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There has been a steep rise in the share of people with severe mental illnesses being sent to state psychiatric hospitals on court orders after being accused of serious crimes. The shift has all but halted patients’ ability to get care before they have a catastrophic crisis.
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on regional media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Federal officials reversed their stance on medical debt credit reporting, then came a lawsuit in Colorado. As lawmakers in other states forge ahead with attempts to protect consumers from medical debt, some are reconsidering how they go about it.
The Trump administration wants deep funding cuts for state-based legal services for disabled people, as rights advocates say the Justice Department pushed out many of its lawyers who worked on such issues.
With subsidies that give consumers extra help paying their health insurance premiums set to expire, lawmakers are again debating the Affordable Care Act. The difference this time: It’s happening in the middle of ACA open enrollment.
Many older Americans shun an identity that could bring helpful accommodations, improve care, and provide community.
Dozens of health care organizations have asked the Trump administration to shield the doctors, nurses, and techs they need to fill shortages from the president’s new $100,000 visa fee for skilled foreign workers. So far, there’s no sign of a reprieve.
Republican calls to give Americans cash instead of health insurance subsidies double down on a decades-old strategy of moving people into high-deductible plans with health savings accounts.
The Trump administration has championed its Rural Health Transformation Program as an investment in American families who have been left behind. But Native American tribes, whose communities have a significant presence in rural America and have some of the greatest health needs, are ineligible to apply directly for funding.
Even as the federal government resumed funding the nation’s largest food assistance program, people risk losing access to the aid because of new rules.
Few nursing homes are set up to care for people needing help breathing with a ventilator because of ALS or other infirmities. Insurers often resist paying for ventilators at home, and innovative programs are now endangered by Medicaid cuts.
Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.
Under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states must shoulder more of the administrative and cost burdens of the food aid program SNAP, which helps feed 42 million Americans.
People on Medicaid deemed “medically frail” won’t need to meet new federal requirements that enrollees work 80 hours a month or perform another approved activity. But state officials are grappling with how to interpret who qualifies under the vague federal definition, which could affect millions.
When a measles outbreak emerged in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in October, health officials announced that most cases were tied to one public charter school, where only 17% of the 605 students enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year provided documentation showing they had received their required vaccinations.
After her son contracted a serious bacterial infection, an Ohio mother took the toddler to a nearby ER, and staffers there sent him to a children’s hospital in an ambulance. With no insurance, the family was hit with a $9,250 bill for the 40-minute ride.
States, counties, and schools step in to improve safety amid an uptick in e-bike injuries, while federal regulatory efforts stagnate.
About 1 in 4 American adults got a covid vaccine shot during the 2024-25 virus season, a fraction health care experts warn could be smaller this year as millions wrestle with conflicting advice from the government and trusted medical organizations about the value of a shot.
Good news for health care access this year includes new state laws to rein in prior authorization and medical debt collectors.
Amid public forums and local cries for help, states are also talking with large health systems, technology companies, and others amid intensifying competition for shares of a $50 billion fund to improve rural health.
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