Penciling in RFK Jr.

It looks like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can't squeeze in a hearing this Thursday before the Senate health committee, Daniel Payne and I write. The delay would spare Kennedy from having to answer questions about massive HHS layoffs until after Congress' two-week-long spring recess.

A spokesperson for Senate health committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said HHS confirmed receipt of the letter announcing the hearing and that it's "not uncommon for the proposed date to be negotiated to accommodate schedules." Others say that, actually, it is unusual for a committee chair to set a date before confirming the availability of a witness, especially when that witness is a Cabinet member of the same party as the chair.

Kennedy could face questions about a lot more than just layoffs. The secretary also faces criticism of his handling of a measles outbreak that's spreading through multiple states and has been linked to three deaths.

immunizations

Ray of hope for Cassidy

After another unvaccinated, previously healthy child died of measles in the outbreak in West Texas, Kennedy said Sunday that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," in a post on the social media platform X.

That was his most direct statement yet on the issue, according to STAT's Daniel Payne, but he stopped short of recommending vaccinations, and hours later he posted on X again, this time to promote unorthodox, unproven treatments for the disease.

Cassidy has had a heck of a time keeping Kennedy from undermining public trust in vaccines. Read more from Daniel for updates to Kennedy's handling of the outbreak and the reaction from vaccine opponents.

measles outbreak

A new normal

STAT's Helen Branswell reports that infectious disease experts warn that the days when measles deaths in the United States were ultra-rare may be over for now.

The United States recorded three measles deaths in the first 24 years of this century. In just over three months of 2025, it has equaled that number.

"My concern is this does become a new normal for us," infectious disease expert Peter Hotez tells Helen.

abortion

VA abortion policy could be in jeopardy

Abortion opponents believe that a repeal is in the works for a Biden administration policy allowing abortions for veterans and their dependents in limited circumstances at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities.

After the fall of Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration wrote a regulation allowing the VA to provide abortions when the life or health of a veteran or covered dependent is endangered by pregnancy, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The VA also started providing abortion counseling.

That rule angered abortion opponents, and new VA Secretary Doug Collins said during his confirmation hearing that he would revisit it. Although no details are available, the VA is now working on a policy that goes by the same name as the one the Biden administration used to allow abortions.

medicare advantage

A lucky break for MA plans

Health insurers that sell Medicare Advantage plans are going to get about $30 billion more in taxpayer money next year, my colleague Bob Herman writes.

The pay rate hike is more than double what the Biden administration had proposed. However, the Trump administration kept Biden's plan to fully phase in the new version of risk adjustment, even though several insurers lobbied for a delay.

Bob gives all of the details here.

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