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The GOP Still Can’t Agree on a Health Plan

Episode 425

Dec. 4, 2025

Senate Democrats were promised a vote by mid-December on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, but Republicans still can’t decide whether they want to put forward their own alternative or what that might include. Meanwhile, the CDC and FDA are roiled by debates over vaccines. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Aneri Pattani about her project tracking opioid settlement payments.

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Rural Health Payout

Tracking Applications for Rural Health Transformation Funds

KFF Health News is working to collect and post complete application materials, by state, here and will update this repository as new materials, released in response to public records requests, arrive.

Dec. 4, 2025

Under Kennedy, America’s Health Department Is in the Business of Promoting Kennedy

Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services increasingly uses its social media channels to promote Kennedy himself and his agenda. Interviews with over 20 former and current employees provide a look inside an agency where personality and politics steer communications with the public.

By Darius Tahir

Dec. 4, 2025

Two men walk beside each other in the hallway of a health clinic. Signage on the wall reads, "we help each other."

Rural Health Payout

Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.

The Trump administration has championed its Rural Health Transformation Program as an investment in American families who have been left behind. But Native American tribes, whose communities have a significant presence in rural America and have some of the greatest health needs, are ineligible to apply directly for funding.

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez

Dec. 4, 2025

A photo of Erika "Tilly" Edwards posing in a chair.

Listen: Nation’s Capital Cuts Traffic Deaths as Rates Rise Across US

National traffic deaths are higher than they were a decade ago, despite safety initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels. But recently that trajectory has changed in Washington, D.C., itself.

By Chaseedaw Giles

Dec. 3, 2025

A portrait of a 20-year-old man wearing a short sleeve button up shirt and glasses leaning over the back of a yellow park bench.

Even as SNAP Resumes, New Work Rules Threaten Access for Years To Come

Even as the federal government resumed funding the nation’s largest food assistance program, people risk losing access to the aid because of new rules.

By Renuka Rayasam, Katheryn Houghton, and Samantha Liss

Dec. 3, 2025

Newborn babies sleep in their cradles in a hospital nursery.

Trump Wants Americans To Make More Babies. Critics Say His Policies Won’t Help Raise Them.

The administration’s embrace of the pronatalist movement often doesn’t include support for programs traditionally associated with the health and well-being of women, children, and families.

By Stephanie Armour and Amanda Seitz

Dec. 3, 2025

A woman wearing blue nitrile gloves helps a man who is sitting in a recliner next to her wearing a ventilator

BROKEN REHAB

They Need a Ventilator To Stay Alive. Getting One Can Be a Nightmare.

Few nursing homes are set up to care for people needing help breathing with a ventilator because of ALS or other infirmities. Insurers often resist paying for ventilators at home, and innovative programs are now endangered by Medicaid cuts.

By Jordan Rau

Dec. 2, 2025

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Senate hearing.

RFK Jr. Wants To Delay the Hepatitis B Vaccine. Here’s What Parents Need To Know.

A CDC panel is reconsidering the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Renewed doubt could lead to fewer kids getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to an incurable, preventable virus that can be acquired by indirect contact with infected blood.

By Jackie Fortiér

Dec. 2, 2025

An aerial photo of a hospital in a rural part of West Virginia.

Rural Health Payout

Feds Promised ‘Radical Transparency’ but Are Withholding Rural Health Fund Applications

Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.

By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arielle Zionts

Dec. 2, 2025

A woman standing before a metal table sorts boxes of non-perishable foods

New Work Requirement Adds Red Tape to Missouri’s Snarled Food Aid System

Under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states must shoulder more of the administrative and cost burdens of the food aid program SNAP, which helps feed 42 million Americans.

By Samantha Liss

Dec. 1, 2025

A portrait of a young woman leaning gently on a cane.

Medicaid Work Rules Exempt the ‘Medically Frail.’ Deciding Who Qualifies Is Tricky.

People on Medicaid deemed “medically frail” won’t need to meet new federal requirements that enrollees work 80 hours a month or perform another approved activity. But state officials are grappling with how to interpret who qualifies under the vague federal definition, which could affect millions.

By Samantha Liss and Sam Whitehead

Dec. 1, 2025

Watch: Trump Considers Extending Obamacare Subsidies

Amanda Seitz, KFF Health News’ Washington health policy reporter, appeared on NewsNation’s "NewsNation Live With Connell McShane" on Nov. 24 to discuss President Donald Trump’s latest health proposal.

By Amanda Seitz

Dec. 1, 2025

A mobile health van with a yellow a-frame side out front reading "do not enter"

South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation

When a measles outbreak emerged in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in October, health officials announced that most cases were tied to one public charter school, where only 17% of the 605 students enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year provided documentation showing they had received their required vaccinations.

By Lauren Sausser

Nov. 26, 2025

A senior man and woman seated in a room with several framed images behind them

After Shutdown, Federal Employees Face New Uncertainty: Affording Health Insurance

Average premium payments in the federal government’s insurance program for its employees are set to jump more than 12% next year, on top of a 13.5% hike in 2025. The two-year increase is higher than many private employers and their workers are experiencing.

By Phil Galewitz

Nov. 26, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Trump Almost Unveils a Health Plan

Episode 424

Nov. 25, 2025

Just weeks before some tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, the Trump administration floated a plan to extend the enhanced aid — but it was met with immediate GOP pushback. Meanwhile, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise its website to suggest childhood vaccines might be linked to autism. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Joanne Kenen and Joshua Sharfstein about their new book, “Information Sick: How Journalism’s Decline and Misinformation’s Rise Are Harming Our Health — And What We Can Do About It.”

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A photo of a woman holding her toddler outside.

Bill of the Month

Not Serious Enough To Turn on the Siren, Toddler’s 39-Mile Ambulance Ride Still Cost Over $9,000

After her son contracted a serious bacterial infection, an Ohio mother took the toddler to a nearby ER, and staffers there sent him to a children’s hospital in an ambulance. With no insurance, the family was hit with a $9,250 bill for the 40-minute ride.

By Tony Leys

Nov. 25, 2025

A picture of a woman pretending to go through the process of dying during a training program. She is circled by others who are learning how to preform aid.

More People Are Caring for Dying Loved Ones at Home. A New Orleans Nonprofit Is Showing Them How.

Demand for home health care, including at-home hospice care, has skyrocketed since the onset of the covid pandemic. A New Orleans nonprofit is teaching people how to provide end-of-life care for relatives and community members.

By Halle Parker, Verite News

Nov. 25, 2025

A photo of a young boy receiving a vaccine in his arm.

Kennedy Sharpens Vaccine Attacks, Without Scientific Backing

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims that the aluminum ingredients in vaccines cause a variety of harmful reactions, from allergies to autism. Scientists say that’s wrong and warn of risks if they’re removed. Here are some of the basics.

By Céline Gounder

Nov. 24, 2025