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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Better Treatments Buoy Multiple-Myeloma Patients, Bound by Research Cuts and Racial Disparities

KFF Health News Original

Although racial disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma remain, Black survivors of multiple myeloma say the latest developments in treatment give them hope even as federal research cuts create a grim forecast for cancer research.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: Happy Open Enrollment Eve!

Podcast

A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are demanding Republicans agree to extend ACA tax credits, but there has been little negotiating — even as customers are learning what they’ll pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can’t pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

California enfrenta barreras al querer frenar redadas del ICE en entornos de salud

KFF Health News Original

El gobernador demócrata Gavin Newsom promulgó el mes pasado la ley SB 81, que prohíbe a los centros médicos permitir el acceso de agentes federales a áreas privadas sin una orden judicial o de registro válidas.

Refugees Will Be Among the First To Lose Food Stamps Under Federal Changes

KFF Health News Original

Under the budget law that Republicans call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, food assistance for refugees will be sliced. The change is sowing fear, uncertainty, and a struggle for survival — a sign of what’s to come for millions of Americans.

California Faces Limits as It Directs Health Facilities To Push Back on Immigration Raids

KFF Health News Original

California now has a law requiring hospitals and clinics to improve patient privacy and have clear protocols for handling requests by immigration agents. Legal experts say the state can’t fully protect immigrant patients, because federal authorities are allowed in public places, including hospital lobbies, general waiting areas, and parking lots.

The Quiet Collapse of America’s Reproductive Health Safety Net

KFF Health News Original

The HHS office that administers the Title X family planning program has been effectively shut down. And with cuts to federal funding for other family health programs, expected Medicaid cuts, and the potential lapse of ACA subsidies, health leaders fear they are seeing the biggest setback to U.S. reproductive care in half a century.

So Your Insurance Dropped Your Doctor. Now What?

KFF Health News Original

Patients sometimes find themselves scrambling for affordable care when a contract dispute causes a hospital — and most of the doctors and other clinicians who work there — to be dropped from an insurance network. Here are six things to know if that happens to you.

Doctor Tripped Up by $64K Bill for Ankle Surgery and Hospital Stay

KFF Health News Original

A doctor in Colorado became the patient after an accident totaled her car and sent her to the operating room. The hospital kept her overnight, but her insurer stopped paying after she left the emergency room.

Médicos, callados mientras Florida busca terminar con décadas de mandatos de vacunación infantil

KFF Health News Original

Sin embargo, si las tasas de vacunación bajan, aumentan los casos de enfermedades como sarampión, hepatitis, meningitis y neumonía e incluso podrían regresar enfermedades como la difteria y la poliomielitis.

Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers’ Credit Scores From Medical Debt

KFF Health News Original

Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.

Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage

KFF Health News Original

Health care professionals fear that new caps on federal student lending, set to start in July, will put medical school out of reach for many who want to become doctors and exacerbate physician shortages. Others say unlimited federal lending has fed a rise in academic costs, saddling families and, ultimately, taxpayers with debt.

A Ticking Clock: How States Are Preparing for a Last-Minute Obamacare Deal

KFF Health News Original

Even if Congress strikes a deal soon to extend more generous Affordable Care Act subsidies, the prices and types of ACA plans available could change dramatically. Unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval could cloud this year’s open enrollment season, which begins in most states on Saturday.

Doctors Muffled as Florida Moves To End Decades of Childhood Vaccination Mandates

KFF Health News Original

Florida has announced plans to end mandatory vaccination. Now scientists are assessing which of several diseases deadly to children — whooping cough, measles, polio, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, and tetanus — are likely to make a resurgence and when.