Latest KFF Health News Content

Latest KFF Health News Stories

What Might Be Next After Medicaid Work Mandates? Lifetime Limits On Adults Access To Coverage

Morning Briefing

At least five states — Arizona, Kansas, Utah, Maine and Wisconsin — are seeking waivers from the Trump administration to impose lifetime Medicaid coverage limits. Meanwhile, CMS Administrator Seema Verma calls the work requirements “true compassion.”

States Forced To Ensure ACA Plans Have Enough In-Network Physicians To Make Them Usable

Morning Briefing

The Trump administration weakened federal oversight as of the beginning of this year. The rule shifts the responsibility for monitoring and enforcing network adequacy to states. Meanwhile, a pro-Affordable Care Act group is launching an ad against Idaho’s recent move to accept health plans that don’t meet the patient protection standards of the ACA.

Trump Points To Britain’s Protest Over Health System As Proof Universal Coverage Doesn’t Work

Morning Briefing

President Donald Trump’s tweet drew immediate backfire from British officials who prize their health system that offers free coverage to millions of citizens. The push for universal coverage in America has been gaining momentum, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as one of the leading voices in the movement.

House’s Stopgap Measure Includes Funding For Community Health Centers To Woo Democrats

Morning Briefing

The short-term measure would fund community health centers for two years. The facilities help provide health-care for lower-income families, and their funding has been caught in limbo since the program expired in the fall. The House Rules Committee is expected to meet Tuesday to consider the proposal which is scheduled to be considered on the House floor later in the day.

The ‘Gesundheit Machine’ Collects Campus Cooties In Race Against A Fierce Flu

KFF Health News Original

Environmental health professor Don Milton is studying how the flu — and other dangerous infections — are spread. The close quarters of dorm rooms and cafeterias at the University of Maryland provide him with a steady supply of research subjects.

Cut In Federal Subsidies Threatens Basic Health Programs In N.Y., Minn.

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump’s decision to stop paying cost-sharing reduction subsidies means the federal government will reduce its funding of the Basic Health Program that provides low-cost coverage to more than 800,000 low-income people in those two states.

Worried About Brain Impact Of Tech? So Are Some Early Facebook, Google Employees Who Are Teaming Up

Morning Briefing

Concerned technologists are creating a coalition to address the potential health issues that social media and smartphones may cause. In other public health news: Alzheimer’s, migraines, learning disabilities, the latest research on dietary benefits, medical pot, sleep in women and a bionic hand.

As Flu Hospitalization Rates Reach Record Highs, Experts Warn Peak Of Illness Hasn’t Arrived Yet

Morning Briefing

The rates have already surpassed those of the 2014-15 season, when 710,000 Americans were hospitalized and 56,000 died. “Overall hospitalizations are now the highest we’ve seen” in nearly a decade, said Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s acting director.

On Heels Of CDC Chief’s Resignation, Two High-Ranking Lawmakers Disclose Links To Tobacco Stocks

Morning Briefing

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) report that they or their family members have traded in tobacco stocks. While executive branch employees are forbidden to work on issues in which they have a financial interest, such rules do not apply to members of Congress.