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President Donald Trump’s administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data -- including the immigration status -- on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. (Kindy and Seitz, 6/14)

On the GOP's megabill —

Text of the Senate GOP's tax package won’t be out until Monday, according to four people with knowledge of the plans. The slipped timing for text, first reported by POLITICO [last] week, comes as the Senate Finance Committee is trying to finalize the biggest pieces left to resolve in President Donald Trump's megabill. (Hill, Carney and Guggenheim, 6/13)

Hospitals would bear the brunt of federal health care funding cuts in the Republicans’ tax bill, and they’d be hurt hard in states with both predominantly Democratic- and Republican-led governments, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Wilkerson, 6/14)

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been clear about his red line as the Senate takes up the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act: no Medicaid cuts. But what, exactly, would be a cut? Hawley and other Republicans acknowledge that the main cost-saving provision in the bill – new work requirements on able-bodied adults who receive health care through the Medicaid program -- would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. All told, estimates are 10.9 million fewer people would have health coverage under the bill’s proposed changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. That includes some 8 million fewer in the Medicaid program, including 5.2 million dropping off because of the new eligibility requirements. (Askarinam, 6/15)

It took Crystal Strickland years to qualify for Medicaid, which she needs for a heart condition. Strickland, who’s unable to work due to her condition, chafed when she learned that the U.S. House has passed a bill that would impose a work requirement for many able-bodied people to get health insurance coverage through the low-cost, government-run plan for lower-income people. “What sense does that make?” she asked. “What about the people who can’t work but can’t afford a doctor?” (Mulvihill, 6/15)

Facing billions of dollars in proposed cuts to research overhead payments from the Trump administration, a coalition of academic groups has devised plans it believes could be more sensible, measured ways to revamp how the federal government pays for scientific research. (Wosen, 6/13)

Beth has always enjoyed cooking. But the kitchen at the home she shared with her ex-boyfriend for 10 years had become a war zone. He would criticize her every move, said Beth, who declined to share her real name because she feared for her safety. Anything could set him off — utensils, the water temperature — and he would yell and beat her, she said. (Perez-Moreno, 6/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects And Wastes Money, Researchers Say
Dozens of HIV experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received emails on Wednesday revoking notices they received 10 weeks ago that laid them off. Damage to their projects may be permanent, however, and ongoing restrictions on their research will harm lives, multiple HIV scientists at the CDC told �鶹Ů�� Health News on condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. The researchers were laid off in early April, just before they put the finishing touches on in-depth, national surveys about HIV. (Maxmen, 6/13)

On 'MAHA' and vaccines —

The links between ultra-processed food and higher risk of diabetes will be the focus of the first wave of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s national “Take Back Your Health” campaign, according to a notice posted on a government site for contractors. The notice invites public relations agencies to pitch strategies for the launch of the ad campaign, “a wake-up call to Americans that eating processed foods dramatically increases the risk of diabetes and chronic disease.” (Todd, 6/13)

Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out of pocket. Her doctor and several pharmacies turned her down because she was below the recommended age at the time, which was 60. So in 2016, she celebrated her 60th birthday at her local CVS. (Span, 6/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Journalists Assess RFK Jr.'s Remaking Of Vaccine Committee And Trend Of Kids Caring For Elders
Céline Gounder, �鶹Ů�� Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed on “CBS Mornings Plus” on June 10 how Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of members of the CDC vaccine advisory committee could affect public health. Freelance journalist and �鶹Ů�� Health News contributor Leah Fabel discussed child caregivers on Minnesota Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” on June 4. (6/14)

Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House speaker who championed the passage of ambitious progressive policies in the state, was assassinated early Saturday in what Gov. Tim Walz called “an act of targeted political violence.” (Panetta, 6/14)

Among Representative Melissa Hortman’s final votes in the Minnesota legislature was one she agonized over. Lawmakers in the evenly split chamber had been in a bitter standoff over a Republican-backed provision that would make undocumented adults in Minnesota ineligible for the state’s health care program for low-income residents. The fight, which could have led to a government shutdown, was resolved after Ms. Hortman, the top Democrat in the House, cast the lone Democratic vote in support of the measure earlier this month, paving the way for passage of the state budget. (Londono, 6/16)

In a statement shared by Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, State Sen. John Hoffman’s wife says he is stable but not “out of the woods” after being shot nine times on Saturday at his home in Champlin. “John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods. He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” Yvette Hoffman said on Sunday. (Richert, 6/15)

More health news from across the U.S. —

As private equity investors and large companies such as Amazon and UnitedHealth Group acquire doctors’ offices at a rapid pace, states are considering tougher measures to stem what one senior legislator described as “relentless” consolidation in the healthcare sector. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) enacted a statute on Monday to strengthen the Beaver State’s longstanding “corporate practice of medicine” law. The new law effectively bars private equity firms and other companies from controlling physician offices and mandates that doctors own at least 51% of their practices. (McAuliff, 6/13)

Under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will shutter its longstanding healthcare program for trans children and young adults this summer, according to emails reviewed by The Times. The Center for Transyouth Health and Development began telling its nearly 3,000 patient families of the closure on Thursday, saying there was “no viable alternative” that would allow the safety-net hospital to continue specialized care. (Sharp, 6/12)

There is a room inside the Gender Health Center where the dead kick it with the living. It’s in the back, on the two-story building’s first floor, in a high-ceilinged common area that holds harm-reduction offices, racks of donated clothes, a curtained fitting area and cubbies stocked with free makeup, bra inserts, tucking underwear and skin-color swatches. Against a wall facing some well-worn couches is the altar, where about 30 people who have died, including the center’s founder, are memorialized in pictures, words, paper flowers, flags and unlit candles. (Hosseini, 6/14)

When Officer Chelsea Johnston came across a wanted felon one evening in May, Johnston jerked her cruiser in front of him, sprinted after him and tackled him to the ground. Still catching her breath, Johnston motioned for someone to step out of the cruiser: Joy Bogese. “Thank God,” the man said. “It’s you.” (Wernau, 6/15)

Katie Pappas had kept a secret for weeks from her students at northwest suburban Timber Trails Elementary. The 40-year-old health teacher’s kidney was failing, and she spent around eight to 11 hours every night tethered to a dialysis machine. (Johnson, 6/14)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now urging summer camp operators to check for documentation of immunity from measles through vaccination or prior infection for all children, staff and volunteers, amid a deadly year of outbreaks that is now near record levels. "Measles can spread quickly in summer camps because campers and staff spend a lot of time together in close contact with each other. Measles is more than just a rash — it can cause serious complications or even death," the CDC warned in a "checklist" for operators of summer camps published this week. (Tin, 6/13)

Health officials are warning travelers and Boston residents after a person visited popular attractions around the city. The person traveled to Boston from June 7 to June 8, according to officials. (Chaney and Rourke, 6/14)

A case of measles has been confirmed in an international traveler who recently arrived in the D.C. area, the D.C. Department of Health said Saturday evening. The patient may have exposed others between June 8 and 12. (DiMargo, 6/14)

Colorado on Friday confirmed its 15th measles case of the year, in a fully vaccinated adult from Boulder who several times may have exposed passengers riding on the Flatiron Flyer bus between downtown Denver and Boulder. (Ingold, 6/14)

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today in its weekly measles update reported 29 more cases, bringing the national total to 1,197 cases and coming within 77 cases of matching the total from 2019, which was the most since the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000. So far, 35 states have reported cases, one more than a week ago, which likely reflects Arizona’s first cases of the year. (Schnirring, 6/13)

A nonprofit led by Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and long-time CEO of genetic data firm 23andMe, won a last-minute bidding war to buy most of the company’s assets for a price of $305 million, the company said in a press release. (Herper, 6/13)

Sarepta Therapeutics said Sunday that it was halting shipments of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy for patients who can no longer walk, following the death of a second person who received the treatment. (Joseph, 6/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: A Revolutionary Drug For Extreme Hunger Offers Clues To Obesity’s Complexity
Ali Foley Shenk still remembers the panic when her 10-year-old son, Dean, finished a 20-ounce box of raisins in the seconds the cupboard was left unlocked. They rushed to the emergency room, fearing a dangerous bowel impaction. The irony stung: When Dean was born, he was so weak and floppy he survived only with feeding tubes because he couldn’t suck or swallow. He was diagnosed as a baby with Prader-Willi syndrome — a rare disorder sparked by a genetic abnormality. He continued to be disinterested in food for years. (Sibonney, 6/16)

In health care industry updates —

Providence is cutting 600 full-time positions this week as the health system reorganizes operations. Most of the affected roles are administrative ones, but some patient care jobs were affected as well, according to a Thursday news release. Providence employs 125,000 people across seven states. Renton, Washington-based Providence cited financial pressures as the reason for the layoffs, including payer denials, high costs for supplies and pharmaceuticals, high labor costs and potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. (Hudson, 6/13)

Staffing shortages continue to plague the U.S. military's flagship hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, leading to the disruption of services this month in the nephrology infusion clinic at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. A Walter Reed spokeswoman said Thursday that two nurses at the clinic, which provides infusion services for kidney, some gastroenterology and other department patients, went on emergency leave, forcing hospital leaders to shift staff from other areas of the hospital to support clinic operations. (Kime, 6/13)

Amazon is restructuring its healthcare division and another high-profile executive is departing the company. As part of the restructuring, Amazon’s Vice President of Health Partnerships and Marketing Aaron Martin is planning to leave the company later this summer after assisting with the transition, according to a person familiar with the situation. (Turner, 6/13)

When Christy Owca’s 17-year-old son flipped his Jeep in a crash in 2019, she was grateful that an ambulance got him to the hospital quickly and that his injuries turned out to be minor. So when the first bill from Gaston County’s ambulance agency came, she didn’t think twice about paying the $61 fee. But more bills kept coming. Then came statements from her health insurance company, each showing a different amount she owed just for the ambulance ride. (Crouch, 6/16)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: ‘Not Accountable To Anyone’: As Insurers Issue Denials, Some Patients Run Out Of Options
By the time Eric Tennant was diagnosed in 2023 with a rare cancer of the bile ducts, the disease had spread to his bones. He weighed 97 pounds and wasn’t expected to survive a year with stage 4 cancer. Two years later, grueling rounds of chemotherapy have slowed the cancer’s progress, even as it has continued to spread. But chemotherapy has also ravaged Tennant’s body and his quality of life. (Sausser, 6/16)

To Rebecca Stone, the single most important fact about ovarian cancer is that it’s usually a misnomer. The most common kind — responsible for 70% of cases and 90% of deaths — often has its silent beginnings not in the ovary, but in the fallopian tube. This isn’t just an interesting factoid; as a gynecologic oncologist at Johns Hopkins, Stone sees it as a reason to evangelize. (Boodman, 6/16)

A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that the incidence of 14 different cancer types increased among people under the age of 50. Newsweek spoke with leading oncologists about new findings published in Cancer Discovery, which revealed that between 2010 and 2019, more than two million cancer cases were diagnosed in people aged 15 to 49 in the United States. (Notarantonio, 6/14)

Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and TV host, died last week from breast cancer at age 52. After revealing in 2020 that she had been battling breast cancer for more than two years, Lewis announced she was foregoing conventional treatment in favor of holistic methods such as juicing, herbal remedies and detox regimens. Lewis' cancer had already reached an advanced stage by the time it was detected -- delayed in part by her long-standing fear of mammograms and concerns about radiation exposure. (Hackshaw, 6/15)

On dementia and aging —

A common genetic variant is linked to a doubled dementia risk for older men, a recent analysis in Neurology suggests. The study used data from Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE), which followed elderly patients in the United States and Australia with no history of cardiovascular disease, dementia or cognitive decline between 2010 and 2017. (Blakemore, 6/15)

On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight people in all. Pregnant with her second child, she schleps a backpack instead of a traditional black bag to carry a laptop and essential medical supplies — stethoscope, blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter. (Arvin, 6/15)

What if you had a friend who never tired of hearing you tell old stories? Someone who was available anytime you wanted to talk Residents of a nonprofit senior living community in Riverdale, N.Y., took part in a recent pilot study to determine whether calls from a virtual companion named Meela would alleviate depression and loneliness. (Jargon, 6/14)

The simplest tasks of joy and awe — listening to laughter, admiring a flower on a neighborhood walk, doing a nice thing for a friend — can measurably improve people’s emotional well-being and attitudes toward life, according to a new UCSF study. So-called micro-acts of joy can have remarkably outsize effects on people’s moods, and in particular on their belief that they can control their own happiness, said Elissa Epel, a UCSF professor who has long studied the effects of stress on aging and overall health. (Allday, 6/14)

In obituaries —

She was a proponent of natural childbirth when she joined the group that produced the candid guide to women’s health. It became a cultural touchstone and a global best seller. (Green, 6/15)

On a recent afternoon, a group of Mayo Clinic medical residents were pretending to toss around an imaginary ball. It was a goofy scene for these newly minted doctors who are at Mayo to specialize in family medicine. (Richert, 6/12)

There’s a video on Luka Krizanac’s phone that captures him making coffee at home on an espresso machine. It’s the type of video anyone might take to show off a new gadget to friends or recommend a favorite bag of beans. But the normalcy is exactly what makes it extraordinary for Krizanac – because just a few months ago, he didn’t have hands. (McPhillips, 6/13)

With a silly smile and frilly gills, the axolotl has wriggled its way into the hearts of millions, becoming a popular aquarium pet and pop-culture icon in video games, children’s books and toy stores. But this adorable species of salamander is also helping researchers investigate a serious medical mystery: Could the human body be coaxed to regrow a severed arm or leg? Scientists are turning to the axolotl because it is an expert at regeneration. After losing a limb, an adult axolotl can grow it back fresh and new. (Grandoni, 6/10)

Nicholas Montesano, 22, is proprietor of his own company, Monte Plays, where he designs and manufactures toy and game products for people with disabilities. Montesano’s latest creation is called Zenspin, which in his words “is a fidget inspired toy with sensory features on the 3D printed model to alleviate tics and stress from a disease called Tourette’s syndrome.” (Sears, 6/11)

For patients with a rare type of blood cancer, treatment might finally be coming out of the Dark Ages. People with the chronic condition polycythemia vera make too many red blood cells, thickening their blood and increasing the risk for clots, heart attacks or strokes. The main treatment consists of regular blood draws—essentially bloodletting—to keep the disease in check. (Abbott, 6/9)

When Amy Kane started taking Mounjaro in 2022, she expected to lose weight — which she did, dropping more than 170 pounds. What Ms. Kane, a 36-year-old content creator in Chicago, didn’t expect was for the effects on her health to be contagious. Soon after she started the medication, her husband and children began eating more healthfully — and then became more physically active, too. (Snow, 6/12)

It sounds like a perfectly reasonable proposition: If low-income Americans are going to get their health care coverage through the government’s Medicaid program, accepting aid from the taxpayers, those recipients who are physically able to hold jobs should do so. We don’t actually disagree with that philosophical premise. But that isn’t the ironclad argument it might appear to be for the kinds of work reporting requirements for Medicaid that are currently on the table as congressional Republicans seek to extend their 2017 tax cuts. (6/15)

In more than 20 years of covering policy, I have witnessed some crazy stuff. But one episode towers above the rest in sheer lunacy: the November 2020 meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Sounds boring? Usually, maybe. (Megan McArdle, 6/15)

A horror story is playing out in Georgia, where physicians at Emory University Hospital have kept Adriana Smith, who is brain-dead, on life support for three months against her family’s wishes solely as a means of incubating her still-developing fetus. Georgia law declares that an unborn product of conception at any stage of development is a “natural person.” Between that statute and Georgia’s ban on abortion after six weeks of gestation, Smith’s doctors decided that discontinuing life support would effectively “abort” the fetus. (Laura Hermer, 6/16)

In the face of rising national infertility and economic uncertainty, the institution of family is more important than ever. With 1 in 6 globally experiencing infertility, the current administration’s presidential order to make in vitro fertilization more affordable was a welcome development. It may be light on action, but it shows our government recognizes that building families strengthens the foundation of society, safeguards tomorrow, and ensures long-term stability. (Brian Levine, 6/16)

Future cancer cures are in jeopardy because of dramatic and unprecedented proposed reductions in research funding, staff eliminations and policy shifts at the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. That’s why I traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to speak in support of strong cancer research funding, and to personally tell Sen. Jerry Moran that cuts have consequences. (Matthew Chen, 6/15)