Midterm Wave Sets a Course for ‘Medicare for All’ Fight
Voter frustration with healthcare costs helped fuel the Democrats’ midterm takeover of Congress. But Democratic control doesn’t mean “Medicare for All” will follow, as some hoped.
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Voter frustration with healthcare costs helped fuel the Democrats’ midterm takeover of Congress. But Democratic control doesn’t mean “Medicare for All” will follow, as some hoped.
The Trump administration has tied billions in rural health funding for states partly to the policy commitments they make, including ending their certificate of need, or CON, laws governing the construction of new hospitals.
The Trump administration pushed back a rule — until after the midterm elections — that would complicate Americans’ access to less expensive medication imports from Canada and other countries.
President Donald Trump has championed sprawling health policy changes under the Make America Healthy Again movement, but a KFF-Associated Press survey of rural voters found people aren’t seeing the initiatives reach their communities.
Like many Americans, Joshua and Ashley Durham saw their health insurance premiums rise by hundreds of dollars a month this year. Despite being healthcare practitioners all too aware of the risks, they chose to go uninsured. Others, though, can’t afford to go without.
Coverage for hundreds of thousands of Arkansas Medicaid enrollees next year is in question after the Trump administration refused to renew a key state waiver. The state might not be the last to have to adjust to an arcane rule change under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Special Medicaid programs in many states allow disabled people to work while receiving benefits, and most limit how much participants can earn and the assets they can hold. Some Iowans are pushing lawmakers to remove those limits, which they say can dampen their career prospects.
A federal disclosure rule is offering new insight on the effect of healthcare monopolies on pricing, following a wave of U.S. mergers.
The Democratic candidate for governor says he would make Iowa the second state to drop private Medicaid management companies, which he calls “a disaster.”
The tiny federal agency that tracks consumer product safety is pressuring hospitals to turn over patient records from emergency room visits, including about injuries that have nothing to do with consumer products.
KFF Health News is working to collect and post approved plans as more states respond to emails and public records requests for their documents.
Last year, the Trump administration announced a voluntary pledge by dozens of insurers to improve prior authorization, which often requires patients to seek approval before treatments. But prior authorization remains commonplace, and there's no evidence the government is trying to hold insurers to account.
Over the past 70 years, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds has dropped dramatically, leaving many without critical care when they experience mental health crises. I was one of the lucky ones to get a bed — after 21 hours of waiting.
Amid advancements in treatment and screening, more Americans are surviving the disease. But many are left with psychological scars, such as lingering anxiety and depression.
Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, framed the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as “bold, creative plans” led by states. But as states have started to roll out their plans, federal officials control where and how the money is spent.
A Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation of hospital data and charity care programs shows most Minnesota hospitals provide little financial aid to patients and often make assistance difficult to get.
A KFF survey of state Medicaid officials offers insight into lingering uncertainty and differing plans for work requirement implementation as the Jan. 1 deadline approaches.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add red tape and restrictions for those seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And the costs to update computer systems that determine eligibility for those programs will be steep.
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.
More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, a much larger share than the overall percentage of U.S. adults. After a tough year for farmers, the loss of enhanced ACA subsidies is putting health insurance out of reach for many.
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