The Week in Brief: Friday, Jan. 16, 2026
States Race To Launch Rural Health Transformation Plans
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arielle Zionts and Maia Rosenfeld
Every state will receive at least $100 million annually from the federal Rural Health Transformation fund, but some scored millions more based on how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services judged the “quality” of their plans and willingness to pass policies embracing "Make America Healthy Again" initiatives.
Kaiser Permanente To Pay $556 Million in Record Medicare Advantage Fraud Settlement
By Fred Schulte
Kaiser Permanente agrees to pay $556 million to settle allegations of billing the government for conditions patients didn’t have.
How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.
By Aneri Pattani
Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.
Vaccines Are Helping Older People More Than We Knew
By Paula Span
Many shots seem to have “off-target” benefits, such as lowering the risk of dementia, studies have found.
RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Has Picked Up Steam in Statehouses. Here’s What To Expect in 2026.
By Alan Greenblatt
“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.
Millions of Americans Are Expected To Drop Their Affordable Care Act Plans. They’re Looking for a Plan B.
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
An estimated 4.8 million people are expected to go without health coverage because Congress did not extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans. But even without a health plan, people will need medical care in 2026. Many of them have been thinking through their plan B to maintain their health.
As Insurance Prices Rise, Families Puzzle Over Options
By Lynn Arditi
Millions of middle-class Americans who have Affordable Care Act marketplace plans are facing soaring premium payments in 2026. Some people are contemplating big life changes to deal with new rates that kicked in on Jan. 1.
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This California Strategy Safeguarded Some Medicaid Social Services Funding From Trump
By Mark Kreidler
Programs like Jamboree Housing Corp. have leveraged Medi-Cal funding to offer residents access to social services that experts say are key to keeping them off the streets. California intends to keep it that way, despite federal cuts.
GOP Cuts Will Cripple Medicaid Enrollment, Warns CEO of Largest Public Health Plan
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Martha Santana-Chin, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, last year took the helm of L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. She warns that looming federal cuts will push up to 650,000 people off L.A. Care’s Medicaid rolls by the end of 2028.
‘Abortion as Homicide’ Debate in South Carolina Exposes GOP Rift as States Weigh New Restrictions
By Lauren Sausser and Bram Sable-Smith
A proposed abortion ban in South Carolina would have allowed the criminal prosecution of women who obtain the procedure. It’s unlikely to become law, but this bill and other proposals across the country show how some conservative lawmakers are embracing increasingly punitive abortion restrictions.
Culture Wars Take Center Stage
With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned to culture war issues. Meanwhile, “confusion” remains the watchword at HHS as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” report.
Journalists Update Listeners on Expiration of Insurance Subsidies and New Rural Health Funding
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on local and regional media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.