Latest KFF Health News Stories
Are 5 Million Nondisabled Medicaid Recipients Watching TV All Day? That’s Unsupported
CNN pundit Scott Jennings said almost 5 million nondisabled Medicaid recipients “simply choose not to work” and “spend six hours a day socializing and watching television.” But a recent analysis found only about 300,000 cited a lack of interest in working as the reason they were unemployed.
Louisiana Upholds Its HIV Exposure Law as Other States Change or Repeal Theirs
State lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to extend the law this year to cover the intentional exposure of other sexually transmitted infections.
Georgia Shows Rough Road Ahead for States as Medicaid Work Requirements Loom
President Donald Trump signed legislation that requires many Medicaid recipients to prove they’re working to qualify for health care coverage, allocating $200 million for states that expanded Medicaid to prepare systems to verify people’s eligibility. Georgia’s program, which has been expensive and difficult to administer, has had limited enrollment.
$50B Rural Health ‘Slush Fund’ Faces Questions, Skepticism
Lawmakers added a $50 billion program for rural health to President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package with promises it would help plug the hole left by Medicaid cuts. Rural hospital and clinic leaders worry the infusion won’t reach the right places.
Journalists Dig Into Megabill’s Slashing of Medicaid. Plus, How To Avoid Tick Bites.
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Medical Rehab Hospital Inspections Go Unpublicized by Federal Officials
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Surprise Medical Bills Were Supposed To Be a Thing of the Past. Surprise — They’re Not.
The No Surprises Act, which was signed in 2020 and took effect in 2022, was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation that would protect people who had health insurance from receiving surprise medical bills. And yet bills that take patients by surprise keep coming.
Insurers and Customers Brace for Double Whammy to Obamacare Premiums
Consumers face both rising premiums and falling subsidies next year in Obamacare plans, with insurers seeking increases to cover not only rising costs but also some policy changes advanced by President Donald Trump and the GOP.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Senate Saves PEPFAR Funding — For Now
The Senate narrowly approved the Trump administration’s request to claw back about $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting but refused to cut funding for the international AIDS/HIV program PEPFAR. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone, which could allow states to block other FDA-approved drugs. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Maybe It’s Not Just Aging. Maybe It’s Anemia.
Significant numbers of older people have the condition. Many find relief with an effective treatment that is being more widely prescribed.
Los Angeles Weighs a Disaster Registry. Disability Advocates Warn Against False Assurances.
Amid increasingly frequent natural disasters, several states have turned to registries to prioritize help for vulnerable residents. But while some politicians see these registries as a potential solution to a public health problem, many disability advocates say they endanger residents with mobility problems by giving a false sense of security.
Tal vez no es la edad, quizás tienes anemia
Los síntomas de la anemia —cansancio, dolor de cabeza, calambres en las piernas, frío, disminución de la capacidad para hacer ejercicio, confusión mental— a menudo se atribuyen al envejecimiento mismo.
A Million Veterans Gave DNA To Aid Health Research. Scientists Worry the Data Will Be Wasted.
Retired service members donated genetic material to help answer health questions for not only others in the military but all Americans, creating one of the largest repositories of health data in the world. The Trump administration is dragging its heels on agreements to analyze it with supercomputers.
Lost in Translation: Interpreter Cutbacks Could Put Patient Lives on the Line
Recent federal reductions in funding for language assistance and President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States have some health advocates worried that millions of people with limited English proficiency will be left without adequate support and more likely to experience medical errors.
Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed
For-profit hospitals provide most inpatient physical therapy but tend to have worse readmission rates to general hospitals. Medicare doesn’t tell consumers about troubling inspections.
How To Find the Right Medical Rehab Services
Specialized hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and home health agencies provide rehab therapy. Insurers may limit the services you can get.
Cómo encontrar el servicio de rehabilitación adecuado
Es fundamental encontrar una opción segura y de alta calidad con profesionales con experiencia en el tratamiento de tu afección.
Vested Interests. Influence Muscle. At RFK Jr.’s HHS, It’s Not Pharma. It’s Wellness.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lambasted federal agencies he accused of being overly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. But he and other “Make America Healthy Again” notables have their own financial ties to the vast and largely unregulated $6.3 trillion global wellness industry that ethicists say raise red flags.
In Rush To Satisfy Trump, GOP Delivers Blow to Health Industry
The health industry couldn’t persuade GOP lawmakers to oppose big Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill for many reasons. A big one: Congressional Republicans were more worried about angering Trump than a backlash from hospitals and low-income constituents back home.
Journalists Tally State and Local Health Care Implications of GOP Megabill
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.