyed by a flood of tobacco industry money, federal records show.

kffhealthnews.org

Humans are social animals. When we feel cut off from one another, our stress levels increase, our immune systems are disrupted, and ultimately we’re likely to die earlier. kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt... Another good one from @aneripattani.bsky.social for @kffhealthnews.org

Trivia Nights, Valentine’s Cards: Overlooked Social Connections Can Prevent Suicide - KFF Health News

The research is clear: Among the various complex issues that contribute to suicide, loneliness is a big one. Now, there’s a growing push to address loneliness not just through personal choices but als...

kffhealthnews.org

I went to Utah to see what life is like in America's new reality, where vaccine-preventable diseases are common again. Utah's measles outbreak has lasted 10 months. Pediatricians teared up in interviews. Mothers were stressed. 🧵My latest @wired.com @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/anguis...

Anguished Parents, Crying Doctors: Life Amid Utah’s Measles Outbreak

The state’s outbreak means adapting to America’s new reality, in which vaccine-preventable diseases become common again.

wired.com

Medicaid covers nearly 1 in 3 adults with mental illness and nearly half of adults with opioid use disorder in the U.S. New analysis examines how states expanded services in recent years — and how fiscal pressures may make those gains harder to sustain: https://on.kff.org/4nRoVFu

Medicaid Mental Health and Substance Use: Expansion Trends and the Fiscal Pressure Ahead | KFF

This brief examines recent state trends in Medicaid behavioral health coverage and payment and state coverage of select treatment models for people with serious mental illness--a population that has historically faced significant barriers to care. This ...

on.kff.org

Already in Montana: • Some clinics can’t afford to hire enough staff — and point to low Medicaid payments. • Medicaid applicants can face long waits just to get help. It's a preview of a bigger problem: already strained safety net systems, even before new federal work rules kick in.

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 2mo ago

Montana plans to be one of the first states to enforce President Trump’s work mandate for Medicaid enrollees. The move will add another challenge for state health officials trying to plug a massive budget hole. @k-hought.bsky.social ⤵️

“They’ve been talking about their paradigm for years,” Hviid said. “But when you look at the numbers, it’s just a house of cards. There’s nothing there.”

Amy Maxmen, PhD@amymaxmen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Brilliant story on RFK's push for an unethical study that withholds vaccines from 7000 children in Guinea-Bissau, based on a "house of cards." Guinea-Bissau says they never approved of this. And yet HHS calls it an "opportunity." By Arthur Allen @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/a-dani...

UPDATE: People relying on Medicaid in Montana might gain access to doula support in pregnancy after all. The state is once again working to add doula services to its Medicaid coverage. That comes after recent reporting that a budget deficit had stalled those plans.

Montana Moves Ahead With Doula Pay but Warns Medicaid Cuts Still May Come - KFF Health News

Montana health officials say they’re seeking to add doula services to the state’s Medicaid program, reversing a previous statement that they would “not be moving forward” amid a budget shortfall.

kffhealthnews.org

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 4mo ago

Misty Pipe, a mom of seven, offers free doula care around her day job sorting mail in a Montana town that's 100 miles from the closest hospital that delivers babies. The state had agreed to pay doulas like Pipe through Medicaid this year. That plan is now on hold, reports @k-hought.bsky.social ⤵️

Last fall, I was told about a burgeoning world of apps offering AI therapy. I took a look: all over the app store, there are products for kids as young as 4. Many seem to use your data for advertising. What's it mean to have AI therapy? For @kffhealthnews.org: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Your New Therapist: Chatty, Leaky, and Hardly Human - KFF Health News

With high demand for mental health care, a wave of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are being marketed as therapy apps — with little evidence they work and few regulations.

kffhealthnews.org

Meet some of the people whose lives were upended after their rural dialysis center closed. Some moved to be closer to care. One is living in a rental in another city on weekdays. Another drives 4+ hours roundtrip for care, three times a week. Read and listen: www.npr.org/2026/04/15/n...

They counted on a rural dialysis unit to keep them alive. Then it closed

A hospital in Nebraska shut down the only dialysis unit for miles, upending lives. That's despite a new federal program that gave the state more than $200 million to improve rural health care access.

npr.org

A lot of people choose their health insurance the same way they shop for a flight - sort by the lowest monthly price and click “buy.” If you have a high-deductible plan, we've got tips to make it work better for you. @kffhealthnews.org @npr.org

As federal cuts loom, MT's stalled Medicaid coverage for doulas shows how fast optional services can disappear. Misty Pipe hoped to be a full-time doula in her hometown, 100 miles from a birthing hospital. But she’s still juggling that care with her paid post office job. My latest:

This Northern Cheyenne Doula Was About To Start Getting Paid — Then Medicaid Cuts Hit - KFF Health News

Montana was on track to start reimbursing doulas, who support new and expectant parents, through Medicaid this year. But state officials halted that plan amid a budget shortfall. Other such services d...

kffhealthnews.org

NEWS: After an unexplained delay, the CDC has begun publicly releasing taxpayer-funded sequences of genomes from measles outbreaks. The data will help determine whether we've lost our status as a measles-free country. By @amymaxmen.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News

This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

kffhealthnews.org

OK: Using Rural Health Transformation $ to realign services could mean “shutting down service lines." MT: Rightsizing could mean “downsizing." WY: RHTP bill says facilities getting funding must “reduce unprofitable, duplicative or nonessential service lines." kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts - KFF Health News

States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund meant to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.

kffhealthnews.org

“The harm that’s going to come to people that don’t even know what CDC was protecting them from.” Reporting by Jess Mador for @wabe.org & @kffhealthnews.org

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 4mo ago

One year on, Atlanta marks losses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with roughly a quarter of its workforce gone and the painful aftermath of last summer’s shooting still felt at the agency’s main campus. “It will cause generational harm."

The Idaho Senate narrowly passed a bill that calls for nearly $22 million in budget cuts to Medicaid disability services, sending the legislation to the governor. #idleg #idpol

Idaho Senate passes $22M in Medicaid disability budget cuts, sending bill to governor • Idaho Capital Sun

The bill, House Bill 863, would cut provider reimbursement rates for residential habilitation services by $21.8 million next fiscal year.

idahocapitalsun.com

Children were held in custody 117 days on average last year - compared with 30 days the year before. Caregivers have been baited into arrest while following instructions to reunite with their kids. Reporting by Claudia Boyd-Barrett, Renuka Rayasam & Amanda Seitz via @kffhealthnews.org

‘They Tricked Me’: A Father Was Chained After He Went to ICE To Reunite With His Kids - KFF Health News

The administration has largely converted the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement into an arm of immigration enforcement, detaining children longer while helping immigration officers arrest their parent...

kffhealthnews.org

A timeline of the destruction of the CDC, by the brilliant @jeneeninterlandi.bsky.social "It felt like the people who had once sued us [Children's Health Defense] were now running the entire country’s health department," said @drdemetre.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Inside the Turmoil at RFK Jr.’s CDC, as Told by Current and Former Employees

Forty-three current and former C.D.C. employees on the changes they say are replacing science with ideology — and making Americans more vulnerable.

nytimes.com

“There’s been a fundamental destruction.” Scientists are leaving the National Institutes of Health in droves under President Donald Trump. @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & @k-hought.bsky.social report on what's left behind ⤵️

Six Federal Scientists Run Out by Trump Talk About the Work Left Undone - KFF Health News

Cancer treatments, disease outbreaks, addiction science: Scientists say an exodus from the National Institutes of Health will harm the nation's ability to respond to illness.

kffhealthnews.org

Harsh words from the Colorado Hospital Association: “Not only were CO’s rural hospitals’ recommendations disregarded,” but the plan includes ideas “they actively oppose and believe will harm the communities they serve.” My latest w/ @sjtribble-reports.bsky.social:

Timothy McBride@mcbridetd.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Lawmakers, Health Groups Resist Their States’ Rural Health Fund Plans kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

“It’s clear when someone comes out with a drug and now you’ve just cured a disease. But you never know which ones could have been cured...We don’t know what we’ve lost.” Data by @hackwriter.bsky.social Our full investigation is below. More on the people and work lost: www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...

The people — and research — lost in the NIH exodus | CNN

Sylvia Chou, 51

cnn.com

Rachana Pradhan@rachanadpradhan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades. Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more. Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...

Services at risk include: 24/7 care that allows a 39-year-old with cerebral palsy to live independently; the in-home caregiving that lets a 26-year-old with brain damage stay in his family home; and private duty nursing for a 19-year-old with cerebral palsy who has qualified for hospice care.

Bram Sable-Smith@realbrambo.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW: Most of the Medicaid cuts passed by congressional Republicans last year don't take effect until after the midterms, but the Trump's signature law is already squeezing state Medicaid programs. In Idaho, one service on the possible chopping block is home care for people with disabilities.

Premium increases hit early retirees, middle-income earners, and residents of high-cost states hardest. Chaz and Jean Franklin are all three. Read their full story ⤵️ https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/insurance-premium-payments-terminal-diagnosis-aca-subsidies-covered-california/

Hi — new to BlueSky! I’m a journalist covering how health policy and systems impact people. Lately I’ve reported on federal cuts hitting a rural bioscience hub, a town recovering from meth, and a man who said he had to break Medicaid rules. Based in Montana, I write for both 📰 and 📻