Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Batter Rural Hospital Finances, Researchers Say
Rural hospitals would take an outsize hit from Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs. Researchers say the financial erosion would trigger hospital closures and service cuts, especially in communities where large shares of patients are enrolled in Medicaid.
In a Dusty Corner of California, Trump’s Threatened Cuts to Asthma Care Raise Fears
The Trump administration wants to shutter the CDC’s National Asthma Control Program, which provides millions in funding to state-administered initiatives aimed at fighting the disease. The program’s closure, combined with massive cuts to environmental programs, could put the 28 million Americans with asthma at increased risk.
Trump Decried Crime in America, Then Gutted Funding for Gun Violence Prevention
The U.S. Department of Justice canceled $500 million in grants to public safety organizations nationwide, including some that address gun violence. A clinic in St. Louis lost a $2 million award to develop a mobile clinic, increase mental health services, and engage the community.
Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths
Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.
Republicanos buscan castigar a estados que ofrecen seguro de salud a inmigrantes sin papeles
Estos estados, la mayoría liderados por demócratas, dan seguro médico a algunos inmigrantes de bajos ingresos —a menudo niños—, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.
Republicans Aim To Punish States That Insure Unauthorized Immigrants
A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.
Trump’s Team Cited Safety in Limiting Covid Shots. Patients, Health Advocates See More Risk.
The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.
Trump Won’t Force Medicaid To Cover GLP-1s for Obesity. A Few States Are Doing It Anyway.
Late last year, South Carolina Medicaid approved a class of medications known as GLP-1s to treat obesity, placing it among the few state programs covering these effective but expensive drugs. But access remains limited, even for patients covered by Medicaid, because of stringent prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting the drug.
Housing, Nutrition in Peril as Trump Pulls Back Medicaid Social Services
About half of states have broadened Medicaid, the state-federal low-income health care program, to pay for social services such as housing and nutritional support. The Trump administration, however, views these experiments as distractions from the core mission to provide health care.
Trump retira servicios sociales de Medicaid, y pone en peligro la nutrición y la vivienda
Sin hogar ni alimentos saludables, las personas corren el riesgo de enfermarse más, quedarse sin hogar y experimentar aún más dificultades para controlar afecciones crónicas como la diabetes y las enfermedades cardíacas.
Even Where Abortion Is Still Legal, Many Brick-and-Mortar Clinics Are Closing
Some clinics that provide abortions are closing, even in states where voters have passed some of the nation’s broadest abortion protections. It’s happening in places like New York, Illinois, and Michigan, as reproductive health care faces new financial pressures.
Mental Health and Substance Misuse Treatment Is Increasingly a Video Chat or Phone Call Away
More Californians are getting mental health or substance use disorder treatment online or over the phone than in person, according to a KFF Health News analysis of UCLA’s latest California Health Interview Survey. But the telehealth experience isn’t always positive.
After Promising Universal Health Care, California Governor Must Reconsider Immigrant Coverage
Gov. Gavin Newsom was elected to office in 2019 on a promise of universal health care. He dramatically expanded coverage, but after six years, the Democrat is forced to contemplate deep cuts — including to the nation’s largest health care expansion to immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
Honey, Sweetie, Dearie: The Perils of Elderspeak
A new training program teaches workers to stop the baby talk and address older people as adults.
Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
Despite Historic Indictment, Doctors Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills Across State Lines
When a New York physician was indicted for shipping abortion medications to a woman in Louisiana, it stoked fear across the network of doctors and medical clinics who engage in similar work. But some physicians vowed not to stop.
California’s Primary Care Shortage Persists Despite Ambitious Moves To Close Gap
The state has in recent years embraced several initiatives recommended in an influential health care workforce report, including alternative payment arrangements for primary care doctors to earn more. Despite increasing residency programs, student debt forgiveness, and tuition-free medical school, California is unlikely to meet patient demand, observers say.
Trump Restores Title X Funding for Two Anti-Abortion States — While Wiping It Out Elsewhere
The Biden administration shut off federal family planning grants to Tennessee and Oklahoma after the states directed clinics not to provide abortion counseling. The Trump administration restored the money, claiming two lawsuits were settled. They weren’t.
As a Diversity Grant Dies, Young Scientists Fear It Will Haunt Their Careers
The Trump administration defunded the National Institutes of Health’s MOSAIC grant program, which launched the careers of scientists from diverse backgrounds.
What ‘Fertilization President’ Trump Can Learn From State Efforts To Expand IVF Access
State-level efforts to regulate fertility coverage reveal the gauntlet of budgetary and political hurdles such initiatives face — obstacles that have led to millions of people being left out even when mandates become law.
