Should Drug Companies Be Advertising to Consumers?
Aging means “becoming a target” of the industry, one expert said. After decades of debate, politicians of all stripes are proposing bans.
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Turnarounds and Shake-Ups
The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the FDA will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs. Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more.
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Personal Finance Guru Faces Down an Insurance Denial
Ron Lieber, the “Your Money” columnist for The New York Times, shares ideas about how insurance companies, doctors, and patients can better handle prior authorization denials.
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Nevada Debuts Public Option Amid Tumultuous Federal Changes to Health Care
The state recently became the third to offer a public option health plan through its Affordable Care Act marketplace. But researchers said it’s unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping changes at the federal level.
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Wyoming Wants To Make Its Five-Year Federal Rural Health Funding Last ‘Forever’
State officials believe they’ve found a way to extend the life of federal Rural Health Transformation Program money Wyoming is receiving as part of last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — by investing most of it.
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Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.
A revolt is afoot in both red and blue states against the use of artificial intelligence in health insurance determinations — and against efforts led by President Donald Trump to tie states’ hands.
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Trump Required Hospitals To Post Their Prices for Patients. Mostly It’s the Industry Using the Data.
Politicians have pushed for price transparency in health care. But instead of patients shopping for services, it’s mostly health systems and insurers that are using the information, as fodder for negotiations over pay.
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Listen: Why Do I Need Prior Authorization?
When the doctor says you need a prescription or treatment, sometimes you need approval from your health insurance first. Without it, they won’t pay. Health reporter Sarah Boden joins “Life Kit” host Marielle Segarra to discuss prior authorization.
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Journalists Unpack Impact of ICE Arrests on Families and Caffeine’s Effect on Dementia Risk
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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ACA Subsidies Expired. Open Enrollment Ended. But It Will Still Take Awhile To Register the Results.
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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Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines
KFF Health News shares our favorite reader-submitted health policy valentines. One struck us in the heart and inspired an original cartoon.
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Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In
A planned 10-year federal program called Making Care Primary was supposed to help primary care doctors by easing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on improving patients’ health. A year after the Trump administration eliminated the program, federal officials created an alternative plan that favors companies.
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RFK Jr. Made Promises in Order To Become Health Secretary. He’s Broken Many of Them.
Before being confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation’s official vaccine recommendations. He did both.
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Trump Team’s Planned ACA Rule Offers Its Answer to Rising Premium Costs: Catastrophic Coverage
Sweeping changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year have been proposed by the Trump administration that focus on making more insurance plans available with higher annual out-of-pocket costs but lower premiums.
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New Flu Vax? FDA Says No Thanks
It’s been a busy week at the FDA, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine. Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Jackie Fortiér of KFF Health News, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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Alabama’s ‘Pretty Cool’ Plan for Robots in Maternity Care Sparks Debate
Alabama, a state with one of the nation’s highest infant mortality rates, is betting on robots to help fix its maternal care crisis. But the state’s plan for telerobotic ultrasounds in rural areas has raised doubts.
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Louisville Found PFAS in Drinking Water. The Trump Administration Wouldn’t Require Any Action.
After detecting a sudden spike in PFAS in its drinking water, the city traced it upstream along the Ohio River to a factory in West Virginia. But the EPA has relaxed Biden-era plans to regulate PFAS levels. So what happens next?
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End of Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies Puts Tribal Health Lifeline at Risk
Tribal insurance programs give Native Americans access to affordable health care when the Indian Health Service falls short. Those plans are threatened by the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
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New Medicaid Work Rules Likely To Hit Middle-Aged Adults Hard
Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.
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Obamacare Sign-Ups Drop, but the Extent Won’t Be Clear for Months
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won’t be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or haven’t paid — their new, often much higher, premiums.
