Why Young Americans Dread Turning 26: Health Insurance Chaos
Young adults without jobs that provide insurance find their options are limited and expensive. The problem is about to get worse.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
61 - 80 of 395 Results
Young adults without jobs that provide insurance find their options are limited and expensive. The problem is about to get worse.
GOP lawmakers in 10 states have refused for a decade to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But when President Donald Trump got another whack at Obamacare, these holdout states went unrewarded.
A joint investigation by KFF Health News and NBC News found that cosmetic surgery chains have been the target of scores of medical malpractice and negligence lawsuits, including 12 wrongful death cases.
Amid increasingly frequent natural disasters, several states have turned to registries to prioritize help for vulnerable residents. But while some politicians see these registries as a potential solution to a public health problem, many disability advocates say they endanger residents with mobility problems by giving a false sense of security.
For-profit hospitals provide most inpatient physical therapy but tend to have worse readmission rates to general hospitals. Medicare doesn’t tell consumers about troubling inspections.
In recent years, locally acquired dengue cases have appeared in California, Florida, and Texas, parts of the U.S. where the disease isn’t endemic. Health and vector control officials worry that with climate change and the lack of a vaccine, dengue will take hold in a larger swath of North America.
An estimated 4 million Americans will lose health insurance over the next decade if Congress doesn’t extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, which expire at the end of the year. Florida and Texas would see the biggest losses, in part because they have not expanded Medicaid eligibility.
Health insurers issue millions of prior authorization denials every year, leaving many patients stuck in a convoluted appeals process, with little hope of meaningful policy change ahead. For doctors, these denials are frustrating and time-consuming. For patients, they can be devastating.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a state law that requires nursing homes to have 96 hours of backup power in the case of emergencies, potentially giving the industry a break from spending over $1 billion on facility upgrades. Patient advocates say rolling back the nursing home industry requirements for preparedness could jeopardize the safety of residents.
As state officials anticipate Medicaid funding cuts that could strip resources for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions, an army of unpaid caregivers waits in the wings: children. At least 5.4 million kids are estimated to be caring for family members at home, a number likely to rise if Medicaid cuts hit professional home-based services.
Canada has seen a surge of American doctors seeking to move north in the months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Federal law says Medicaid must cover out-of-state emergency care. But a Florida man got a five-figure bill after a South Dakota hospital declined to charge his state’s Medicaid program.
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform has boosted the agenda of a conservative think tank that’s been working for more than a decade to reshape the nation’s public assistance programs.
Federal law requires states to offer health insurance to many people with low incomes or disabilities. But some states, including California, are far more generous than what’s required. Budget pressures may force lawmakers to cut benefits that have led to a historic low in the uninsured rate.
Roughly 20 states now have laws permitting families to place cameras in the rooms of loved ones. Facility operators are often opposed.
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.
Fentanyl overdoses occur from ingesting the synthetic opioid. But popular culture has misrepresented the risks to first responders.
Consumers who were enrolled fraudulently in Affordable Care Act coverage could receive unexpected tax bills — the first and possibly only clue they were a victim of fraud. Getting help may become difficult as federal workers are laid off and funding for assistance programs is cut.
Pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the nation’s opioid crisis are paying state and local governments billions of dollars in legal settlements. But how much are victims who suffered addiction and overdoses getting?
In his first term, President Donald Trump granted pardons or clemency to more than 60 convicted fraudsters, including health care executives who defrauded Medicare out of hundreds of millions of dollars, courts and juries found. Now, Trump says cracking down on fraud is a priority.
© 2026 KFF