Joanne Kenen

In a new article in NPR Shots, @joannekenen.bsky.social Kenen explains how the Big Beautiful Bill's limits on federal student loans for health professional students are expected to lead to a less diverse health care workforce. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

New U.S. law limits nursing degree loans, no longer designating nurses as professional. This dismisses their expertise & limits our need for a representative workforce. Our nation’s health depends on making nursing loans & tuition more affordable, not less. @joannekenen.bsky.social: t.jh.edu/aw79ZB

New leader tapped for CDC had stopped pushing vaccines amid flu surge Ralph Abraham, a Louisiana health official who stopped promoting mass vaccination vaccines, has been appointed as the CDC's principal deputy director

BREAKING: Louisiana health official who ordered his health department to stop promoting mass vaccinations during a surge in flu cases this winter has been tapped to be the new number 2 at @CDCgov. My story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA - KFF Health News Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health ca...

New #WTHealth podcast up: @joannekenen.bsky.social, @shefali.bsky.social and Paige Cunningham on what the GOP really wants on health care, how the D's may well have won the shutdown, and an interview with @avik.bsky.social on possibilities for bipartisanship...
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

I had the opportunity to review the work experience and skills of numerous people who were laid off or fired from public health jobs by Donald Trump.

I want every taxpayer to know that the US has lost an immeasurable number of the smartest, most experienced, and hardworking people on the planet.

Future Pulse The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Politico's Future Pulse wrote up our book event from last night -- Information Sick: How the Decline of Journalism and the Rise of Disinformation is Harming Our Health - and What We Can Do About It." www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Big news- our podcast is now available via @wamu.org or the NPR app

It's not all gloomy!. We write about vibrant nonprofit news outlets --both the now big and established ones like @kffhealthnews.org and @propublica.org to excellent small ones popping up and doing great work in smaller communities -- and giving voice to communities that are not always heard

I haven't been all that active on this site - but maybe publishing a new book is a good time to change that. with @drjoshs.bsky.social and l. Morales. We write about the intertwined crisis of the decline of the US news industry -- and the rise of misinformation and mistrust of public health. I

Did an interview with @kuow.org on this story: www.kuow.org/stories/is-t...

The ‘welfarization’ of Medicaid

The "Welfarization of Medicaid."
Are the "video game / TV bingers" the "Welfare Queens" of our Times A lot easier politically to take health care from lazy bums and system-bilkers from those who "deserve" help.
Wrote about this for @politico.com Nightly
www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Schrödinger’s Government Shutdown - KFF Health News Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of t...

new #WTHealth up! @laurenweberhp.bsky.social, @annaedney.bsky.social, @joannekenen.bsky.social and I on shutdown latest, another Rx deal for Trump, and layoffs at HHS. Plus @louisenorris.bsky.social on Medicare Open Enrollment for 2026.
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

Haven't been on social media much today so perhaps this has been said 100 times over but -wouldn't it be interesting to see @jimmykimmel.com have Ted Cruz on .. As I tell my students, there's a reason it's the FIRST Amendment.

Ousted CDC Officials Clap Back at RFK Jr. - KFF Health News The recently fired head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told senators that health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered her to fire top officials and agree to approve changes to na...

on this week's #WTHealth podcast: @sangerkatz.bsky.social, @alicemiranda.bsky.social, and @joannekenen.bsky.social on the CDC hearing, shutdown countdown, and more. Plus an interview with Troyen Brennan on his new book on primary care: kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

"A full year before anyone casts their vote in November 2026 — meaning now, in the fall of 2025 — the American health care system will begin transitioning from an era of unprecedented expansion of coverage to an era of unprecedented cutbacks." Via @politico.com @joannekenen.bsky.social

Why Voters Will Feel the Impact of GOP Health Cuts Before the Midterms The fallout from Trump’s megabill is likely to hit the public sooner than he thinks.

Wrote this.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Surgeon General Nominee Pledges to Divest From Wellness Interests

Tobacco stocks? Really? (yes she's promising to divest and yes she says her husband bought them but.. Wellness?)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/h...

How the vaccine policy debate went off the rails

"With her steady demeanor, Monarez served as the poised yin to Kennedy’s agitated yang at a similar hearing before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month — the one where he called her a liar, among other things."
www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Offit Out at FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee After HHS Rebuff Paul Offit, longtime member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee and an outspoken critic of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was recently informed by the Department of Health and Human Servi...

"Paul Offit, longtime member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee and an outspoken critic of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was recently informed by the Department of Health and Human Services that his services are no longer required."
www.biospace.com/fda/offit-ou...

Trump’s BLS nominee discussed controversial theory on gender IQ with interns Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, discussed a controversial scientific theory on gender IQ differences with Heritage interns.

Not sure I'm really smart enough to understand this since I have a Girl Brain.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

A friend was rejoicing in new rule by Chicago Manual of Style regarding colons and was hoping for a rally around the Oxford Comma. Told her not to worry, it's probably going to become the Trump Comma.

"Austin American-Statesman seeks an Elon Musk reporter"
Stumbled across this while looking for something utterlly unrelated. Hope it doesn't mean he's also becoming a pop superstar.

Proposed NASA Cuts Could Affect Public Health Research From space, NASA collects data that’s crucial for public health. Potential cuts could threaten that work.

NASA isn't a public health agency - but as I wrote for @undark.org it sort of is! It collects and shares huge amounts of data onclimate and environment. Cholera, Asthma, Lyme, even dementia and Preterm Birth-- Naturally it's all in jeopardy now because of Trump's budget. undark.org/2025/08/18/n...

Day 3 !

Vacation. And this is before family member # 14 had arrived. No one has needed stitches yet!

Health secretary RFK Jr. shuts door on U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news that RFK Jr. has shut the door in U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research.

Pandemic preparedness in the US has been leveled a crippling blow with the cancellation of multiple #BARDA contracts to help develop mRNA vaccines. No other vaccine platform produces vaccine so quickly; without mRNA, Americans will have a long wait for pandemic vax. www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/m...

Trump Administration Live Updates: R.F.K. Jr. Cancels mRNA Vaccine Contracts

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...

Deep Staff Cuts at a Little-Known Federal Agency Pose Trouble for Droves of Local Health Programs - KFF Health News The workforce of a federal agency that oversees billions in grants for primary health care, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health services, and workforce training has been slashed, sparking fears of wha...

Deep Staff Cuts at a Little-Known Federal Agency Pose Trouble for Droves of Local Health Programs - KFF Health News | CBS News kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Next on Kennedy’s List? Preventive Care and Vaccine Harm - KFF Health News Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, is eyeing an overhaul of two more key entities as part of his ongoing effort to reshape health policy. And President Donald Trump sig...

Latest "What the Health" podcast, we talked preventive care, vaccines, homelessness -- and will dental floss someday replace needes for vaccination? (that's still a Big Fat Maybe) @julierovner.bsky.social @annaedney.bsky.social @shefali.bsky.social and me. kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...

The Criminal Enterprise Run by Monkeys A cabal of furry thieves snatch iPhones and other valuables from visitors to a temple in Bali–and trade them for mangos

Monkeys are stealing valuables (including phones) from tourists in Bali and swapping them for mangoes. Story, alas, is behind paywall but you get the drift. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/mo...