Food Stamp Work Rules Don’t Increase Employment, Researchers Say
Work requirements will encourage people who are able to work to seek and maintain jobs, proponents say. But researchers haven’t found that they lower the unemployment rate.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
1 - 20 of 101 Results
Work requirements will encourage people who are able to work to seek and maintain jobs, proponents say. But researchers haven’t found that they lower the unemployment rate.
So you’ve decided to go on a GLP-1 to lose weight. These medicines might seem like an easy way to drop unwanted pounds, but you’ll likely need to do a few other things to be successful long-term.
Amid falling birth rates and presidential approval numbers, the Department of Health and Human Services convened doctors, tech executives, and influencers to discuss women’s health. Panelists criticized reliance on birth control pills to treat health problems and encouraged doctors to talk with girls about whether they want to have babies.
A top GOP pollster has said anti-vaccine policies could create risks for the Trump administration in the midterm elections. But backing away from those policies — and other initiatives that have been high on the Make America Healthy Again to-do list — threatens to upset a key voting bloc.
“Make America Healthy Again” policies driven by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made major strides in state legislatures, with food additives among the most common targets. The trend is expected to continue this year.
Congress returned from its break facing a familiar question: whether to extend the expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that expired at the end of 2025. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a promise to Bill Cassidy, the chairman of Senate health committee, by overhauling the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule to reduce the number of diseases for which vaccines will be recommended. Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
The federal government is making sweeping changes to SNAP, the program that helped feed about 42 million people in the U.S. last year. Here’s a breakdown of the changes to come and potential impacts.
A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are demanding Republicans agree to extend ACA tax credits, but there has been little negotiating — even as customers are learning what they’ll pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can’t pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
Under the budget law that Republicans call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, food assistance for refugees will be sliced. The change is sowing fear, uncertainty, and a struggle for survival — a sign of what’s to come for millions of Americans.
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” to discuss how the government shutdown is affecting food benefits and the help many Americans get to offset their health insurance premiums.
States are taking aim at chemicals and additives in foods as Republicans and Democrats alike embrace at least one aspect of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” push. It’s a shift for Republicans, who had vilified past Democratic efforts to impose government will on what people eat and drink.
The White House and congressional Republicans have made historic changes to the federal anti-hunger program SNAP. They say the changes will boost healthy eating for low-income Americans. Some nutrition experts aren’t so sure.
In their zeal to “Make America Healthy Again,” top Trump administration officials depict patients and the doctors who treat them as partly responsible for whatever ails them.
Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well. Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in Trump’s big budget law, and polls suggest many don’t like what they see. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews historian Jonathan Oberlander to mark Medicare’s 60th anniversary.
The Trump administration has said improving American nutrition is a priority, but deep cuts to federal food assistance could lead people to forgo healthy food in favor of cheaper alternatives.
The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
Fresh studies expose a gap in the FDA’s assessments of foods: Widely used additives could damage the mix of bacteria in your gut, causing health problems.
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform has boosted the agenda of a conservative think tank that’s been working for more than a decade to reshape the nation’s public assistance programs.
Food banks nationwide are being pinched by record demand, high food prices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts. As the economy plods onto shaky ground, food bank leaders hope Congress patches the holes by passing a new farm bill.
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
© 2026 KFF