How Medicaid Contractors Stand To Gain From Trump’s Policy
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Midwest Bureau
KFF Health News covers health care in the Midwest, with a bureau headquartered in St. Louis and staff reporters based in Iowa, Michigan, and South Dakota.
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Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act Darkens Outlook for Government-Backed Clinics
About 17,000 federally funded health clinics stand to collectively lose $32 billion under GOP-backed fiscal policies in the next five years — just as more uninsured patients will rely on them for low-cost care.
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Trump’s Hunt for Undocumented Medicaid Enrollees Yields Few Violators
Federal health officials have ordered states to reverify the immigration status of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees. After seven months, findings from five states show the reviews have uncovered few immigrants without legal status who are improperly receiving benefits.
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States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add red tape and restrictions for those seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And the costs to update computer systems that determine eligibility for those programs will be steep.
By Samantha Liss and Rachana Pradhan -
Inside the High-Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
Behind their warm-and-fuzzy marketing, infant formula industry giants Abbott, maker of Similac products, and Mead Johnson, maker of the Enfamil line, have turned neonatal intensive care units into arenas of brutal competition.
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Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts
States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund meant to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.
By Aaron Bolton, MTPR and Arielle Zionts -
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
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Oz Escalates Medicaid Fraud Claims Against States After Focus on Minnesota
The Trump administration’s unprecedented actions targeting Medicaid funding in Minnesota are part of what could become a playbook as officials turn pressure toward California, Florida, Maine, and New York.
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Lawmakers Seek To Protect Crisis Pregnancy Centers as Abortion Clinic Numbers Shrink
Some states have tried to crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of deceptive practices. But now conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to increase protections for the organizations, which work to dissuade women from abortions.
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Oz Says California’s Not Fighting Health Care Fraud, but Data Shows It’s Part of a Larger Battle
Trump administration officials say the state allows rampant fraud and have promised to investigate, blaming the “Russian, Armenian mafia” in the hospice and home health care industry. But data shows hotbeds of health care fraud throughout the country, with California outperforming most other states in recovering fraud dollars.
By Don Thompson -
Lost in Transmission: Changes in Organ Donor Status Can Fall Through Cracks in the System
Patchwork state policies and limited federal oversight have led to a fragmented system for tracking when potential organ donors provide consent or change their minds.
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Doctors Warn of a Deadly Complication From Measles Outbreaks
U.S. doctors are getting the word out about how to spot a rare measles complication that had been a relic of the past: subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. It affects a person years after a measles infection, often starting with mobility issues and progressing to paralysis. It’s nearly always fatal.
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Medicare Advantage ‘Dark Money’ Group Attempts To Win Higher Payments for Insurance Companies
Medicare Advantage insurers say a proposal by the Trump administration to keep their payments nearly flat next year may lead to service cuts that harm seniors struggling to afford health care. A decision is due by early next month.
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Families Scramble To Pay Five-Figure Bills as Clock Ticks on Promised Preauthorization Reforms
Last summer, the Trump administration announced a voluntary pledge by health insurers to reform prior authorization, which often requires patients or their doctors to seek preapproval from insurers before proceeding with medical care. Patient advocates and medical providers remain skeptical.
RFK Jr.’s Very Bad Week
Episode 437HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having rotator cuff surgery, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering, the controversial head of the FDA's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less than they do former Biden official Anthony Fauci. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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As Lung Disease Threatens Workers, Lawmakers Seek Protections for Countertop Manufacturers
Crystalline silica, which is released into the air when workers cut and polish engineered stone, can scar human lungs beyond repair. Kitchen countertops made with this stone have triggered an increased rate of this fatal illness, doctors say.
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More Kids Are in ERs for Tooth Pain. Trump Cuts and RFK Jr.’s Anti-Fluoride Fight Aren’t Helping.
Dentists, hygienists, and researchers say a shortage of rural dental care professionals and worsening oral hygiene since the covid-19 pandemic mean more kids are ending up in the emergency room for tooth decay.
By Farrell Brenner and Angela Y. Zhang -
As ICE Moved In, Minnesotans Set Up a Shadow Medical System. It’s a Lesson for Other Cities.
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis forced families into hiding and catalyzed informal medical networks to deliver critical health care services.
By Arthur Allen and Kate Wells -
Trump’s Cuts to Medicaid Threaten Services That Help Disabled People Live at Home
Iowa patient advocates say that in the face of federal Medicaid cuts, the state is quietly reducing in-home services that help people avoid being institutionalized. National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.
By Tony Leys -
Lawmakers, Health Groups Resist Their States’ Rural Health Fund Plans
Some Republican state lawmakers and state health associations are pushing back against spending plans under the Trump administration’s $50 billion federal rural health fund. Federal administrators already approved states’ plans, but in many cases, state lawmakers must greenlight spending.
By Arielle Zionts and Sarah Jane Tribble