Anti-vaccine lawsuit's lead plaintiff charged with murder; 25 states sue over Medicaid work rules; ACA premiums set to climb again in 2027 — Morning Medical Update Weekly Recap

Anti-vaccine lawsuit's lead plaintiff charged with murder

The nonprofit co-founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is standing by the woman it made the face of its case against the American Academy of Pediatrics, even after a murder indictment.

Andrea Renee Shaw, 23, of Payette, Idaho, was indicted last week on charges of murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins, whom a grand jury alleges she suffocated.

Shaw had previously attributed their deaths to allergic reactions the children had to the Hepatitis A, flu and DTaP vaccines they had received eight days earlier. Three days after they died in May 2025 she described that account in an interview with Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit co-founded by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The group named her the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the American Academy of Pediatrics of racketeering over its vaccine-safety guidance; the academy has asked the court to dismiss the case, calling it an abuse of the legal system.

Shaw has not been convicted and denies harming the children, and her attorney has said he will argue the vaccines caused the deaths. Vaccine experts, including Baylor College of Medicine's Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., say there is no known way a vaccine causes suffocation. Children's Health Defense has said it stands by its position that the vaccines killed the twins.

The New York Times has more on this story.

States sue over Medicaid work requirements rule

A coalition of 25 states and Washington, D.C. says CMS narrowed the law's “medically frail” exemption beyond what Congress wrote, putting sick enrollees at risk months before the requirement takes effect.

A coalition of 25 states and Washington, D.C. filed suit June 29 in federal court to block a CMS interim final rule implementing Medicaid work requirements, which were created by last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Beginning January 1, 2027, adults ages 19 to 64 in the Medicaid expansion population must work, volunteer or attend school at least 80 hours a month to keep coverage. Congress exempted people who are “medically frail,” but the June rule requires that an enrollee's condition also “significantly impairs” their ability to meet the requirement — a standard the states say exceeds the statute and breaks from earlier CMS guidance.

They argue it puts patients with cancer, diabetes, HIV and serious mental illness at risk of losing coverage over paperwork. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the work requirement will leave about 5.3 million more people uninsured while saving the federal government $326 billion over a decade. The states are asking the court to pause the rule by July 31.

ACA insurers propose another double-digit premium increase for 2027

A KFF analysis of early rate filings finds a typical increase of about 14%, which would push marketplace premiums up more than a third over two years.

Insurers selling Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage are proposing a median premium increase of about 14% for 2027, according to a KFF analysis of early rate filings from 77 insurers in 16 states and Washington, D.C. It would mark a second consecutive year of double-digit increases; if the rates hold, typical premiums would rise more than a third between 2025 and 2027. Proposed changes range from 1% to 52%, and none of the insurers reviewed sought to lower premiums. Insurers cite rising costs for hospital care, physician visits and prescription drugs, including GLP-1s, along with the expiration at the end of 2025 of the enhanced premium tax credits.

Most enrollees remain cushioned by subsidies, but those earning more than four times the federal poverty level lost that assistance and face the full increase. KFF cites a 40-year-old in Indianapolis earning $65,000 whose monthly premium would climb from about $316 in 2025 to $546 in 2027 if approved, a 41% jump. Read the full story.