The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
1,421 - 1,440 of 3,487 Results
In late December, then-President Donald Trump signed a law that eliminates — only for people with Lou Gehrig’s disease — the required five-month waiting period before benefits begin under the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Gaining SSDI also gives these patients immediate Medicare health coverage.
Aduhelm, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month despite questions about its efficacy, could be prescribed to at least 1 million patients a year, for a price tag of about $56 billion. Experts suggest there might be better ways to spend that money.
A Trump administration Medicare rule will push some hospital patients into a Catch-22: The government says several hundred procedures no longer need to be done in a hospital, but it did not approve them to be performed elsewhere. So patients will still need to use a hospital while not officially admitted — and may be charged more out-of-pocket for the care.
Elizabeth Moreno got hit with a $17,850 bill from a Texas lab after leaving a urine sample at her doctor’s office.
Progressive and conservative Democratic lawmakers, as well as President Joe Biden, are in favor of authorizing federal officials to negotiate with drugmakers over what Medicare pays for at least some of the most expensive brand-name drugs and to base those prices on the drugs’ clinical benefits. Such a measure could put Republicans in the uncomfortable position of opposing an idea that most voters from both parties generally support.
The covid relief bill signed by President Joe Biden includes a long list of new health benefits for consumers. But many eligible people may have difficulty taking advantage of them because of the interaction with the income tax system and a lack of expert guidance. Meanwhile, Democrats are debating internally about what should come next on the health agenda. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
The debate begins with the covid death tallies. But the issues go beyond basic numbers.
Even with extra federal dollars and a flush budget, Show Me State Republicans are putting up roadblocks to the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would give 275,000 people health insurance.
States are passing laws that would prevent people with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities from being denied transplants solely because of their conditions.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs has allowed providers to continue operating despite repeated violations and harm to clients.
President Joe Biden may want to continue the previous administration’s efforts to lower drug prices and make medical costs transparent.
Eager to control costs, health systems and insurers are trying to address patients’ social needs such as food insecurity, transportation and housing. Yet, after years of testing, there’s slim evidence these efforts pay off.
All agree that covid vaccines are urgently needed to stop the pandemic, but simply waiving patents fails to provide technological know-how and address supply chain challenges.
The Florida governor considers the pushback he received from the online video platform to be “Orwellian.” But the scientists featured at the event made specific statements YouTube deemed as “misinformation,” at odds with current public health recommendations for controlling the spread of the covid virus.
Democrats’ $1.9 trillion covid relief package will offer some of the most significant help for Americans to pay for health insurance in a decade. But the temporary provisions are complicated. KHN offers tips for consumers.
More than 200,000 doses of covid vaccine have gone to waste since December, KHN has learned. Two national pharmacy chains account for most of it.
Keeping a campaign promise, President Joe Biden has reopened enrollment for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act on healthcare.gov — and states that run their own health insurance marketplaces followed suit. At the same time, the Biden administration is moving to revoke the Trump administration’s permission for states to impose work requirements for some adults on the Medicaid health insurance program. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews medical student Inam Sakinah, president of the new group Future Doctors in Politics.
For years, women with painful gynecological issues have faced long waits in ERs or longer waits to see their doctors. During the pandemic, women have increasingly turned to women’s clinics that handle urgent issues like miscarriage or serious urinary tract infections.
Health provider conflicts, fraud and access disparity temper the covid telehealth revolution.
But state officials are trying to get assurances from the Internal Revenue Service that the new law does not conflict with federal rules for health savings accounts.
© 2026 KFF