Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push Up Healthcare Costs
A federal disclosure rule is offering new insight on the effect of healthcare monopolies on pricing, following a wave of U.S. mergers.
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Many States Cover Doula Care, but Access to a ‘Birthing Bestie’ Is Often Out of Reach
Virginia Medicaid started covering doula care four years ago. But logistical and administrative challenges leave many expectant parents without the support of a doula.
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Journalists Cover Cyclospora and Measles Outbreaks, and Changing Health Policies
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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Nurses Chase Cyclospora Through Frustrating Trail of Receipts and Recollections
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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Watch: Why Abortions Are on the Rise Since ‘Roe’ Was Overturned
The way people undergo abortions has changed. This video details five things to know.
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Budget Battle Erupts in Nation’s Capital Over Opioid Settlement Money
Washington, D.C.’s 2027 fiscal-year blueprint reflects a debate playing out around the U.S.: whether opioid settlement money should be used to free up taxpayer dollars by paying for existing responsibilities instead of new programs.
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The Return of ‘Medicare for All’
Michigan voters this week chose former Detroit public health director Abdul El-Sayed as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. El-Sayed has made “Medicare for All” a major part of his campaign. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, as part of the “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.).
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Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
The “KFF Health News Minute” brings original healthcare and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week.
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Medicaid Work Rule Leaves Homeless People in the Cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government’s list of exemptions left off homeless people.
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Watch: Democratic Senator Proposes a Fix for American Healthcare — Covering All Kids
Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey wants to offer universal healthcare until age 26. He sat down with KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to answer the question: “How Would You Fix It?”
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What’s Worrying Veteran Health Reporter Julie Rovner?
Host Dan Weissmann talks with Julie Rovner, KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent and host of the “What the Health?” podcast, about how cuts to federal programs are reshaping American healthcare.
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Baltimore Is Rethinking What It Means To Call 911 — And Who Responds
The city wants to stop health crises before they happen and is creating a new service to do that when people call 911.
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Pediatricians and Health Departments Sidestep Trump’s CDC on Vaccine Guidance
When the Trump administration upended years of vaccine advice, it left pediatricians in a quandary. Many say they can no longer direct families to the CDC as a trusted source of information. So some are creating their own.
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AI Is Being Used to Boost Medicaid Enrollment, but Not Without Concerns
Ahead of Medicaid work requirements, a health plan in California hopes to stanch the number of people losing coverage by using an AI program to schedule appointments and remind enrollees to fill out paperwork. The plan says it can do the work of 40 employees at a fraction of the cost.
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Nurses Chase Cyclospora, Aided by Interviews, Fast-Food Receipts — And the Messy Details
Yes, they’ve heard all the poop jokes. Public health staffers are painstakingly tracing the sources of this massive outbreak, combing through fast-food orders and lettuce purchases as they listen to people’s lengthy, messy stories about their illness.
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Earlier Lifeline for Rural Hospitals Faces Test Under ‘Big Beautiful’ Law
A century-old rural Michigan hospital converted to a stripped-down model Congress created to help keep small facilities afloat, then it closed. The emergency hospital model, created a few years ago, is stabilizing some hospitals, arrived too late for others, and now faces major challenges under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
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Kennedy, Oz Contend Fraud Crackdown, Not Skyrocketing Prices, Led Millions To Leave Obamacare
Rising premiums forced many people in Affordable Care Act plans to give up their coverage. But the Trump administration claims a huge drop in enrollment is almost entirely due to its fraud crackdown.
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People With Disabilities Fear Service Cuts as Trump’s DOJ Questions Legal Protections
The Department of Justice in June issued a legal opinion saying states aren’t required to provide services that help people with disabilities remain in their homes. The new position has added momentum to states’ existing legal challenges to the requirement and triggered worries among people who rely on these services.
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Journalists Catch You Up on Fauci Hearing, Peptides, and Kids’ Caffeine Consumption
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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Under Trump, Federal Agencies Are Collecting Massive Sets of Medical Records
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
