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An estimated 4.8 million people are expected to go without health coverage because Congress did not extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans. But even without a health plan, people will need medical care in 2026. Many of them have been thinking through their plan B to maintain their health.
Congress returned from its break facing a familiar question: whether to extend the expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that expired at the end of 2025. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a promise to Bill Cassidy, the chairman of Senate health committee, by overhauling the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule to reduce the number of diseases for which vaccines will be recommended. Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
It’s been more than 10 years since the FDA first approved an HIV prevention drug. Today, people who could benefit from preexposure prophylaxis often struggle to access the lifesaving medicine or run into doctors without the education or empathy to offer affirming care. And those lapses can produce billing headaches.
High-deductible health insurance plans are increasingly common, and many more enrollees will likely need to choose such plans for the coming year. For those with chronic conditions like diabetes, the gamble can mean compromised care and long-term consequences.
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.
Patients sometimes find themselves scrambling for affordable care when a contract dispute causes a hospital — and most of the doctors and other clinicians who work there — to be dropped from an insurance network. Here are six things to know if that happens to you.
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
KFF Health News video producer Hannah Norman breaks down why new parents are getting billed thousands of dollars for births.
A joint project of NPR and KFF Health News, Healthcare Helpline helps you navigate the health system hurdles between you and good care. Send us your tricky questions, and we may tap a policy sleuth to puzzle them out. Here is what to do if your preventive care gets denied.
Insurers will take drug costs, frequency of use, and other factors into account as they set premium amounts for the 2026 plan year.
Young adults without jobs that provide insurance find their options are limited and expensive. The problem is about to get worse.
It’s a difficult rite of passage for young adults without job-based insurance. Here are some tips for getting started.
Moves by the Trump administration to pare back Medicaid, rescind medical debt rules, and loosen vaccine requirements threaten to increase medical bills for millions of Americans.
A doctor doing environmental health research in rural Maine is working to establish the best practices to treat patients exposed to “forever chemicals,” potentially leading the way for practitioners across the nation.
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.
Even as states brace for significant reductions in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade, conservative legislatures across the country are passing laws that grant doula access to Medicaid beneficiaries.
The Department of Justice alleges that several major health insurers paid brokerages “hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks” to get agents to steer consumers into their Medicare Advantage plans, allegations the insurers strongly dispute.
Bills before the legislature would license community health workers and make it easier for some other health professionals licensed in other states to do business in Montana.
Frustrated by high health care prices, many who backed President Donald Trump support strong government actions to protect patients. It’s unclear whether GOP leaders will listen.
A man in Chicago with a troubling symptom underwent a common procedure. Then he wanted to know why the hospital charged nearly three times its own cost estimate.
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