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After losing access to a Medicaid federal funding portal after an aid freeze by the Trump administration, states say they’re regaining access, but some are reporting that the site isn’t functioning “correctly.” One day after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo stating agencies must halt “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance,” state Medicaid offices reported they had lost access to the payment portal through which federal funds are drawn. (Choi, 1/28)

The confusion left some Head Start centers weighing whether to close. Early Flowers Learning, which operates 17 Head Start preschools with 600 students in southwestern Michigan, announced it would not open its doors on Wednesday because it could not pay staff — only to learn that website access had been restored. “I worry about them, you know, certainly trying to hold it together right now, thinking about some of the children that we serve who might not have access to breakfast and lunch if they don’t have a place to go,” said Chanda Hillman said, executive director of Early Flowers Learning. (Balingit, 1/28)

A federal district judge on Tuesday granted an administrative stay in a case challenging the Trump administration’s planned freeze of federal aid, pausing the plan for a week and setting a hearing for further arguments Monday morning. The order applies only to the pause of disbursements in open grants, Judge Loren AliKhan said. And it doesn't get into the legality of the freeze; instead, it gives her time to hear more fleshed-out arguments from a coalition of nonprofit groups about why she should issue a temporary restraining order that could block the freeze for an additional two weeks. The hearing will take place at 11 a.m. Monday. (Barnes, 1/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Trump’s Funding ‘Pause’ Throws States, Health Industry Into Chaos

States and the nation’s health industry were thrown into disarray after the Trump administration ordered Monday that the government freeze nearly all federal grants at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, a sweeping directive that at least initially appeared to include funding for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers more than 70 million Americans. By midmorning Tuesday, state officials around the country reported they had been shut out of a critical online portal that allows states to access federal Medicaid funding. (Galewitz, 1/28)

The Trump administration on Tuesday issued a waiver for lifesaving medicines and medical services, offering a reprieve for a worldwide H.I.V. treatment program that was halted last week. The waiver, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seemed to allow for the distribution of H.I.V. medications, but whether the waiver extended to preventive drugs or other services offered by the program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, was not immediately clear. (Mandavilli, 1/28)

Federal workers who don’t want to return to the office are being offered buyouts, according to a memo posted to the US Office of Personnel Management’s website Tuesday night. (Treene and Blackburn, 1/28)

Of five major HHS agency offices focused on health equity, only one has taken down its website amid President Trump's executive orders to end federal government diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. The FDA's Office of Minority Health and Health Equity website has been taken down, though it remained live as recently as last Thursday. ... However, it's not clear if the executive orders pertain only to DEIA initiatives focused on the federal health workforce, or if also to those agencies' initiatives to improve health equity in the general population. (Fiore, 1/28)

The W.H.O.’s work touches American lives in myriad ways. The agency compiles the International Classification of Diseases, the system of diagnostic codes used by doctors and insurance companies. It assigns generic names to medicines that are recognizable worldwide. Its extensive flu surveillance network helps select the seasonal flu vaccine each year. The agency also closely tracks resistance to antibiotics and other drugs, keeps American travelers apprised of health threats, and studies a wide range of issues such as teen mental health, substance use and aging, which may then inform policies in the United States. (Mandavilli, 1/29)

A potential Ebola outbreak has been reported in a western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in what would be the second viral hemorrhagic fever outbreak in the region at a time when the Trump administration has paused communication with the World Health Organization. (Branswell, 1/28)

President Donald Trump signed a broad executive order targeting transition-related medical care for minors Tuesday. The order, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” intends to restrict access to gender-affirming medical care — including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery — for minors, which it defines as those younger than 19. It prohibits federal funding from covering such care for minors, restricts research and education grants to medical schools and hospitals, and directs the secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations to end such care for minors. (Yurcaba, 1/28)

Six transgender active duty service members and two former service members who seek re-enlistment on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for revising policy on transgender troops and probably sets the stage for banning them in the armed forces. The six plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. (Copp, 1/28)

A federal inmate sued the Trump administration on Sunday, challenging an executive order that requires the Bureau of Prisons to house transgender women in U.S. prisons designated for men and to stop providing prisoners with gender-transition medical treatments. Referred to by the pseudonym Maria Moe in court papers, the prisoner is described as a transgender woman who began transitioning in middle school, started taking feminizing hormones at age 15, and has been housed in a facility designated for women since she was taken into custody. (Harmon, 1/27)

The Pentagon has said in recent years that it is impossible to count the total number of transgender troops. The military services say there is no way to track them and that much information is limited due to medical privacy laws. Estimates have hovered between 9,000 and 12,000. But it will be very difficult for officials to identify them, even as service members worry about the hunt to root them out. (Baldor, 1/29)

Anti-abortion forces similarly used federal funding as a wedge in the 1970s to enact the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds in Medicaid and other federal health programs for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or in cases where the pregnant person's life is in danger. The amendment was renewed multiple times by Congress, even when Democrats controlled the House. And similar policies were extended to other federal health programs, including coverage for federal employees and their families, military personnel and inmates in federal prisons, per Planned Parenthood. (Reed, 1/28)

A North Dakota teenager on Tuesday told a courtroom that gender-affirming care saved her life. The state in 2023 made it a crime for health care professionals to provide the treatments to anyone below age 18. The ban contains an exemption for children who were receiving treatment before it went into effect. “I am very grateful to be able to receive gender-affirming care, and I know there’s a lot of other children my age who are not able to receive it,” said the 16-year old, testifying under the pseudonym Pamela Roe. “I know very well that could have been me.” (Steurer, 1/28)

On Monday, Montana lawmakers heard public comment on Senate Bill 164. The proposed legislation would criminalize transgender medical treatment for individuals under the age of 16. ... Medical doctors who testified said there are no documented cases of surgical treatment being administered to transgender youth in Montana they are aware of and worry about how the bill would impact medical providers. (Riley, 1/27)

Kansas lawmakers are debating a bill that would ban hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries. (Mesa, 1/28)

On the eve of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, his physician niece has shared a trove of private emails in the hopes of derailing his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The exchanges show RFK Jr. making false claims about Covid-19 vaccines at the height of the pandemic, citing online articles by fellow vaccine skeptics, linking childhood immunizations to autism, and raising doubts about the flu shot. (Berke and Owermohle, 1/28)

Robert F. Kennedy is addicted to “attention and power” according to scathing letter revealing some of his darkest moments, penned by his cousin Caroline Kennedy. Kennedy, 71, who is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a hypocritical “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power”, his cousin warned senators ahead of the confirmation hearing in the senate - which will confirm his control over a $1.7 trillion budget as the top health official. (Croft, 1/29)

An advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence is escalating its fight against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this time with an ad that uses President Trump’s past criticisms of Kennedy to argue against his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The 60-second ad from Advancing American Freedom, which was obtained first by The Hill, consists almost entirely of footage from a May video in which Trump lambastes Kennedy, then an independent White House candidate, as a “Democrat plant” and “radical liberal.” (Samuels, 1/28)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ventured a staggering number of opinions on public health, from casting doubt on vaccines and fluoride to claiming COVID was engineered to spare some races. There’s one area, however, where the notoriously voluble Kennedy has been relatively quiet. It happens to concern the biggest responsibilities of the federal agency he could soon run. (Brodey, 1/28)

For decades, the scientific community has worked to dispel a thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism and finally shift its focus to find true potential causes. But now, autism advocates say they are fearful that if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as health and human services secretary, it could undermine years of progress in unlinking autism and vaccines, while potentially diverting precious research dollars to a theory already discredited by hundreds of studies worldwide. They warn he would wield vast influence over who sits on committees and steer policy. (Korecki, 1/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Led By RFK Jr., Conservatives Embrace Raw Milk. Regulators Say It’s Dangerous

In summertime, cows wait under a canopy to be milked at Mark McAfee’s farm in Fresno, California. From his Cessna 210 Centurion propeller plane, the 63-year-old can view grazing lands of the dairy company he runs that produces products such as unpasteurized milk and cheese for almost 2,000 stores. Federal regulators say it’s risky business. Samples of raw milk can contain bird flu virus and other pathogens linked to kidney disease, miscarriages, and death. (Armour, 1/29)

President Trump last week formally nominated Michael Kratsios, a member of the first Trump administration with no degrees in science or engineering, to be his science adviser. Science policy experts say that Mr. Kratsios’ wide experience in private and public technology policy and management is what makes him an attractive candidate. His expertise includes a central role in early federal efforts to speed the rise of artificial intelligence and to compete with China in its development. He will join a cohort of White House advisers on the fraught topic. (Broad, 1/29)

Two North Carolina-based university health systems plan to construct the state’s first standalone children’s hospital — an undertaking that its boosters said will change lives physically and economically for decades to come. UNC Health and Duke Health on Tuesday revealed the agreement to build the proposed 500-bed pediatric hospital in the state’s Research Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. (1/29)

Philips will sell its emergency care business to investment firm Bridgefield Capital for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close later this year, the companies said Tuesday. The emergency care business, part of Philips connected care segment, sells products including automated external defibrillators and emergency care devices for professionals and consumers. Sales in the connected care segment were flat in the third quarter, totaling about $1.36 billion. (Dubinsky, 1/28)

Providers are bypassing Medicare requirements to set up scaled-down hospital-at-home programs they say save money by reducing hospitalizations. ... Providers say the programs free up hospital beds for sicker patients and save money by keeping some patients in risk-based care plans out of the hospital. However, most of the in-home hospital programs don’t have the rigorous guardrails mandated in the Medicare waiver program. (Eastabrook, 1/28)

Bain Capital Private Equity proposed to buy the remaining shares of Surgery Partners, an ambulatory surgery center provider in which the private equity firm already has a 39% stake. Under the nonbinding proposal, Bain would buy out Surgery Partners for $25.75 a share, according to a Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Surgery Partners’ stock price closed at $21.25 Monday and jumped nearly 20% Tuesday morning. (Kacik, 1/28)

Medical technology company Stryker plans to sell its U.S. spinal implants business to investment firm Viscogliosi Brothers for an undisclosed amount, the company announced Tuesday. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year, creating an independent company called VB Spine. Once complete, the new company will have exclusive access to Stryker’s Mako Spine robotic-assisted surgical device and Copilot surgical assistance technology for use with VB Spine’s implants. (Dubinsky, 1/28)

Healthcare supply chain costs are expected to rise 2.3% from July 2025 to June 2026, according to a Jan. 28 Vizient's "Winter 2025 Spend Management Outlook." The predicted increase would be driven by sustained high prices for raw materials, freight and shipping costs and the effects of tariffs on medical-surgical products manufactured in China, according to a news release from the healthcare performance improvement company. (Murphy, 1/28)

Customers at some CVS stores will no longer have to push a button and wait for a clerk to unlock one of those glass cabinets to get the products they want to buy. A new app will allow them to open the cabinets themselves, the company said on Tuesday. That feature of the new CVS Health app has been available in three stores in New York City as part of a pilot program that began in August, said Tara Burke, a CVS Health spokeswoman. She said there are plans to roll out the “smart locks” at approximately 10 stores on the West Coast early this year. (Hauser, 1/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute'

This week on the �鶹Ů�� Health News Minute: Stable housing is scarce for a rapidly increasing number of homeless seniors, and insurers sometimes deny coverage for prosthetic limbs by deeming them experimental or not medically necessary. (1/28)

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic to treat chronic kidney disease in patients who also have Type 2 diabetes, expanding the use of the wildly popular injection in the U.S. (Constantino, 1/28)

A coalition of around 20,000 advocates and twelve major health care groups has called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand Medicare and Medicaid to include FDA-approved anti-obesity medications. The letters are being led by the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease (HECCD) and they say the change would potentially benefit up to 7.5 million Americans enrolled in these federal programs who are living with obesity, per the press release. (Dickey, 1/28)

The University of Chicago is partnering with a health care investment firm that has pledged up to $130 million to help turn the school’s research and discoveries into medications more quickly. The university and Deerfield Management are partnering on the initiative, called Hyde Park Discovery. Deerfield will spend up to $130 million over the next 10 years, and offer its expertise to help advance the university’s discoveries, in hopes of bringing them to the health care market. (Schencker, 1/28)

The Super Bowl ad for weight loss medications from direct-to-consumer telehealth company Hims & Hers released Tuesday is optimized to engage and infuriate. Over the refrain of Childish Gambino’s anti-racist anthem “This Is America,” its narrator makes the case that the weight loss industry, including drugmakers, are extracting profits from overweight and obese Americans without really helping them. (Palmer, 1/28)

A metro Atlanta resident who was not vaccinated has been diagnosed with measles, the highly infectious disease that used to be on the wane. The disease can be fatal, and most of the patients that measles kills are children under 5 years old. The patient’s age was not disclosed in the public announcement. (Hart, 1/28)

Kansas health officials called the outbreak “the largest documented outbreak in U.S. history” since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began counting cases in the 1950s. But a spokesperson for the CDC on Tuesday refuted that claim, noting at least two larger TB outbreaks in recent history. In one, the disease spread through Georgia homeless shelters. Public health workers identified more than 170 active TB cases and more than 400 latent cases from 2015 to 2017. And in 2021, a nationwide outbreak linked to contaminated tissue used in bone transplants sickened 113 patients. (Shastri, 1/29)

Individuals’ names and medical information may have been exposed in a Chicago Department of Public Health incident, the department said in a notice issued Tuesday. (Schencker, 1/28)

More than 1,000 children tested positive for lead poisoning in New Hampshire in 2023, according to a recently published report from state officials. That’s the highest number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood the state has seen since routine testing began in 2018. (Hoplamazian, 1/28)

For Darline Turner’s clients, the hardest part of having a healthy pregnancy isn’t getting a doctor or designing a birth plan. It’s finding safe housing, getting enough food on the table or figuring out transportation to and from their appointments. (Klibanoff, 1/29)

Pittsburgh has become one of the top places in the world for the treatment of appendix cancer – a rare cancer affecting one in a million people. Many of them were told they had only months to live until they came to Pittsburgh. (Sorensen, 1/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Sports Betting Is Coming To Missouri. A Fund To Help Prevent Problem Gambling Will Follow

The parking lot at the Super One Stop in Granite City, Illinois, is full. The convenience store just across the Mississippi River from Missouri sells liquor, cigarettes, and some groceries. But not all the cars belong to customers. It’s a Sunday morning in the middle of football season, and the people sitting in their vehicles are mostly looking down at their smartphones. Nick Krumwiede is sure the people parked around him are betting on the day’s NFL games. That’s why he’s there. (Dyer, 1/29)

Kennedy’s recently released ethics agreement, a document that all Cabinet nominees sign, revealed that he intends to retain a financial stake in a lawsuit against Merck, the company that produces the Gardasil vaccine against human papillomavirus, or HPV. (1/28)

President Donald Trump’s swift move to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization will compromise global health — and is no way to Make America Healthy Again. (Lisa Jarvis, 1/28)

My son was 5 years old when he climbed out of bed and landed on the floor. He was always a teaser. “C’mon, silly,” I said. “Time to get ready for school.” “Mommy,” Aaron said, very puzzled. “I can’t feel my legs.” (Martha Ann Overland, 1/29)

When I read the recent news that the Trump administration has frozen all federally funded grants and loans to researchers like me, it felt like the ground beneath my feet gave way. My work, which investigates how to support the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of people affected by cancer, is suddenly in limbo. And I know I’m not alone. Across the country, researchers whose work depends on federal funding are wondering if the projects to which they’ve dedicated their careers will come to an abrupt halt. (David Victorson, 1/28)

No one asks questions when illness strikes. Everyone’s preoccupation is with treatment and cure. But shock commonly follows in the form of onerous medical debt — sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hospitals and insurance companies have a profit motive on steroids. (Armstrong Williams, 1/28)

Recent restrictions on National Institutes of Health (NIH) operations imposed by the Trump administration threaten not just abstract scientific progress, but the livelihood of thousands in our St. Louis community. As a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine studying stroke prevention, I've experienced firsthand how funding disruptions can derail critical scientific work. (Jaclyn Schwartz, 1/28)