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State leaders who scrambled to win and begin spending their first-year shares of Republicans’ five-year, $50 billion fund are in the dark about how much they’ll receive in the Rural Health Transformation Program’s second year after a federal office notified states that more time is needed to make allocations.
Hospitals nationwide are cutting intensive services for kids in critical care. Many cite too few patients, staffing shortages, and money problems. As a result, kids who need lifesaving care must travel farther. Pediatricians expect more cutbacks in the wake of federal Medicaid cuts.
In most states, people with Medicaid coverage will have to prove they’re working, volunteering, or studying starting Jan. 1. But Montana put the rules into effect early, and they’re sowing uncertainty and anxiety.
As state governments grapple with how to determine who’s sick enough to be excused from new Medicaid work requirements, some families are already struggling with what illnesses guarantee health coverage because of a disability.
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government’s list of exemptions left off homeless people.
KFF Health News is working to collect and post approved plans as more states respond to emails and public records requests for their documents.
Federal officials charged two virologists they stopped en route from an African disease outbreak with violating import rules. But scientists tell KFF Health News the inactivated samples they carried posed no threat to the public, and they characterize the arrests as part of a government harassment campaign.
The Trump administration has laid out what millions of Americans on Medicaid must do to prove they’re working or completing other activities. Health policy researchers and consumer advocates say there are some important takeaways.
Despite widespread support in polls for legalizing aid in dying, the number of people who go through with the practice remains very small.
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The state is ramping up to implement the federal work requirements six months ahead of the deadline. But Montana is one of several states already struggling to pay for health services.
Some states bar professional midwives from attending home births if they don’t have a nursing license. Their advocates say laws to allow midwife licensing would make home birth safer and more accessible, plus help address a maternity care shortage.
Several states have required their health agencies to take on another job: verifying immigration status among Medicaid recipients and reporting them to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. North Carolina is the latest to pass such a law, and experts expect more to follow.
Montana health officials say they’re seeking to add doula services to the state’s Medicaid program, reversing a previous statement that they would “not be moving forward” amid a budget shortfall.
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Some states already don’t have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees’ phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result.
Montana was on track to start reimbursing doulas, who support new and expectant parents, through Medicaid this year. But state officials halted that plan amid a budget shortfall. Other such services deemed optional under Medicaid are at risk nationwide as states brace for federal cuts.
States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund meant to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.
Some states have tried to crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of deceptive practices. But now conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to increase protections for the organizations, which work to dissuade women from abortions.
Trump administration officials say the state allows rampant fraud and have promised to investigate, blaming the “Russian, Armenian mafia” in the hospice and home health care industry. But data shows hotbeds of health care fraud throughout the country, with California outperforming most other states in recovering fraud dollars.
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