Hepatitis Archives - ��ýҕ�l Health News

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

Time’s Up for Expanded ACA Tax Credits

Episode 427

Dec. 18, 2025

A last-minute push from Democrats and four moderate Republicans will force a House vote on renewing enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, but not until January. That means millions will have to choose between paying dramatically more or dropping coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially drops the federal recommendation for newborns to receive a hepatitis B shot. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lizzy Lawrence of Stat join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Tony Leys, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, and the panel discusses the year’s biggest developments in health policy.

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A photo of the CDC's ACIP panel in a room. A television broadcast camera is seen recording the meeting in the center of the frame.

Vaccine Panel’s Hepatitis B Vote Signals Further Turbulence for Immunization Policy, Public Trust

Clinicians and epidemiologists warn the decision to no longer recommend the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine could unravel decades of progress and expose newborns to a deadly, preventable disease.

By Céline Gounder

Dec. 12, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

Crunch Time for ACA Tax Credits

Episode 426

Dec. 11, 2025

Dec. 15 is the deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans that begin Jan. 1, and Congress remains at odds over letting expanded tax credits for the plans’ premiums expire and increasing the cost of insurance for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to remake vaccine policy to reflect ideology rather than science. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown professor Linda Blumberg about the GOP’s health plans.

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A photo of the ACIP hearing from the press section. Reporters type on laptops in the foreground. In front of them is a large TV screen showing Robert Malone speaking. The full panel is seen behind the screen.

In RFK Jr.’s Upside-Down World of Vaccines, Panel Votes To End Hepatitis B Shot at Birth

A session of a vaccine panel dominated by skeptics was chaotically at odds with past practices of the CDC, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described as a “cesspool of corruption.” His crew voted to end a 34-year recommendation to vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B.

By Arthur Allen

Dec. 5, 2025

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Senate hearing.

RFK Jr. Wants To Delay the Hepatitis B Vaccine. Here’s What Parents Need To Know.

A CDC panel is reconsidering the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Renewed doubt could lead to fewer kids getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to an incurable, preventable virus that can be acquired by indirect contact with infected blood.

By Jackie Fortiér

Dec. 2, 2025

A photo of a hand holding a syringe of the hepatitis B vaccine.

In Hepatitis B Vaccine Debate, CDC Panel Sidesteps Key Exposure Risk

At a recent meeting of a key vaccine advisory panel, members debated changes to the timing of hepatitis B vaccination, while largely ignoring the risk of early childhood transmission from day care or household contact. A few days later, President Donald Trump did the same.

By Jackie Fortiér

Sept. 29, 2025

Former CDC Director Susan Monarez speaks inside a Senate hearing room.

Watch: Fired CDC Chief Says RFK Jr. Demanded She Roll Back Vaccine Policies Without Evidence

Susan Monarez and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief medical officer Debra Houry described turmoil in an agency dominated by anti-vaccine political officials nominated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

By Arthur Allen and Hannah Norman

Sept. 17, 2025

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seated in a Senate hearing room.

RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children

A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that could open the door to a comeback for a disease virtually eradicated among U.S. children.

By Jackie Fortiér

Sept. 16, 2025

A photograph shows a white pill bottle of Harvoni, a drug to treat hepititis C.

Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?

Before covid-19, hepatitis C held the distinction of claiming more American lives each year than any other infectious disease — that’s despite the marketing of several relatively affordable, highly effective treatments.

By Michelle Andrews

Sept. 20, 2023

Pharma Sells States On ‘Netflix Model’ To Wipe Out Hep C. But At What Price?

Manufacturers of lucrative drugs say they’re offering discounts off the high sticker prices ― but taxpayers footing the big bills might never know what the state is paying or if it’s getting a good deal.

By JoNel Aleccia, Barbara Feder Ostrov, and Donna Gordon Blankinship

Oct. 25, 2019

Hepatitis A Races Across The Country

In the wake of the opioid crisis, the highly communicable hepatitis A virus is spreading in more than half the states and making its way into the general public. Underfunded health officials are valiantly trying to fight it with vaccines.

By Laura Ungar

Aug. 13, 2019

Florida Is The Latest Republican-Led State To Adopt Clean Needle Exchanges

Florida has struggled for years with opioid overdoses — and the highest rate of HIV infection in the U.S. Lawmakers now hope needle exchanges and a "harm reduction" approach could help save lives.

By Sammy Mack, WLRN

July 2, 2019

Medicaid Patients In Puerto Rico Don’t Get Coverage For Drugs To Cure Hepatitis C

The program that provides health care for about half of the U.S. territory’s population cannot afford to cover the drugs.

By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

Jan. 4, 2019

Hep C And Drug Abuse Often Go Hand In Hand, But Screening For Infection Lags

As the number of people who inject drugs has soared, the rate of hepatitis C infection has climbed steeply, too, because the disease can be tied to sharing needles. Yet many drug patients are not checked for the virus that can damage the liver.

By Michelle Andrews

Dec. 19, 2018

Advances In Treating Hep C Lead To New Option For Transplant Patients

The opioid epidemic has increased the number of donated organs. Until recently, though, organs from donors who died of drug overdoses were often discarded because an estimated 30 percent of them were infected with hepatitis C.

By Julie Appleby

Aug. 13, 2018

State Prisons Fail To Offer Cure To 144,000 Inmates With Deadly Hepatitis C

A survey of 49 states reveals that an estimated 144,000 inmates with hepatitis C, a curable but potentially fatal disease, can’t get the expensive drugs they need to cure it.

By Siraphob Thanthong-Knight

July 9, 2018

Insuring Your Health

More Nurse Practitioners Now Pursue Residency Programs To Hone Skills

Proponents say the residencies provide help dealing with increasingly difficult cases, but some nursing groups contend that the programs are not necessary.

By Michelle Andrews

July 3, 2018

Insuring Your Health

If You’ve Got Hep C, Spitting Can Be A Felony

About a dozen states have added hepatitis C to the list of medical conditions for which people can face criminal prosecution if they engage in certain activities like sex without disclosure, needle-sharing or organ donation.

By Michelle Andrews

June 19, 2018