The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
The Jan. 28 executive order directs federal regulators to cut insurance coverage for hormonal or surgical treatments that help in young people’s gender transitions and cut federal funding for medical professionals or institutions that provide such care. It will likely be challenged in court.
President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the vast Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., faced sharp questioning from senators this week, particularly over his history of vaccine denialism. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s second week has been even more disruptive than its first, with an on-again, off-again funding freeze that left many around the country scrambling to understand what was going on. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor, who explains how the federal regulatory system is supposed to operate to make health policy.
KFF Health News reporters break down the biggest takeaways from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings for secretary of Health and Human Services.
An unprecedented freeze on the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report sparks new concerns about political meddling in science.
Telehealth startups including Ro and Nurx are spending millions to promote themselves as easy dispensers of medicines. Some companies offer care for birth control, sexual dysfunction, and more complex conditions, including behavioral health disorders and obesity.
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Can a $5 million compulsive-gambling fund help Missouri avoid the mistakes of other states that have legalized sports betting?
Controversy over raw milk reflects the push-pull the Trump administration faces in rolling back regulations and offering consumers more choices. For now, the CDC still recommends against consuming raw milk and the FDA bans its interstate sale.
A sweeping Trump administration order threw the nation’s health system into disarray Tuesday, as states and the health industry tried to make sense of what looked like a freeze on federal Medicaid funding.
With continuous glucose monitors, students with Type 1 diabetes no longer have to visit the school nurse for a finger prick. But some parents say it falls to them to keep an eye on blood sugar levels from home or work — even though they may not be able to quickly reach their child when something’s wrong.
Two Senate committees are expected to question Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on how his disproven views of science and medicine qualify him to run the $1.7 trillion, 80,000-employee federal health system.
The Lown Institute, a health care think tank, holds a contest every year for the most outrageous stories of greed in health care.
The moves under consideration include relocating a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities, renovating the state’s psychiatric hospital, and opening a new unit of the hospital in Helena.
KFF Health News Southern correspondent Sam Whitehead made the rounds on local radio recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of his appearances.
Different states are offering starkly different guidelines to hospitals, community clinics, and other health facilities for interacting with immigrant patients as President Donald Trump issues a flurry of executive orders on immigration.
By withdrawing from the World Health Organization and overhauling aid, Trump’s new executive orders endanger Americans and the globe, researchers warn. The move also cedes U.S. power to other nations.
In his first days in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on gender that affects transgender health care. The order aims to directly limit care for trans people incarcerated in federal prisons, but the broader implications on health aren’t clear-cut.
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.
President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday and by Wednesday had virtually stopped scientific policymaking at the Department of Health and Human Services. While incoming administrations often pause public communications, the acting HHS head ordered an unprecedented shutdown of all outside meetings, travel, and publications. Meanwhile, Trump issued a broad array of mostly nonbinding executive orders, but notably none directly concerning abortion. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Rodney Whitlock, a former congressional staffer, who explains the convoluted “budget reconciliation” process Republicans hope to use to enact Trump’s agenda.
Enhanced federal subsidies and more state aid for out-of-pocket costs have made health insurance purchased through California’s marketplace more affordable. It’s unclear if the incoming Republican Congress will extend the enhanced subsidies beyond 2025.
