Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
Trump executive order seeks to centralize control of grantmaking under political appointees: A sweeping new executive order seeks to transform how the federal government awards billions of dollars in research grants by giving President Trump’s political appointees unprecedented power over the projects agencies fund.
The order issued Thursday night, titled “Improving Oversight Of Federal Grantmaking,” aims to fundamentally rewrite the rules that for decades have guided grant decisions. Instead of experts and career civil servants setting funding decisions and priorities, the order places that authority with presidential appointees who, in coordination with the White House, are directed to use their “independent judgment” and “advance the President’s policy priorities.”
About Covid-19
Cost-Effectiveness of 2023-2024 COVID-19 Vaccination in US Adults: Findings This decision analytic modeling study in a simulated cohort projected that cost-effectiveness for a 2023-2024 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine using base case assumptions was cost saving for individuals older than 65 years, $25 787 per quality-adjusted life-year gained for those aged 50 to 64 years, and $115 588 per quality-adjusted life-year gained for those aged 18 to 49 years. Results were robust to changes in parameter inputs for the older age groups but sensitive to inputs for the younger age group.
Meaning These findings suggest that vaccination is economically attractive for older adults but only under certain conditions for younger adults.
HHS cites list of studies as scientific justification for cancellation of mRNA vaccine contracts: Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. provided only a brief explanation for the decision earlier this week, arguing the mRNA vaccines are not effective and not as safe as alternatives, and referencing a review of scientific research on mRNA by “experts,” without identifying them. On Friday, when asked if the Department of Health and Human Services had a scientific justification, a spokesperson provided a link to a 181-page list of studies compiled by a number of people, including a current Trump administration adviser who served in the president’s first administration and was the subject of controversy for pushing unproven Covid-19 treatments.
About health insurance/insurers
Employers shifting to self-insurance will still face soaring costs, Voya says: Heather Lavallee, the chief executive officer of the New York-based company, and other Voya executives told securities analysts Wednesday that the company is continuing to fight a surge in claims that began a year ago by taking a tough approach to pricing.
Reinsurance costs are also predicted to surge.
More insurers expect to pull some Medicare Advantage plans from the market: Aetna is the latest insurer to announce it will pull the plug on some of its Medicare Advantage plans next year.
The company said it will close approximately 90 Medicare Advantage plans across 34 states in 2026, according to Modern Healthcare. Most of the plans are PPOs, the publication said.
The news follows UnitedHealthcare’s announcement that next year it will exit some Medicare Advantage PPO plans that impact about 600,000 members. Humana revealed in its first quarter 2025 management remarks that it is likely to lose 550,000 Medicare Advantage members by the end of the year as it leaves plans and markets that aren’t profitable.
About pharma
Prescription Drug Utilization and Spending by Race, Ethnicity, Payer, Health Condition, and US State: Findings In this cross-sectional study of 143 health conditions among persons in 50 states and Washington, DC, per capita pharmaceutical use was highest among White populations and lowest among Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic populations. However, after standardizing for age and disease prevalence (for 52 conditions with available data), prescription fills were substantially lower for Black populations relative to the all-population mean.
Meaning Disparities in medication use relative to disease burden persist—especially underutilization among Black populations—highlighting the need for targeted efforts to advance pharmacoequity.
About healthcare IT
77% of healthcare orgs targeted by ransomware in past year: More than three-quarters of healthcare survey respondents said their organizations were targeted by ransomware in the past 12 months, and 53% of those attacks were successful, highlighting the ongoing challenge of combatting healthcare cyberattacks.
KFF Health Information and Trust Tracking Poll: Health Information and Advice on Social Media: Just over half (55%) of adults, including larger shares of young adults and Black and Hispanic adults, say they use social media to find health information and advice at least occasionally and most adults report seeing health-related content in the past month on social media, with the largest shares saying they’ve seen content about weight loss, diet, or nutrition (72%) and mental health (58%)…
Most adults are skeptical of the health information and advice they see across social media platforms. When asked to assess the health information and advice on various social media platforms, fewer than half say they find “most” or “some” of the information they see on each platform trustworthy, and less than one in ten say “most” of the information is trustworthy…
About one in six (15%) social media users (14% of the public overall) say they regularly get health information and advice from social media influencers. Among those who report regularly getting health information and advice from influencers on social media, six in ten (61%) say health influencers are mostly motivated by their own financial interests, while about four in ten (39%) say health influencers are mostly motivated by serving the public interest.