Latest News On Biden Administration

Latest KFF Health News Stories

End of Internet Subsidy Leaves Millions Facing Telehealth Disconnect

KFF Health News Original

When the clock struck midnight on May 31, more than 23 million low-income households were dropped from a federal internet subsidy program that for years had helped them get connected. The Affordable Connectivity Program was created in 2021, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, to help people plug into jobs, schools and health care by reducing their internet […]

Biden Plan To Save Medicare Patients Money on Drugs Risks Empty Shelves, Pharmacists Say

KFF Health News Original

President Joe Biden is campaigning for reelection on his efforts to cut costs for Medicare patients at the pharmacy counter. But independent pharmacists say one strategy makes it unaffordable for them to keep some brand-name medicines in stock.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nursing Home Staffing Rules Prompt Pushback

Podcast

The nursing home industry — as well as a healthy number of Congress members — are all pushing back on the Biden administration’s new rules on nursing home staffing. Industry officials say that there are not enough workers to meet the requirements and that the costs would be prohibitive. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to force Republicans to explain their exact positions on assuring access to contraceptives and in vitro fertilization. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a free cruise that turned out to be anything but.

Biden Wants Hospitals To Report Data on Gunshot Wounds

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration is enlisting America’s doctors to help combat gun violence. About 160 health-care executives and officials have been invited to the White House today and Friday to promote public health solutions to the epidemic. A top priority, I’m told: The White House wants hospital emergency departments to collect more data about gunshot injuries […]

White House Enlists Doctors and Hospitals To Combat Gun Violence

KFF Health News Original

As Congress remains deadlocked on gun policy, the Biden administration is calling on hospital leaders and doctors to gather more data about gunshot injuries and deaths and step up their violence prevention work.

Watch: Anthony Fauci Defends Feds’ Covid Response, Calling Lawmakers’ Accusations ‘Preposterous’

KFF Health News Original

At a June 3 congressional hearing that underscored the nation’s deep political divide over the coronavirus pandemic response, the longtime National Institutes of Health official addressed the agency’s controversies head-on.

Presidential Election Could Decide Fate of Extra Obamacare Subsidies

KFF Health News Original

Most states that saw enrollment in the Obamacare marketplace double from 2020 to 2024 are in the South. But the enhanced federal subsidies that attracted people with $0 premiums and low out-of-pocket costs will expire next year.

Exclusive: Senator Urges Biden Administration To Thwart Fraudulent Obamacare Enrollments

KFF Health News Original

With tens of thousands of Americans already affected by enrollment scams that leave some without doctors or treatments, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden wants increased enforcement against rogue agents or other perpetrators and legislation to allow for criminal penalties.

Biden’s Nursing Home Staffing Rule Surfaces Horror Stories

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration’s plan to set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes prompted comments from more than 46,500 people and organizations — including residents of homes and nurses with harrowing stories about conditions inside. Hundreds of comments like these cemented the resolve of officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last month to […]

Biden Team’s Tightrope: Reining In Rogue Obamacare Agents Without Slowing Enrollment

KFF Health News Original

Federal regulators face a growing challenge — how to prevent rogue health insurance agents from switching unknowing consumers’ Obamacare coverage without making the enrollment process so cumbersome that enrollment declines.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion Access Changing Again in Florida and Arizona

Podcast

A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this week, dramatically restricting access to the procedure not just in the nation’s third-most-populous state but across the South. Patients from states with even more restrictive bans had been flooding in since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Meanwhile, the CEO of the health behemoth UnitedHealth Group appeared before committees in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers grilled him about the February cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare and how its ramifications are being felt months later. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

AC, Power Banks, Mini Fridges: Oregon Equips Medicaid Patients for Climate Change

KFF Health News Original

Oregon is giving Medicaid patients air conditioners and other equipment to help them cope with soaring heat, smoky skies, and other dangers of climate change. Oregon health officials hope to show other states and the federal government that they can save lives and money.

Whatever Happened to Biden’s Public Option?

KFF Health News Original

In the 2020 elections, then-candidate Joe Biden and many of his congressional colleagues loudly advocated for a federal “public option” health insurance plan. It was framed, at the time, as part of his incoming administration’s response to the pandemic. “Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost to them, though […]

Biden’s Election-Year Play to Further Expand Obamacare

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration wants to make it easier for Americans to get dental care. But don’t try booking an appointment just yet. A new regulation out this month allows states to include adult dental care as a benefit that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. Following record ACA enrollment this year, the proposal represents an […]

Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don’t Meet Them.

KFF Health News Original

The staffing regulation was disparaged by the industry as unattainable. Patient advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Labor unions welcomed the requirement.

Becerra Joins the Fray Over Reproductive Rights

KFF Health News Original

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is racking up frequent-flier miles as he hopscotches the country to highlight health issues the White House hopes will become pivotal for voters this year — none more so than reproductive rights.  “No woman today should fear [not having] access to the care that she needs. President Biden […]