The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
21 - 40 of 340 Results
Congress' decision not to extend enhanced marketplace tax credits has boosted the appeal of alternative health coverage with lower monthly premiums. Consumer advocates dismiss the plans as "junk insurance,” while proponents say patients need alternatives to pricey marketplace options.
Some screenings and treatments no longer make sense for patients as they age. Researchers have just added a few more to the list.
Some states bar professional midwives from attending home births if they don’t have a nursing license. Their advocates say laws to allow midwife licensing would make home birth safer and more accessible, plus help address a maternity care shortage.
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 federal agency has dramatically slowed its review of visa waiver applications that allow international physicians completing U.S. training programs to stay in the country to work in underserved areas. The delay may send hundreds of doctors back to their home countries.
Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. It’s a tragic and entrenched problem. A new approach to prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies that give people reasons to live.
Patients are getting stuck in the emergency department for days while waiting for a spot in an inpatient ward.
Millions of people rely on the supplemental insurance to offset the deductibles, copayments, and other costs faced by enrollees in the traditional Medicare program.
As President Donald Trump’s heightened immigration enforcement continues across the country, some states are updating temporary guardianship laws to keep the children of detained and deported immigrants out of state custody.
Some states already don’t have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees’ phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result.
After Eric Tennant died, his widow vowed to speak out against West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency, which had denied cancer treatment recommended by Tennant’s doctor. Her efforts paid off. In March, West Virginia’s governor signed a bill to protect some patients from harm tied to prior authorization.
The Trump administration’s unprecedented actions targeting Medicaid funding in Minnesota are part of what could become a playbook as officials turn pressure toward California, Florida, Maine, and New York.
Trump administration officials say the state allows rampant fraud and have promised to investigate, blaming the “Russian, Armenian mafia” in the hospice and home health care industry. But data shows hotbeds of health care fraud throughout the country, with California outperforming most other states in recovering fraud dollars.
The Affordable Care Act put in place a package of benefits that health insurance plans must cover. Critics contend this mandate has jacked up premiums. Evidence supporting that claim is mixed.
Open enrollment season lasts until March 31 for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage who want to switch to original Medicare, but there’s a potential hitch.
U.S. doctors are getting the word out about how to spot a rare measles complication that had been a relic of the past: subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. It affects a person years after a measles infection, often starting with mobility issues and progressing to paralysis. It’s nearly always fatal.
Scientists are cheering California Gov. Gavin Newsom as he builds a public health bulwark against health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance and President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Still, federal cuts have sapped morale and left local health departments less prepared for outbreaks.
Congress and the Trump administration are rolling back some lead remediation resources. Case studies of two cities and a state that faced lead contamination problems could give cash-strapped cities ideas of how to address such pollution themselves.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the broadening use of anxiety medications, claiming they’re harmful. Doctors and researchers say the MAHA movement is misrepresenting drugs that have been proved to safely treat chronic anxiety and point to broader social changes to explain their increased use.
A revolt is afoot in both red and blue states against the use of artificial intelligence in health insurance determinations — and against efforts led by President Donald Trump to tie states’ hands.
© 2026 KFF