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America’s Best Children’s Hospitals 2025

The Children’s Hospital Association’s 2023 Industry Impact Report underlines the significant role of children’s hospitals in not just delivering advanced pediatric care but also pioneering research and tackling social health barriers in their communities. To assist families in finding top-tier pediatric care, Newsweek and Statista’s 2025 ranking lists America’s Best Children’s Hospitals, based on comprehensive data sources such as professional recommendations, hospital quality metrics, and patient satisfaction scores. This ranking serves as a reliable guide for choosing the best children’s hospitals across various specialties while emphasizing the importance of continuously using multiple resources and personal visits to make informed decisions.

COVID vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, Kennedy says

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial decision to remove COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, bypassing established scientific review processes, has sparked confusion and concern among public health experts, suggesting a potential shift toward more selective vaccination strategies despite risks highlighted by medical research. The move raises questions about future vaccine accessibility and insurance coverage, while underscoring tensions between political decisions and scientific guidance in public health policy.

If Medicaid gets cut, what happens to its patients?

As Congress considers slashing hundreds of billions from Medicaid, experts warn that such cuts will strip access to life-saving mental health treatments and lead to more deaths by delayed disease diagnosis, all while putting an unprecedented strain on hospitals. It’s crucial for decision-makers to weigh the devastating human cost linked to removing millions from their health insurance safety net.

In just 100 days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dismantled HHS and reshaped it in the image of ‘MAHA’

In his first 100 days as HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., backed by President Trump, has swiftly shifted the department’s focus by targeting vaccine skepticism, clashing with established health professionals, and advocating for controversial changes in public health policy, such as the reduction of food additives and questioning the safety of antidepressants and vaccines. While some praise his aggressive nutrition reforms, many public health experts are alarmed by his approach, citing the potential for public confusion and increased health risks due to his dissemination of mixed and often misleading health messages.

N.C. House budget reduces HHS positions, tweaks Medicaid funding

In North Carolina, a contentious budget plan from the House suggests cuts in vacant health department positions, the removal of Medicaid coverage for certain weight-loss drugs, and a dial-back on a praised Medicaid pilot program, bringing social and economic challenges to the forefront. While both the House and the Senate agree on boosting teacher salaries and reducing child care costs for families, the tension lies in funding allocations for health services, including mental health and a new proposed children’s hospital, highlighting the tug-of-war between fiscal responsibility and social investment.

The CDC now says healthy kids don’t need COVID shots. Is that true?

In a surprising policy shift, the CDC, as announced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will no longer recommend routine COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children and pregnant women, citing insufficient data to support their necessity despite ongoing debates about the risks of COVID-19 for these populations. This change continues to spark conversations among medical experts and parents weighing the vaccine’s protective benefits, particularly against severe illness and long COVID, against low risks of complications and the natural immunity children may already have from previous infections.

The GOP’s Medicaid “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse” Lie

The One Big Beautiful Bill is stirring controversy as it proposes significant cuts to Medicaid, potentially stripping health insurance from 7.7 million people, including vulnerable populations like able-bodied workers without documented work requirements and those losing expanded health coverage tax credits. The bill is critiqued for misrepresenting the impact of its Medicaid cuts by conflating undocumented immigrants with fraud while risking the coverage of working-class citizens, a move likened to a bait-and-switch that recalls past political promises on healthcare accessibility.

Tulsi Gabbard grows to become Donald Trump’s most dangerous attack dog

In a troubling twist, Tulsi Gabbard is fanning baseless conspiracy theories that the Biden administration labeled COVID-19 opponents as domestic terrorists, a dangerous narrative that could incite further extremist violence. Despite the FBI memo’s clear focus on organized militias exploiting pandemic disinformation for violence, Gabbard’s misleading claims serve as a distraction from Trump’s own free speech violations, potentially emboldening dangerous actors with a fictitious victim narrative.