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At a time when more than 100 million Americans carry medical debt, it’s easy to get behind a promise of free, or free-ish, no-hassle health care. But turning an inspirational slogan into law gets gnarly.
The idea of scrapping the U.S. health insurance system for a massive expansion of government-funded healthcare isn’t new. But voters hit by ballooning private health insurance costs are rallying behind midterm candidates calling for universal coverage.
Many rural voters say immigrants are a key part of their local economy, but views on whether President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has had positive or negative effects on their communities are split.
At least 2 million seniors will receive notice this fall that their Medicare Advantage plans will disappear at year’s end, some without a comparable alternative. Here’s a look at this increasingly common problem with Medicare Advantage, and what it says about Medicare as a whole.
Getting financial assistance from hospitals often involves filling out cumbersome forms. Some states now require hospitals to identify and automatically enroll patients eligible for charity care.
President Donald Trump has championed sprawling health policy changes under the Make America Healthy Again movement, but a KFF-Associated Press survey of rural voters found people aren’t seeing the initiatives reach their communities.
Staff raced against rising floodwater to evacuate 36 residents from a nursing home in New Richland, Minnesota. It’s one of 100 facilities KFF Health News identified as facing some of the nation’s worst flood risk.
Potent sedating medications are often used on agitated people with dementia in long-term care facilities despite federal efforts to discourage their use. A clash over whether to drug a Michigan woman illuminates the wrenching decisions families and guardians face.
Autumn Daniels went to the hospital with a severe migraine. After four hours in the waiting room, she left to try a different facility — but the ER still charged her.
Four states will vote on abortion-related ballot measures in November, marking the fourth time in five years that millions of Americans will weigh in on their states’ abortion rules. The measures follow the Supreme Court’s “Dobbs” decision, which upended federal abortion protections.
Rural voters rank the cost of living and cost of healthcare as top issues they want to hear about from midterm candidates as they face a tightening pocketbook pinch.
Like many Americans, Joshua and Ashley Durham saw their health insurance premiums rise by hundreds of dollars a month this year. Despite being healthcare practitioners all too aware of the risks, they chose to go uninsured. Others, though, can’t afford to go without.
Some mental health experts favor suicide prevention steps that are applied broadly, with protections that aren’t tied to an individual’s specific risk.
As state governments grapple with how to determine who’s sick enough to be excused from new Medicaid work requirements, some families are already struggling with what illnesses guarantee health coverage because of a disability.
A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump can’t unilaterally kill the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, but he also sided with the administration by saying using race as a factor in awarding the grants is unconstitutional. The split decision has halted digital-skills programs for ethnic and racial minorities.
States must submit Rural Health Transformation Program progress reports to the federal government, but they aren’t required to proactively post those reports, or related information, publicly.
Healthcare workers at a Michigan hospital have been on strike since last September. Violence on the job is one reason behind it, with federal data showing hospital workers are seven times as likely to be injured on the job due to violent acts as members of the general working population.
Coverage for hundreds of thousands of Arkansas Medicaid enrollees next year is in question after the Trump administration refused to renew a key state waiver. The state might not be the last to have to adjust to an arcane rule change under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and older adults are at higher risk. But only about a quarter of patients eligible for screening are up to date.
Hospitals and other medical providers are increasingly asking for payment before providing care, collecting more of what patients might owe as rising insurance deductibles add to Americans' financial pressures.
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