Q&A: What Does the Budget Bill Mean for Your Health?
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner answers listeners’ questions about how the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could affect health care in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
All Coverage
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Trump Team’s Reworking Delays Billions in Broadband Build-Out
A Trump administration reworking of a $42 billion broadband expansion program will trigger delays as millions of rural Americans wait for promised connections and the telehealth services they bring.
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The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part I
In Part 1 of a two-part series on dealing with the high price of prescription drugs, a father explains the strategies he used to get his daughter the medicine she needs to treat her epilepsy.
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Nurse Practitioners Critical in Treating Older Adults as Ranks of Geriatricians Shrink
The number of nurse practitioners specializing in geriatrics has more than tripled since 2010.
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Have Job-Based Health Coverage at 65? You May Still Want To Sign Up for Medicare
Patient advocates say they frequently hear from people who thought they didn’t need to sign up for Medicare when they turned 65 because they had group health coverage. That delay sometimes forces people to cover medical expenses themselves.
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The Price You Pay for an Obamacare Plan Could Surge Next Year
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.
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‘MAGA’ Backers Like Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ — Until They Learn of Health Consequences
A new poll finds that most adults oppose the GOP bill that would extend many of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts while reducing spending on domestic programs including Medicaid. Most Trump backers support the plan until they learn that millions would lose health coverage and local hospitals would lose funding.
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‘Not Accountable to Anyone’: As Insurers Issue Denials, Some Patients Run Out of Options
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.
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A Revolutionary Drug for Extreme Hunger Offers Clues to Obesity’s Complexity
A new drug is helping families who’ve spent years padlocking fridges, chaining garbage cans, and hiding food as their children with Prader-Willi syndrome deal with unrelenting hunger. But additional progress — and a broader understanding of obesity — is now under threat as the government dismantles the pipeline for promising new research.
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Journalists Assess RFK Jr.’s Remaking of Vaccine Committee and Trend of Kids Caring for Elders
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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NIH Workers Risk Retaliation by Openly Protesting Trump Policies
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
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CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects and Wastes Money, Researchers Say
Researchers laid off in April were putting the finishing touches on in-depth HIV surveys that guide treatment and prevention. Some staff have been reinstated, but data remains in limbo.
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Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say
A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
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RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Batter Rural Hospital Finances, Researchers Say
Rural hospitals would take an outsize hit from Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs. Researchers say the financial erosion would trigger hospital closures and service cuts, especially in communities where large shares of patients are enrolled in Medicaid.
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Readers Endorse Doctor Migration and Shun ‘Elderspeak’
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Listen: With Vital Health Research Defunded, Who’s Losing Out?
From Florida to California, National Institutes of Health grant cuts have halted research studies on HIV, vaccines, and health equity — affecting red and blue states alike.
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What Are ‘Improper’ Medicaid Payments, and Are They as High as a Trump Official Said?
The vast majority of improper payments stem from documentation mistakes and do not fit the definition of waste, fraud, or abuse. They also typically stem from health care providers’ actions, not beneficiaries’ abuse.
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Four Ways Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Undermine Access to Obamacare
The combination of the House-passed spending and tax bill and the Trump administration’s regulatory action could change Affordable Care Act enrollment and the cost of insurance. The result, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is that millions of people may become uninsured.
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Watch: RFK Jr. Dismisses All 17 Members of Vaccine Advisory Committee
KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder joined CBS Evening News to discuss the unprecedented move by the Health and Human Services secretary.
