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KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

���ϳԹ��� News: Real Estate Investors Profit From Long-Term Care While Residents Languish
By the time she was hospitalized in 2020, Pearlene Darby, a retired teacher, had suffered open sores on both legs, both hips, and both heels, as well as a five-inch-long gash on her tailbone. She died two weeks later at age 81 from infections and bedsores, according to her death certificate. Her daughter sued the nursing home, alleging it had left Darby sitting in her own feces and urine time and again. The lawsuit, settled on confidential terms last year, blamed not only the managers of City Creek Post-Acute and Assisted Living but also the building’s owner, a real estate investment trust, or REIT. (Rau, 4/21)

���ϳԹ��� News: Democrats Demand Trump Administration Halt Plan To Collect Federal Workers’ Health Data
Democratic lawmakers are demanding that the Trump administration halt plans to collect sensitive medical records for millions of federal workers and retirees, as well as their family members. The Office of Personnel Management has asked 65 insurance companies to provide monthly reports with detailed medical and pharmaceutical claims data of more than 8 million people enrolled in federal health plans, ���ϳԹ��� News reported earlier this month. The request, which could dramatically expand the personally identifiable medical information OPM can access, alarmed health ethicists, insurance company executives, and privacy advocates. (Seitz and Rosenfeld, 4/21)

���ϳԹ��� News: Listen: Cheap Health Insurance Isn’t Always Cheap
High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast Life Kit, reporter Jackie Fortiér breaks down what to expect and how to prepare. (Fortiér, 4/21)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The FBI's No. 2 official told hospital executives Tuesday they need to step up information-sharing on cyberthreats as the agency works to disrupt attacks earlier. (Reed, 4/21)

MEASLES

Katie Jennings was scrolling on her phone last April when a headline stopped her cold. A second unvaccinated child had died of measles in her home state of Texas. It was a tipping point for the 40-year-old stay-at-home mom who had grown up in a staunchly anti-vaccine, fundamentalist Christian community. “What are we doing? Why are we doing this?” she remembers thinking. “I wanted to protect my kids.” She took all six of them to get the measles, mumps and rubella shot. Then she posted an emotional TikTok aimed at the anti-vax crowd she used to be a part of: “You can change your mind,” she said in the video that’s been watched more than 422,000 times. (Nix, 4/20)

The Rhode Island Department of Health has reported the state’s first confirmed 2026 case of measles in a man from Providence County. The man, who is in his 40s, had recently traveled internationally and returned to Rhode Island April 13, the department said in a statement. The man went to Atmed Treatment Center April 15 and is recovering at home, officials said. (Gavin, 4/20)

A new case of measles reported in Maryland last week could become an outbreak if gone unnoticed in under-vaccinated, susceptible areas, doctors told The Baltimore Sun. As a highly contagious disease starting with less dramatic symptoms, measles can fly under the radar, complicating efforts to track its spread. (Parker, 4/20)

COVID

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a wrongful death lawsuit that had been rejected by the lower courts against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his controversial COVID-19 era nursing home policy. In its Monday order list, the high court denied certiorari, or appeal, of the lower court’s rulings in the lawsuit against Cuomo led by Daniel Arbeeny, of Brooklyn, who alleged that the former governor’s nursing home policy caused his father’s death in 2020. (King and Campanile, 4/20)

Late mob boss John Gotti’s reality-TV-star grandson was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison for pocketing $1.1 million in loans from a federal program meant to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carmine Agnello, whose gel-spiked hair was a mainstay of the mid-2000s A&E series “Growing Up Gotti,” must pay the money back and perform 100 hours of community service, Judge Nusrat Choudhury said in federal court on Long Island. (4/20)

A highly mutated COVID-19 strain is circulating in California — raising concerns that disease activity could rise heading into the summer. The emergence of the BA.3.2 strain, nicknamed “Cicada,” comes amid broader uneasiness about COVID vaccination rates among seniors — who are especially susceptible to the virus — and whether complacency after back-to-back relatively quiet winters has left the elderly vulnerable. The “Cicada” nickname refers to this subvariant’s apparent dormancy before it reemerged in 2025, akin to some periodically active insects of the same name. (Lin II, 4/20)

AUTISM

A landmark study led by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and published in Molecular Psychiatry has identified a significant association between prenatal prescription of commonly utilized medications and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. Analyzing 6.14 million maternal-child health records from the Epic Cosmos database—representing nearly one-third of all U.S. births between 2014 and 2023—the team found that prescription of medications known to inhibit the cholesterol synthesis pathway were consistently associated with higher rates of ASD in offspring. These are the generic names of the 14 medications studied: aripiprazole, atorvastatin, bupropion, buspirone, fluoxetine, haloperidol, metoprolol, nebivolol, pravastatin, propranolol, rosuvastatin, sertraline, simvastatin and trazodone. (Clark, 4/20)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

A Pennsylvania court on Monday said that the state’s constitution guarantees a right to abortion while striking down a decades-long law banning the use of state Medicaid funds to cover abortion costs. The ruling by a divided seven-judge panel of the appellate-level Commonwealth Court is a major victory for Planned Parenthood and abortion clinic operators who first sued Pennsylvania over its Medicaid funding restrictions in 2019. (Kruesi and Levy, 4/21)

A controversial rule enacted last year that denies federal Medicaid funding to abortion providers is likely to expire this summer, despite anti-abortion pressure on Republicans to renew it. (Resnick, 4/20)

A bill that would require colleges and universities in Colorado to provide access to abortion medication is moving through the state legislature after passing its first committee on Thursday. (McKinnon, 4/20)

Every three days, a North Carolina baby dies in an unsafe sleep environment. That’s more than 100 babies every year. Less than two weeks into 2026, a Cary infant was found dead after falling asleep in a baby lounger, according to media reports. (Fernandez, 4/21)

New research presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Global 2026 conference in Munich suggests antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) are present in newborns shortly after birth. (Dall, 4/20)

A study of more than 4,500 US infants exposed to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in utero or at birth from 2014 to 2021 finds that only 42% were later tested for the potentially serious but highly treatable infection, and few received the recommended treatment. A team led by Boston University researchers used a statewide health database to explore factors tied to HCV testing of perinatally exposed infants in Massachusetts and estimated the proportion of infants diagnosed as having perinatal HCV infection who then receive care. They published their findings late last week in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 4/20)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

In the fourth violent incident in three weeks at Tewksbury State Hospital, a patient on Monday was arrested after allegedly assaulting another patient with a sharp object, police said. Tewksbury police were called to the state-run hospital at 2:05 p.m. The two men had been separated by the time officers arrived, police said. The altercation happened in the Nichols Building where Beth Israel Lahey Health runs and houses a second step detox program. One patient accused another of stealing and assaulted him with a sharp object, Tewksbury police Chief Ryan M. Columbus said in a statement. (Alanez, 4/20)

Nursing home workers at five metro-area facilities began a three-day strike on Monday in response to what they say are unfair labor practices. The strike involves nursing homes, Cerenity Care at Humboldt and four affiliated Monarch Healthcare Management facilities, the company that operates The Estates. (Zurek, 4/20)

A planned primary care partnership between CVS’ MinuteClinics and major nonprofit system Mass General Brigham will likely add tens of millions in additional annual commercial healthcare spending per year, according to a “conservative” preliminary estimate shared by a Massachusetts agency late last week. The organizations shared plans last summer for a proposed affiliation in which 37 MinuteClinic sites in the state that currently provided limited convenience care services would expand to offer primary care services. (Muoio, 4/20)

Centra Health is investing in a fast-growing trend: a hybrid facility that combines a freestanding emergency department with an urgent care center. The model is designed to relieve pressure on hospital emergency departments — in this case, at Centra’s Lynchburg General Hospital — while removing the burden on patients to decide what level of care they need. (Schabacker, 4/20)

Akron Children’s Hospital, Dayton Children’s Hospital and Avera Health will receive $125 million from Tom Golisano. Golisano, who founded the human resources software company Paychex, will give $50 million to Akron Children’s Hospital and $40 million to Dayton Children’s Hospital, both in Ohio, along with $35 million to Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Avera Health, the philanthropist’s foundation announced Monday. (Kacik, 4/20)

UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s results Tuesday will reflect the full effect of Medicare payment changes set in motion three years ago that cost the company billions, cratering profits last year and blindsiding investors. US regulators said the overhaul was intended to make payments to insurers more accurate. For UnitedHealth, it meant billions in lost revenue over three years. The hit, including $6 billion still to come in 2026, was more severe than the company initially expected. The full extent became clear when the insurer slashed its outlook last year, shocking Wall Street. (Tozzi, 4/20)

Medicaid managed care carriers facing shrinking membership rolls are launching campaigns to keep people covered as massive program cuts are about to kick in. Insurers such as Centene, CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and LA Care Health Plan are investing in job training programs and marketing campaigns in preparation for tighter eligibility rules and work requirements that must be in force no later than Jan. 1 under the tax law President Donald Trump enacted last year, known as HR 1. (Tepper, 4/20)

Two studies put ChatGPT, Gemini and others to the test on questions of health. Their assessment? “A bit of a shock.” (Cha, 4/21)

PHARMA AND TECH

Nektar Therapeutics said Monday that extended treatment with its experimental drug, called rezpeg, promoted greater hair growth in people with severe alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles. (Feuerstein, 4/20)

It’s well established that HIV speeds up the aging process, possibly due to chronic inflammation. But antiretroviral therapy (ART) can slow down and possibly even reverse aging caused by an infection, according to new research presented in Munich at the annual meeting of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID). Researchers estimated biological age by developing a tool called the proteomic aging clock (PAC,) which analyzes protein patterns in blood plasma to estimate a person’s biological age. (Boden, 4/20)

Researchers have created heart monitoring sensors that conform to the skin, are comfortable, and can be worn while people are moving. With performance comparable to sensors already on the market, the new technology can be made using existing manufacturing processes. (Lock, 4/20)

CANCER

Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of older age, is becoming a crisis for younger adults. New research shows one group getting hit the hardest – those without a college degree. A recent study from the American Cancer Society analyzed data from over 101,000 adults aged 25 to 49 who died from colorectal cancer between 1994 and 2023. (Quill, 4/20)

A new study from researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) has suggested that diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains may possibly be linked to a higher risk of early‑onset lung cancer. The study found this correlation specifically in younger people who have never smoked. (Blake, 4/20)

Vita Sara Blechner’s life changed on a Saturday afternoon. The middle school librarian was home in Oceanside, New York, when she felt shooting pains in her back. After an acid reflux pill couldn’t soothe the fiery feeling, her husband suggested a trip to the emergency room. (Hellerman, 4/20)

Researchers at Linköping University show how two important cancer-related proteins can be prevented from collaborating with each other. The discovery shows the way toward future medications to combat, for example, neuroblastoma in children. Their study has been published in the journal Nature Communications. (Lock, 4/20)

Artificial intelligence chatbots will tell you where to find alternatives to chemotherapy if you ask them, a new study finds. At a time when influencers and political figures on social media increasingly promote bogus treatments for cancer or other health problems — and as more people rely on AI for health advice — the new research suggests that some chatbot responses could be putting patients’ lives at risk. (Ozcan, 4/20)

AGING

A large study spanning more than 40 years suggested that migraines in midlife were associated with a modest increase in the long-term risk of dementia. Adults with migraines in midlife were slightly more likely to experience dementia later in life compared with those without migraine (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.13), reported Pamela Rist, PhD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues in a poster session at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting. (George, 4/20)

New research reveals that as people age, naps may be an easily trackable warning sign of underlying conditions or declining health. A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham and Rush University Medical Center followed 1,338 older adults for up to 19 years to track napping habits and associated mortality rates. They found longer, more frequent, and morning naps were associated with higher mortality rates. (Harley, 4/20)

STATE WATCH

The Missouri House passed a bill on Monday that would punish cities, public schools and other government entities that fail to prevent transgender people from using restrooms and other sex-specific spaces that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. (Harvel, 4/20)

Across the country, retailers and low-income Americans are facing complex new rules overhauling what millions of people can buy with food stamps. In Iowa, anti-hunger advocates recently sought to highlight how some cold sandwiches and granola bars may not qualify. In Idaho, legislators had attempted to clarify the state’s candy ban, since it allows KitKats and Twix because they contain flour. And in some states, food stamp recipients said they were surprised to learn sports drinks and certain flavored fizzy waters are off-limits. (Roubein, 4/20)

The St. Louis County health director says the county council is slow-rolling a measure to allow its government-run health clinics to hire physicians. In a bill introduced nine months ago, the department asked the council to approve a three-year, $3.6 million contract that would authorize it to hire doctors from SSM Health to work at county-operated health clinics. (Fentem, 4/20)

Two years ago, Sue Prentiss got a sobering reality check at her doctor’s office. The news was blunt: She qualified for bariatric surgery, a procedure for patients whose weight poses life-threatening risks. She was aware of her weight and had tried everything from high-intensity workouts to weight loss programs and diets. Nothing seemed to help until she started taking GLP-1 medications. (Gopalakrishnan, 4/20)

New Orleans is one of the hungriest cities in one of the hungriest states in the country. Approximately 70,000 New Orleanians — or almost one in five residents — are considered food insecure, meaning they lack easy access to fresh and affordable food. For children, that number increases to nearly one in three. That outpaces the national average of 13.7% and, according to local public health and food access experts, ranks New Orleans among the more food-insecure cities in the country, despite its reputation as a culinary hotspot. (Fernelius, 4/20)

GUN VIOLENCE AND MENTAL HEALTH

One Canadian tourist was shot dead and several other people were wounded, including U.S. nationals, officials said, when a man opened fire on Monday at one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations, the Teotihuacán pyramids just outside Mexico City. (Mega and Diaz, 4/20)

Shamar Elkins and his soon-to-be-wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, were sitting on a couch three years ago in Shreveport, La., as their daughters played outside. Betty Walker — the woman who had raised Mr. Elkins as her son, though she was not his biological mother — was there, too, and could tell there was friction between the couple. Ms. Pugh said that evening that she was considering leaving Mr. Elkins and taking her children with her, Ms. Walker recalled in an interview. Mr. Elkins was furious, Ms. Walker said. He looked at Ms. Pugh and declared that if they tried to leave, “I’ll kill you, my kids and myself.” (Medina, Morales and Jimenez, 4/20)

Two headline-grabbing, deadly domestic violence cases, one in Louisiana and the other in Virginia targeting Black mothers, have sparked a national conversation about domestic violence prevention resources and mental health care available to Black communities. Many advocates in the aftermath of the deadly shootings have said the tragedies pointedly highlight troubling underlying trends where Black women are more likely to experience domestic violence — and they see the killings as an opportunity to confront how disparities in access to care and resources make some women and children more vulnerable to violence in the home. (Riddle and Williams, 4/21)