The Week in Brief: Friday, Nov. 6, 2026
Midterm Voters Split on Abortion and Trans Healthcare Ballot Questions
By Bram Sable-Smith
The nationwide blue wave in the midterm election didn’t necessarily carry over to ballot measures on abortion and transgender issues.
Midterm Wave Sets a Course for ‘Medicare for All’ Fight
By Kate Wells
Voter frustration with healthcare costs helped fuel the Democrats’ midterm takeover of Congress. But Democratic control doesn’t mean “Medicare for All” will follow, as some hoped.
A Blue Wave Hits Healthcare
The predicted blue wave in the 2026 midterms not only appeared — it overperformed, with Democrats sweeping into majorities in the House and Senate. That sets up a new focus on health policy, with Democrats seeking to undo cuts imposed by President Donald Trump and the GOP-led Congress and advance their own agenda to increase coverage and lower costs. In this special episode, host Julie Rovner is joined by Mollyann Brodie, executive vice president and chief operating officer at KFF; Larry Levitt, KFF’s executive vice president for health policy; and Amanda Seitz, Washington health policy reporter for KFF Health News.
Healthcare Cuts Fuel Democrats’ Election Blowout
By Julie Rovner
Climbing healthcare costs drove a blue wave this election season. Julie Rovner, KFF Health News' chief Washington correspondent, breaks down the midterms and how the results could shape future healthcare debates.
A GOP Congressman Backed Medicaid Work Requirements. His Voters Might Be Exempt.
By Jackie Fortiér
A California congressman voted for the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which is projected to reduce Medicaid spending by $900 billion. Now Rep. David Valadao, whose House race will help decide control of Congress, is telling his constituents they may not have to follow the new rules.
Georgia Helped Inspire the Medicaid Work Rules. Its Own Rules Could Soon End.
By Briah Lumpkins and Sam Whitehead
For years, Georgia was the only state to require some Medicaid enrollees to work to obtain and keep coverage. Those rules could expire just as the federal Medicaid work requirements they helped inspire roll out across most of the country.
Stuck in Shelters for Months, Some Migrant Children Abandon Hopes of Staying in US
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett and Renuka Rayasam
The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement is supposed to care for migrant children who arrive in the country alone. But new policies are stranding kids in shelters and undermining their mental health. Some children have chosen to return to the countries they fled.
Trump Administration Delays Awards Slated To Improve Rural America’s Health
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arielle Zionts and Bram Sable-Smith
State leaders who scrambled to win and begin spending their first-year shares of Republicans’ five-year, $50 billion fund are in the dark about how much they’ll receive in the Rural Health Transformation Program’s second year after a federal office notified states that more time is needed to make allocations.
IVF Patients, Doctors Navigate Fetal Personhood Laws’ Unknowns
By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
People trying to start families and clinics trying to help them have been left confused and worried since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, triggering fetal personhood laws in several states.
A Few Miles From the US Capitol, Dozens Slept in Their Cars, Waiting for Free Care
By Phil Galewitz and Eric Harkleroad
If you’ve heard about how people are struggling with affording healthcare but haven’t been touched by it or seen it, then this pop-up clinic just outside Washington, D.C., put the problem on full display.