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Enrollment of underrepresented groups at medical schools fell precipitously this academic year after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action. Education and health experts worry the Trump administration’s anti-DEI measures will only worsen the situation, even in states like California that have navigated bans on race-conscious admissions for years.
Republicans have proposed legislation in several states to ban the pioneering technology used in covid shots. Many doctors worry a huge medical advance could be rolled back.
California’s governor is pressuring Oakland to allow more police pursuits as part of a crackdown on crime. But more pursuits mean a greater risk to public health, with more potential injuries and deaths among bystanders. Policies in cities including New York and San Francisco reflect divergent local priorities.
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Labor Department added ovarian, uterine, cervical, and breast cancer coverage for wildland firefighters. It’s unclear whether the new protections will stick under Trump.
Patients and providers say health insurers’ preapproval requirements lead to delays and denials of needed medical treatments. Insurers argue that prior authorization keeps costs down.
Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.
More medical schools say they will no longer charge tuition, in hopes that more students, graduating free of debt, will choose lower-paying primary care careers. But evidence suggests it will take a lot more than a free ride to replenish the primary care pipeline.
Advocates say it is discrimination and are arguing for “insurance fairness” on the grounds that people who have joints surgically replaced typically don’t face the same kinds of coverage challenges.
In the seventh year of KFF Health News’ “Bill of the Month” series, patients shared their most perplexing, vexing, and downright expensive medical bills, and reporters analyzed $800,000 in charges — including more than $370,000 owed by 12 patients and their families.
The generation that faced discrimination, ostracism, and the AIDS epidemic now faces old age. Many struggle with isolation along with a host of pressing health problems.
A federal judge sided with 19 states seeking an injunction against a Biden administration rule allowing recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to enroll in Affordable Care Act coverage and qualify for subsidies amid the annual open enrollment period.
Patient and consumer advocates fear a new Trump administration will scale back federal efforts to expand financial protections for patients and shield them from debt.
A private immigration detention center contractor has sued to block a California law allowing local public health officials to inspect facilities in response to allegations of medical neglect or unsanitary conditions.
The state Office of Health Care Affordability has set a goal for insurers to direct 15% of their spending to primary care by 2034, part of a push to expand preventive care services. Health plans say it’s unclear how the policy will mesh with the state’s overarching goal to slow spending growth.
Several Democratic-led states have expanded public insurance programs to cover immigrants in the U.S. regardless of legal status. Donald Trump is trying to blame Kamala Harris for the policies.
Nineteen states are seeking to stall a Biden administration rule that would allow recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in ACA coverage and qualify for subsidies. DACA provides work authorization and temporary deportation protection to people brought to the U.S. as children without immigration paperwork.
Laborers have suffered in extreme heat triggered by climate change. Deaths aren’t inevitable, researchers say: Employers can save lives by providing ample water and breaks.
Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals.
Since Colorado created a pool of money to pay for naloxone in 2019, it has distributed more than half a million doses of the opioid reversal drug to hundreds of organizations throughout the state. Now, its main funding stream is drying up.
Many Catholic health systems, which are tax-exempt, pay their executives millions and can charge some of the highest prices around — while critics say they scrimp on commitments to their communities.
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