Latest KFF Health News Stories
Rural Patients Face Tough Choices When Their Hospitals Stop Delivering Babies
More than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies since 2021, including a South Dakota hospital that serves small towns, farming communities, and a Native American reservation. Patients there now travel at least an hour to give birth.
Los hospitales que atienden partos en zonas rurales están cada vez más lejos de las embarazadas
Más de un centenar de hospitales rurales han dejado de atender partos desde 2021, según el Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. El cierre de los servicios de obstetricia se suele achacar a la falta de personal y la falta de presupuesto.
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.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP Tries To Cut Billions in Health Benefits
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade — mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn’t take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, 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’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
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.
Alabama Can’t Prosecute Groups Helping Patients Get Abortions Elsewhere, Judge Rules
Although most abortions remain illegal in Alabama, a judge’s decision in early April allows doctors and advocacy groups to tell patients about abortion options in other states, and help with travel and other costs.
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.
Con el fin de las becas de diversidad, jóvenes científicos temen por el futuro de sus carreras
Adelaide Tovar, científica de la Universidad de Michigan que investiga genes relacionados con la diabetes, solía sentirse como una impostora en el laboratorio. Tovar, de 32 años, creció en la pobreza y fue la primera de su familia en graduarse de la secundaria. Durante su primer año en la universidad, se dio cuenta de que […]
Moms in Crisis, Jobs Lost: The Human Cost of Trump’s Addiction Funding Cuts
In many cases, the money flowed to addiction recovery programs that help rebuild lives by driving people to medical appointments and court hearings, crafting résumés and training them for new jobs, finding them housing, and helping them build social connections unrelated to drugs.
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.
El costo humano de los recortes de Trump a los programas de tratamiento de adicciones
Las personas en recuperación no saben de recortes y crisis políticas. Ellos, y sus mentores, quieren esperanza y una vida mejor.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Dismantling of HHS
A week into the reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services announced by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the scope of the staff cuts and program cutbacks is starting to become clear. Among the biggest targets for reductions were the nation’s premier public health agencies: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the […]
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Ax Falls at HHS
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a proposed reorganization for the department — which, counting those who already have left the agency, amounts to about a 25% cut in its workforce. And its planned “Administration for a Healthy America” will collapse several existing HHS agencies into one. Meanwhile, the department continues to cut billions in health spending while the nation faces measles outbreaks in several states and the continuing possibility of another pandemic, such as bird flu. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss the news.
Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections in California, But Newsom Could Balk
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The State of Federal Health Agencies Is Uncertain
The Supreme Court opined for the first time that Trump administration officials may be exceeding their authority to reshape the federal government by refusing to honor completed contracts, even as lower-court judges started blocking efforts to fire workers, freeze funding, and cancel ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, public health officials are alarmed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ public handling of Texas’ widening measles outbreak, particularly the secretary’s less-than-full endorsement of vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Stephanie Armour of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Future of Cancer Coverage for Women Federal Firefighters Uncertain Under Trump
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Labor Department added ovarian, uterine, cervical, and breast cancer coverage for wildland firefighters. It’s unclear whether the new protections will stick under Trump.
Qué es el Proyecto 2025, una hoja de ruta para las medidas de salud de Trump
La rápida adopción de muchos de los objetivos del Proyecto 2025 indica que los seguidores de Trump han planeado durante años acciones sobre el sistema nacional de salud.
Trump Froze Out Project 2025 in His Campaign. Now Its Blueprint Is His Health Care Playbook.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump distanced himself from the conservative governing plan after Democratic attacks. But now it’s increasingly viewed as a blueprint for his administration’s plans for federal health programs.
