Medicaid and the Uninsured: Oct. 30, 2024

For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises the Stakes

Kim Krisberg, Public Health Watch and Stephanie Colombini, WUSF

Medications such as methadone can cut the risk of a fatal opioid overdose in half. Medicaid covers the medication. But as state Medicaid programs reevaluated coverage of each enrollee following a pause in disenrollments during the covid-19 pandemic, some patients lost a crucial pillar of their sobriety.

Vance Wrongly Blames Rural Hospital Closures on Immigrants in the Country Illegally

Sam Whitehead

Experts disputed the claim by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, noting that a range of other issues — from low reimbursement rates to declining patient use — combine to cause these facilities to shutter.

Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress.

Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam

The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.

Presidential Election Puts Affordable Care Act Back in the Bull’s-Eye

Stephanie Armour

The outcome of the upcoming presidential election could affect the number of insured Americans, the fate of premium-reducing subsidies, the shape of Medicaid, and the cost of coverage for tens of millions of people.

California Continues Progressive Policies, With Restraint, in Divisive Election Year

Don Thompson

This legislative cycle, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills affirming reproductive rights and mandating insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, but the Democrat was reluctant to impose new regulations and frequently cited costs for vetoing bills.

LIVE From KFF: Health Care and the 2024 Election

The Affordable Care Act has not been a major issue in the 2024 campaign, but abortion and reproductive rights have been front and center. Those are just two of the dozens of health issues that could be profoundly affected by who is elected president and which party controls Congress in 2025. In this special live episode, Tamara Keith of NPR, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Cynthia Cox and Ashley Kirzinger of KFF join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss how health policy has affected the campaign and how the election results might affect health policy. Plus, the panel answers questions from the live audience.

Patients Are Relying on Lyft, Uber To Travel Far Distances to Medical Care

Michael Scaturro

Uber and Lyft have become a critical part of the nation’s infrastructure for transporting ailing people from their homes — even in rural areas — to medical care sites in major cities such as Atlanta.

Montana Looks To Fast-Track Medicaid Access for Older Applicants

Katheryn Houghton

As Montana’s population ages, providers serving low-income seniors say more people aren’t getting the care they need as they wait to get on Medicaid. Montana lawmakers are considering creating a shortcut to that care.

The Health of the Campaign

The 2024 presidential race is taking on a familiar tone — with Democrats accusing Republicans of wanting to ban abortion and repeal the Affordable Care Act and Republicans insisting they have no such plans. Voters will determine whom they believe. Meanwhile, for the second time in a month, a state judge overturned an abortion ban, but few expect the decision to settle the matter. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post “Bill of the Month,” about a teenage athlete whose needed surgery lacked a billing code.

Journalists Weigh In on Racial Trauma, Medicaid Expansion, and Opioid Settlements

KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

‘Dreamers’ Can Enroll in ACA Plans This Year — But a Court Challenge Could Get in the Way

Julie Appleby

Nineteen states are seeking to stall a Biden administration rule that would allow recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in ACA coverage and qualify for subsidies. DACA provides work authorization and temporary deportation protection to people brought to the U.S. as children without immigration paperwork.