Rural Dispatch: October 28, 2025
Trump Called Digital Equity Act ‘Racist.’ Now Internet Money for Rural Americans Is Gone.
Sarah Jane Tribble
President Donald Trump called the Digital Equity Act unconstitutional, racist, and illegal. Then the $2.75 billion program for rural and underserved communities to gain internet access disappeared.
Officials Show Little Proof That New Tech Will Help Medicaid Enrollees Meet Work Rules
Rae Ellen Bichell and Sam Whitehead
The Trump administration says it’s developing a digital tool to help people prove they’re meeting new Medicaid work requirements. KFF Health News talked to officials from the two states running pilot programs and found little evidence of new — or effective — technology.
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Chemtrail? New Conspiracy Theory Takes Wing at Kennedy’s HHS
Stephanie Armour
The idea that airplane vapors are toxic to people or that there are ongoing efforts to intentionally change the climate made the social media rounds. Now, it has found advocates at the Department of Health and Human Services.
RFK Jr. Misses Mark in Touting Rural Health Transformation Fund as Historic Infusion of Cash
Arielle Zionts
The health secretary’s statement doesn’t consider the impact that the Medicaid cuts advanced in the same law will have on health care in rural America.
‘Demon Copperhead’ Author Lays Foundation for Women in Appalachia To Beat Addiction
Taylor Sisk
Barbara Kingsolver won a Pulitzer Prize for her bestselling novel about Appalachia’s drug crisis. She invested some of the proceeds into a home for women trying to beat substance use disorders.
At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.
Holly K. Hacker and Brett Kelman and Daniel Chang and Hannah Norman and Lydia Zuraw
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.
Nuclear Missile Workers Are Contracting Cancer. They Blame the Bases.
Patricia Kime
People who maintained the nation’s land-based nuclear missile arsenal are coming down with similar cancers. The Air Force is wrapping up a large study of the health risks they may have faced.
Workers’ Wages Siphoned To Pay Medical Bills, Despite Consumer Protections
Rae Ellen Bichell
Health care providers and debt collectors are biting from people’s paychecks to cover old medical bills. A KFF Health News investigation in Colorado shows that this aggressive collection practice is widespread even in a state considered to have strong consumer protections.
This Geriatrics Training Program Escaped the Ax. For Now.
Paula Span
The Trump administration has restored promised funds to a program that teaches people in health care how to work with aging Americans.
California’s Nursing Shortage Is Getting Worse. Front-Line Workers Blame Management.
Angela Hart
California’s nursing shortage is projected to worsen, and hospitals say funding cuts will only add strain. But front-line nurses blame heavy workloads, not a shortage, for driving workers away.
Cops on Ketamine? Largely Unregulated Mental Health Treatment Faces Hurdles
Katja Ridderbusch
Ketamine, long used as an anesthetic or illegal party drug, is being combined with psychotherapy to treat severe depression and post-traumatic stress — a potential tool for those with high trauma rates, like firefighters and police officers. Yet the drug’s stigma and unregulated marketplace leave first responders in uncharted territory.
Journalists Dig Into Government Shutdown and Rural Doctor Drought
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
States Jostle Over $50B Rural Health Fund as Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Trigger Scramble
Sarah Jane Tribble
States are battling for their piece of $50 billion in federal rural health funding, but it’s not just hospitals vying for the money. Tech startups and policy demands are raising the stakes as Medicaid cuts loom.