The Week in Brief: Friday, March 20, 2026
Many ACA Customers Are Paying Higher Premiums. Most Blame Trump and Republicans, Poll Finds.
Julie Appleby
A KFF poll offers insights into people’s insurance coverage decisions and how those choices could play into their vote in November’s midterm elections.
Maker of Device To Treat Addiction Withdrawal Seeks Counties’ Opioid Settlement Cash
Aneri Pattani
Some researchers and recovery advocates see the NET device as the latest in a series of products pitched as the solution to the addiction crisis that have been overhyped to capitalize on money from the opioid settlements.
Is It Worth Your Time and Money To Set Up an HSA?
Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio and Cara Anthony and Emily Siner, Nashville Public Radio
If you have a high-deductible health insurance plan, you’re probably eligible to use a health savings account. It can be an administrative headache, but it can save you money in the long run. Here’s what you need to know.
‘How Low Can You Go?’ The Shifting Guidelines for Blood Pressure Control
Paula Span
The number doctors use to demarcate high blood pressure keeps going down, a trend applauded by many experts, who point to studies linking the condition and dementia.
RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Schedule Changes Blocked — For Now
A federal judge in Massachusetts this week sided with public health groups to block changes to the federally recommended schedule of childhood vaccines, dealing at least a temporary setback to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remake the schedule. Meanwhile, Congress has put its debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act on the back burner, but the issue of rising health care costs is still front and center for the voting public. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman to kick off a new series looking at health care solutions, called “How Would You Fix It?”
Watch: Affordability Plagues Health Care in Its Shift From Nonprofit to Profit Machine
Julie Rovner
On “What the Health? From KFF Health News,” distributed by WAMU, chief Washington correspondent and host Julie Rovner sat down with Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF, to talk about the likelihood of a national health care debate.
Oz Escalates Medicaid Fraud Claims Against States After Focus on Minnesota
Bram Sable-Smith
The Trump administration’s unprecedented actions targeting Medicaid funding in Minnesota are part of what could become a playbook as officials turn pressure toward California, Florida, Maine, and New York.
Listen: Trump’s NIH ‘Reset’ Is Driving Away Scientists
Rachana Pradhan
In President Donald Trump’s second term, federal data shows, the National Institutes of Health has lost about 4,400 workers. Scientists say the departures harm the nation’s ability to respond to disease outbreaks, develop treatments, and confront public health problems. KFF Health News spoke with six scientists about why they left.
Birth Control Skepticism, Teen Fertility Take Center Stage at Trump’s Women’s Health Summit
Amanda Seitz
Amid falling birth rates and presidential approval numbers, the Department of Health and Human Services convened doctors, tech executives, and influencers to discuss women’s health. Panelists criticized reliance on birth control pills to treat health problems and encouraged doctors to talk with girls about whether they want to have babies.
Lawmakers Seek To Protect Crisis Pregnancy Centers as Abortion Clinic Numbers Shrink
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Some states have tried to crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of deceptive practices. But now conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to increase protections for the organizations, which work to dissuade women from abortions.
Lost in Transmission: Changes in Organ Donor Status Can Fall Through Cracks in the System
Céline Gounder
Patchwork state policies and limited federal oversight have led to a fragmented system for tracking when potential organ donors provide consent or change their minds.
Psychiatrists’ Use of Biomarkers Could Open a New Window Into Mental Health Diagnoses
Jamie Ducharme
The world’s largest professional psychiatry organization is preparing for the day when biological indicators can help diagnose and treat mental illness.
In Switching to Original Medicare, Beware of Medigap Plan Refusals
Michelle Andrews
Open enrollment season lasts until March 31 for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage who want to switch to original Medicare, but there’s a potential hitch.
Reckoning With State and Federal Cuts, Los Angeles Safety-Net Clinics Push for a New Tax
Bernard J. Wolfson
Across California and the nation, health providers, advocates, local officials, and state legislators are eyeing tax increases to offset a loss of more than $900 billion in federal Medicaid dollars as a result of the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In Los Angeles County, community clinics have banded together in support of a half-cent sales tax.
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.
Journalists Talk Medicaid Work Mandate in Georgia and Wage Garnishment Bill in Colorado
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Oz Says California’s Not Fighting Health Care Fraud, but Data Shows It’s Part of a Larger Battle
Don Thompson
Trump administration officials say the state allows rampant fraud and have promised to investigate, blaming the “Russian, Armenian mafia” in the hospice and home health care industry. But data shows hotbeds of health care fraud throughout the country, with California outperforming most other states in recovering fraud dollars.