Latest KFF Health News Stories
As Health Companies Get Bigger, So Do the Bills. It’s Unclear if Trump’s Team Will Intervene.
As health systems, doctor groups, and insurers merge into ever-bigger giants, patient care gets more expensive. Yet the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about its willingness to intervene — and shown some disdain for Biden officials’ more aggressive approach.
Shutdown Has Highlighted Washington’s Retreat From Big Ideas on Health Care
As voters feel financial pressure from runaway health care costs and crave innovations that would provide relief, the standoff in Congress has been firmly rooted in the status quo — keeping an existing provision of the Affordable Care Act alive.
Concerns Over Fairness, Access Rise as States Compete for Slice of $50B Rural Health Fund
Amid public forums and local cries for help, states are also talking with large health systems, technology companies, and others amid intensifying competition for shares of a $50 billion fund to improve rural health.
White House Calls This 9/11-Era Fund ‘Wasteful.’ Red and Blue States Rely on It.
States from California to Texas say they rely on tens of millions in federal funding to help them prepare for the next pandemic, cyberattack, or mass-casualty catastrophe. The Trump administration wants to cut it.
Trump’s HHS Orders State Medicaid Programs To Help Find Undocumented Immigrants
Federal health authorities have taken the “unprecedented” step of instructing states to investigate certain individuals on Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they’ve received more than 170,000 names collectively.
Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers’ Credit Scores From Medical Debt
Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.
Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage
Health care professionals fear that new caps on federal student lending, set to start in July, will put medical school out of reach for many who want to become doctors and exacerbate physician shortages. Others say unlimited federal lending has fed a rise in academic costs, saddling families and, ultimately, taxpayers with debt.
‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Citizen Lobbyists Unite To Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics
Despite a poisonous political climate, hundreds of volunteer advocates put partisan differences aside and pressed Congress to help people with cancer.
Receloso del secretario de Salud, RFK Jr., Colorado comenzó a renovar sus políticas de vacunación
Cuatro estados del oeste —California, Hawaii, Oregon y Washington— han formado una alianza para proteger el acceso a las vacunas. Varios estados del noreste han tomado medidas similares.
Wary of RFK Jr., Colorado Started Revamping Its Vaccine Policies in the Spring
Amid concerns that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is undermining trust in vaccines and public health science, some states are seeking new sources of scientific consensus and changing how they regulate insurance companies, prescribers, and pharmacists. Colorado has been at the front of this wave.
At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.
As a warming climate intensifies storms, KFF Health News has identified more than 170 U.S. hospitals at risk of significant and potentially dangerous flooding. Climate experts warn that the Trump administration’s cuts leave the nation less prepared.
Doctors With Troubled Pasts Are Performing Cosmetic Surgeries Tied to Crippling Pain and Injury
Some injured patients say they wish they had tried harder to check the backgrounds of doctors and clinics they trusted, but those records are hard to find.
Where Jobs Are Scarce, Over 1 Million People Could Dodge Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules
Under a new law, many Americans will have to meet a work requirement to obtain and keep their Medicaid coverage. But due to an exemption, millions living in areas of high unemployment could be spared.
Batalla para proteger a los pacientes de deudas médicas se traslada a los estados
A pesar de algunos avances este año, los recientes reveses en las legislaturas más conservadoras dejan claro lo difícil que es proteger a los pacientes.
As Trump Punts on Medical Debt, Battle Over Patient Protections Moves to States
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
Amid Confusion Over US Vaccine Recommendations, States Try To ‘Restore Trust’
The decisions by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices matter, because insurers and federal programs rely on them, but they are not binding. States can follow the recommendations, or not.
As the Trump Administration and States Push Health Data Sharing, Familiar Challenges Surface
Despite billions of tax dollars and two decades of effort invested in improving health care data sharing, Americans’ medical records often remain siloed, leading to duplicate testing, increased costs, and wasted time for patients and doctors.
Luego de los recortes de Trump a la salud, estados enfrentan decisiones presupuestarias difíciles
En conjunto, estas reducciones representan un cambio radical en la forma en que se financian y se ofrecen los programas estatales de salud.
In the Fallout From Trump’s Health Funding Cuts, States Face Tough Budget Decisions
The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.
In a survey by the National Funeral Directors Association, more than 60% of respondents said they would be interested in exploring green and natural burial alternatives.
