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Memory cafes are small social gatherings for individuals with memory loss and their caregivers. The events are cheap to run and can offer measurable benefits. Memory loss experts say they may become an even more important tool in the face of federal cuts to health programs.
Public health experts and advocates say the outbreak has been fueled by a confluence of local factors, including the sweeping of a homeless encampment and shuttering of a sterile-syringe program. But those issues may not remain local for long. The Trump administration is leading efforts to promote similar tactics nationwide.
At least 2 million seniors will receive notice this fall that their Medicare Advantage plans will disappear at year’s end, some without a comparable alternative. Here’s a look at this increasingly common problem with Medicare Advantage, and what it says about Medicare as a whole.
A KFF Health News analysis underscores how the terminations have spared no part of the country, politically or geographically. Of the organizations that had grants cut in the first month, about 40% are in states President Donald Trump won in November.
Stat reporter Bob Herman joins “An Arm and a Leg” to discuss the impact of surging health insurance costs on businesses and their workers.
Lower premiums often mean higher costs when you get sick and need care. Among the ways to plan ahead and soften the financial hit: health savings accounts, which act like a medical piggy bank.
Researchers and disability rights advocates warn that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Education Department and its erosions of civil rights oversight risk widening the disparities autistic children face in diagnosis, school support, and discrimination protection.
The idea of scrapping the U.S. health insurance system for a massive expansion of government-funded healthcare isn’t new. But voters hit by ballooning private health insurance costs are rallying behind midterm candidates calling for universal coverage.
Hospitals can prevent medical debt by preemptively wiping out a patient’s bill. But a Tradeoffs analysis finds that few nonprofit facilities in Texas use this tool to the maximum benefit of patients.
Drugmakers provide financial assistance to help patients afford increasingly expensive medications. But some insurers do not count those payments toward a plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum and make patients pay instead.
In Georgia, a high number of callers to the 988 crisis line hang up or disconnect before reaching a counselor. Many other calls are transferred out of state.
More older people are using cannabis products regularly, but research suggests their cannabis-related health problems are also on the rise.
A California law, which took effect in July 2017, protects consumers who use an in-network hospital or other facility from surprise bills when cared for by an out-of-network doctor. But physicians say the law has allowed insurers to shrink networks, limiting access to those doctors who have contracted with the patients’ insurance plans.
An uptick in people skipping Obamacare premium payments in many states suggests the Affordable Care Act’s rising costs — driven partly by lower subsidies to help people buy plans — are hitting home for 2026 enrollees. The trend adds to voter concerns about affordability ahead of the midterm elections.
Thousands of people who had a Medicare drug plan with zero-dollar premiums last year got small premium increases this year — and didn’t know it. They were dropped from their coverage for failing to pay amounts as little as $8, and most can’t get it again until 2027.
The Texas Medical Board bowed out of the rule-making process for a new law protecting consumers from surprise medical bills. Advocates hailed the new rules written by the state insurance regulators.
Paid home care is buckling under the surging demands of an aging population. But there are alternatives that could upgrade jobs and improve patient care.
Jessica Altman, the head of California’s Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, warns letters will be sent out this week with sky-high premiums unless Washington extends covid-era enhanced tax credits by then. Even if Congress acts later and rates are lower than feared, she says, shoppers could be scared off.
Progressives are assailing Gov. Gavin Newsom for proposing to pull back coverage for some legal residents, such as refugees and asylum-seekers, while conservatives lambaste the California Democrat for using limited state funds on Medicaid coverage for immigrants without legal status.
Community health centers are key to delivering care in underserved communities around the country, but their services could be disrupted or scaled back after governments did not renew their funding.
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