{"id":108324,"date":"2025-07-31T19:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/108324\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T19:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:30:08","slug":"next-on-kennedys-list-preventive-care-and-vaccine-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/108324\/","title":{"rendered":"Next on Kennedy\u2019s List? Preventive Care and Vaccine Harm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\tThe Host\t<\/p>\n<p>\tJulie Rovner<br \/>\n\tKFF Health News<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jrovner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@jrovner\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/julierovner.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@julierovner.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/author\/julie-rovner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Julie&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tJulie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News\u2019 weekly health policy news podcast, \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book \u201cHealth Care Politics and Policy A to Z,\u201d now in its third edition.\t\t<\/p>\n<p>In his ongoing effort to reshape health policy, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to overhaul two more government entities: the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Ousting the existing members of the task force would give Kennedy a measure of control in determining the kinds of preventive care that are covered at no cost to patients in the United States. And while it\u2019s unclear what the secretary would do to the vaccine injury program, Kennedy has made no secret of his belief that vaccines can do more harm than good.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, last week marked the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would enable local and state governments to forcibly hospitalize some people who are homeless and struggling with mental health problems.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tPanelists\t<\/p>\n<p>\tAnna Edney<br \/>\n\tBloomberg News<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/annaedney\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@annaedney\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/annaedney.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@annaedney.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/authors\/AP519FMOg7w\/anna-edney\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Anna&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\tJoanne Kenen<br \/>\n\tJohns Hopkins University and Politico<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoanneKenen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@JoanneKenen\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/joannekenen.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@joannekenen.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/hbhi.jhu.edu\/expert\/joanne-kenen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Joanne&#8217;s bio.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\tShefali Luthra<br \/>\n\tThe 19th<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/shefali.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@shefali.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/author\/shefali-luthra\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Shefali&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Less than two months after Kennedy removed all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, he is reportedly considering a similar purge of members of the task force that recommends the preventive services insurers must cover \u2014 a list whose services, some of them controversial among Trump officials, include drugs that prevent HIV and certain cancer screenings. He is also considering changes to the federal program that compensates people who experience adverse effects from immunizations.<\/li>\n<li>This week Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s top vaccine official, resigned just months into his tenure. Prasad had come under attack, notably by right-wing personality Laura Loomer, and had been blasted for some agency decisions about new drugs for rare diseases \u2014 despite his work limiting the use of covid shots.<\/li>\n<li>Trump\u2019s newly announced trade deal with the European Union includes a 15% tariff on brand-name pharmaceuticals, which would include, for example, the diabetes drug Ozempic, often used for weight loss. But it would be difficult to lower prices on brand-name drugs through tariffs; it is unlikely that drugmakers, facing higher import costs, would relocate production to the United States.<\/li>\n<li>Also, Trump\u2019s big tax and spending law, hastened through Congress weeks ago, renders some lawfully present immigrants ineligible for Affordable Care Act subsidies. But a new KFF Health News column points out that the change would actually raise premiums for everyone else, taking more healthy people out of the insurance pool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also this week, Rovner interviews George Washington University health policy professor Sara Rosenbaum, one of the nation\u2019s leading Medicaid experts, to mark Medicaid\u2019s 60th anniversary this week.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julie Rovner:<\/strong> KFF Health News\u2019 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/cosmetic-surgery-patients-allege-disfiguring-injuries-sono-bello-patients-allege\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cosmetic Surgeries Led to Disfiguring Injuries, Patients Allege<\/a>,\u201d by Fred Schulte.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anna Edney:<\/strong> The Washington Post\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/obituaries\/2025\/07\/28\/morton-mintz-dead-investigative-reporter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Morton Mintz, Post Reporter With a Muckraker Spirit, Dies at 103<\/a>,\u201d by Stefanie Dazio.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joanne Kenen:<\/strong> ScienceAlert\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/new-kind-of-dental-floss-could-replace-vaccine-needles-study-finds\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Kind of Dental Floss Could Replace Vaccine Needles, Study Finds<\/a>,\u201d by David Nield.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shefali Luthra:<\/strong> The New Yorker\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2025\/08\/04\/mexicos-molar-city-could-transform-my-smile-did-i-want-it-to\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mexico\u2019s Molar City Could Transform My Smile. Did I Want It To?<\/a>\u201d by Burkhard Bilger.<\/p>\n<p>Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n<p>\t\tCredits\t<\/p>\n<p>\tFrancis Ying<br \/>\n\tAudio producer<\/p>\n<p>\tEmmarie Huetteman<br \/>\n\tEditor <\/p>\n<p>To hear all our podcasts,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/tag\/podcast\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And subscribe to KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/32EdsB662C3oyIrqLMmBXI?si=TQhRjzzLTgWtK3crfbOFtA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/what-the-health\/id1253607372?mt=2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.pocketcasts.com\/web\/podcasts\/a379e280-3f57-0135-9028-63f4b61a9224\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pocket Casts<\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/about-us\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/about-us\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>USE OUR CONTENT<\/p>\n<p>This story can be republished for free (<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/podcast\/what-the-health-408-preventive-care-vaccine-injury-rfk-makeover-july-31-2025\/view\/republish\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">details<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here\u2019s what we ask:<\/p>\n<p>You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and KFF Health News\u201d in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note, not everything on kffhealthnews.org is available for republishing. If a story is labeled \u201cAll Rights Reserved,\u201d we cannot grant permission to republish that item.<\/p>\n<p>Have questions? Let us know at <a href=\"mailto:KHNHelp@kff.org\">KHNHelp@kff.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie&#8217;s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-108324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114949510136874797","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}