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Iowa patient advocates say that in the face of federal Medicaid cuts, the state is quietly reducing in-home services that help people avoid being institutionalized. National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.
Some Republican state lawmakers and state health associations are pushing back against spending plans under the Trump administration’s $50 billion federal rural health fund. Federal administrators already approved states’ plans, but in many cases, state lawmakers must greenlight spending.
Health care prices are on the rise, and patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren’t doing more to control costs.
Idaho is positioning to slash Medicaid funding as state lawmakers grapple with the effects of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last year. On the table are in-home care services.
At least eight states are considering legislation to curtail wage garnishment over unpaid medical bills, as health care costs rise and more people become underinsured.
The state recently became the third to offer a public option health plan through its Affordable Care Act marketplace. But researchers said it’s unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping changes at the federal level.
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won’t be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or haven't paid — their new, often much higher, premiums.
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.
Some hospitals are registering patients detained by federal immigration officers under pseudonyms and prohibiting staff from contacting family members. Attorneys and health care workers say the practices facilitate rights violations and create ethical concerns. Hospitals say they’re trying to protect patients.
Millions of people gained health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, reducing pressure on counties in states that fund care for the uninsured. With federal policies expected to reverse that trend, county officials wonder how they will fill the gap — and who will pay for it.
States facing yawning budget shortfalls have begun cutting Medicaid reimbursements for a wide variety of services. In some states, dramatic cuts are targeting therapies that many families of autistic people say are essential to caring for their loved ones.
Federal officials reversed their stance on medical debt credit reporting, then came a lawsuit in Colorado. As lawmakers in other states forge ahead with attempts to protect consumers from medical debt, some are reconsidering how they go about it.
Homemade hot sauce sent a Colorado man to the emergency room with what he called “the worst pain of my life.” But stomach cramps were only the beginning. Two years later, the bill came.
States, counties, and schools step in to improve safety amid an uptick in e-bike injuries, while federal regulatory efforts stagnate.
Local governments have received hundreds of millions of dollars from the opioid settlements to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts. Their spending decisions in 2024 were sometimes surprising and even controversial. Our new database offers more than 10,500 examples.
Federal health authorities have taken the "unprecedented" step of instructing states to investigate certain individuals on Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they’ve received more than 170,000 names collectively.
California now has a law requiring hospitals and clinics to improve patient privacy and have clear protocols for handling requests by immigration agents. Legal experts say the state can’t fully protect immigrant patients, because federal authorities are allowed in public places, including hospital lobbies, general waiting areas, and parking lots.
A doctor in Colorado became the patient after an accident totaled her car and sent her to the operating room. The hospital kept her overnight, but her insurer stopped paying after she left the emergency room.
Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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