The Week in Brief: Friday, Aug. 15, 2025
Why Young Americans Dread Turning 26: Health Insurance Chaos
By Elisabeth Rosenthal and Hannah Norman
Young adults without jobs that provide insurance find their options are limited and expensive. The problem is about to get worse.
A Guide To Finding Insurance at 26
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
It’s a difficult rite of passage for young adults without job-based insurance. Here are some tips for getting started.
Considering a Life Change? Brace for Higher ACA Costs
By Julie Appleby
Consumers contemplating an early retirement or starting a business should calculate how Trump administration and congressional policy changes could increase their health insurance costs — and plan accordingly.
Breaking Down Why Medicare Part D Premiums Are Likely To Go Up
By Julie Appleby
Insurers will take drug costs, frequency of use, and other factors into account as they set premium amounts for the 2026 plan year.
A Wild Health Insurance Hustle
By Dan Weissmann
A couple in New York thought they bought insurance. Instead, they got fake “jobs.”
Inside the CDC, Shooting Adds to Trauma as Workers Describe Projects, Careers in Limbo
By Andy Miller, Healthbeat and Rebecca Grapevine, Healthbeat
Fired-then-reinstated workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worry about the future of public health amid proposed agency downsizing.
Trump Further Politicizes Science
President Donald Trump’s latest executive order about science and medicine seeks to take funding decisions out of the hands of career scientists and give them to political appointees instead. And a gunman, reportedly disgruntled over covid vaccines, shoots at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a law enforcement officer. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Aaron Carroll, president and CEO of the health services research group AcademyHealth, about how to restore the public’s trust in public health.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
The "KFF Health News Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week.
Medicaid Cuts Could Have Vast Ripple Effects in This Rural Colorado Community
By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio
In rural Colorado and across rural America, Medicaid is a lifeline, especially for people who wouldn’t otherwise have easy access to health care. That includes low-income seniors who need supplemental coverage in addition to Medicare, and people of all ages with disabilities.
Experts Say Rural Emergency Rooms Are Increasingly Run Without Doctors
By Arielle Zionts
Some doctors and the groups that represent them say physicians’ extensive training leads to better emergency care, and that some hospitals are trying to save money by not hiring them. They support new laws in Indiana, Virginia, and South Carolina that require physicians to be on-site 24/7.
‘A Fear Pandemic’: Immigration Raids Push Patients Into Telehealth
By Christine Mai-Duc
With intensified immigration enforcement in California, community clinics serving Latino and immigrant populations say they’ve noticed an increase in appointment cancellations and telehealth usage. But, as the covid-19 pandemic showed, accessing the necessary technology can be a challenge and virtual appointments can take a person’s health care only so far.
Maryland Taps Affordable Care Act Fund To Help Pay for Abortion Care
By Scott Maucione, WYPR
The state is using an old source of funding to pay for a new money crunch: assisting out-of-state patients with the costs associated with abortion.
‘Alternative Facts’ Aren’t a Reason To Skip Vaccines
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to defund mRNA research is just the latest to put ideology above public health.
Listen: Regulatory Rollbacks and Federal Layoffs Threaten America’s Food Supply
By Stephanie Armour
The Trump administration’s anti-regulatory approach and cost-cutting moves risk unraveling the system of checks and balances that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply, say consumer advocates and former employees of the FDA and Department of Agriculture.
Journalists Talk Medicaid Work Rule Logistics and Colon Cancer Increase Among Young Adults
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.