Latest KFF Health News Stories
Try This When Your Doctor Says ‘Yes’ to a Preventive Test but Insurance Says ‘No’
A joint project of NPR and KFF Health News, Health Care Helpline helps you navigate the health system hurdles between you and good care. Send us your tricky questions, and we may tap a policy sleuth to puzzle them out. Here is what to do if your preventive care gets denied.
How Older People Are Reaping Brain Benefits From New Tech
Overuse of digital gadgets harms teenagers, research suggests. But ubiquitous technology may be helping older Americans stay sharp.
Planned Parenthood Bets on Redistricting To Push Back Against GOP Funding Cuts
Alarmed at Republicans’ deep cuts to health care and restrictions on reproductive rights, advocates are supporting California’s effort to counter a middecade gerrymander by the Texas GOP to pad their party’s fragile U.S. House majority.
Optum Rx Invokes Open Meetings Law To Fight Kentucky Counties on Opioid Suits
In a Goliath-versus-David fight, UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, has filed lawsuits in five counties to stop them from including the company in national opioid litigation.
Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Strategy Risks Forcing Shots Off Market, Manufacturers Warn
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is targeting the government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, without which manufacturers might cease producing shots.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
The “KFF Health News Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week.
The National Suicide Hotline For LGBTQ+ Youth Went Dead. States Are Scrambling To Help.
LGBTQ+ youth lost dedicated support on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in July at a critical time. Advocates say mental health issues are rising in that population amid hostility from the Trump administration.
Guns, Race, and Profit: The Pain of America’s Other Epidemic
Firearm violence is killing Americans at the scale of a public health epidemic. The suffering is concentrated in Black neighborhoods damaged by segregation, disinvestment, hate crimes, and other forms of racial discrimination.
Ya llega la temporada de gripe. ¿Deberías vacunarte? ¿Lo cubrirá el seguro?
El Secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quien se ha opuesto a las vacunas, coincidió en que la mayoría de las personas deben vacunarse contra la gripe.
It’s Almost Flu Season. Should You Still Get a Shot, and Will Insurance Cover It?
Doctors and public health leaders, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommend that most people 6 months old and older get the 2025-26 flu vaccine — and it’s still covered by most insurance plans.
Health Care Groups Aim To Counter Growing ‘National Scandal’ of Elder Homelessness
The housing crisis is requiring creative scrambling and new partnerships from health care organizations to keep older patients out of expensive nursing homes as homelessness grows.
CDC Staff Tell Journalist They Felt Targeted Even Before Atlanta Campus Shooting
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Reduced ACA Subsidies May Make It Harder for Young Adults To Afford Coverage
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Recortes a Medicaid impactarían muy fuerte en esta comunidad rural de Colorado
La región es una de las más pobres del estado. En el condado de Alamosa, 2 de cada 5 residentes están inscritos en Health First Colorado, el programa estatal de Medicaid.
Breaking Down Why Medicare Part D Premiums Are Likely To Go Up
Insurers will take drug costs, frequency of use, and other factors into account as they set premium amounts for the 2026 plan year.
Maryland Taps Affordable Care Act Fund To Help Pay for Abortion Care
The state is using an old source of funding to pay for a new money crunch: assisting out-of-state patients with the costs associated with abortion.
Cuidado con los “datos alternativos”, no deben ser un motivo para dejar de vacunarse
La deficiente comunicación científica del gobierno y los que diseminan información errónea en internet han abonado el terreno para que los datos alternativos crezcan como la mala hierba.
‘A Fear Pandemic’: Immigration Raids Push Patients Into Telehealth
With intensified immigration enforcement in California, community clinics serving Latino and immigrant populations say they’ve noticed an increase in appointment cancellations and telehealth usage. But, as the covid-19 pandemic showed, accessing the necessary technology can be a challenge and virtual appointments can take a person’s health care only so far.
‘Alternative Facts’ Aren’t a Reason To Skip Vaccines
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to defund mRNA research is just the latest to put ideology above public health.
Pandemia de miedo: redadas de inmigración empujan a pacientes a la telemedicina
Los pacientes que necesitan atención médica tienen cada vez más miedo de buscarla después que Trump derogara una política de la era Biden que prohibía redadas en zonas “sensibles” como escuelas, iglesias y hospitales.
