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Healthcare Costs
81-100 of 1,972 results
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A Sales Tax on Doctor Visits and Medicine? In Missouri, Some Worry
A ballot measure to eliminate Missouri’s income tax would give the state legislature broad authority to levy new sales taxes to replace the lost revenue. Critics say that could mean adding a sales tax on medical services or prescription medicines. Those types of taxes are unusual, but not unheard of, in the U.S.
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A New Option for Long-Term Care Costs
Washington state has launched the first program to help cover home care and other supports. Several other states are paying attention.
By Paula Span -
They Harvest the Nation’s Food, but a New Rule May Strip Them of Health Insurance
New Medicaid work requirements could make a complex system even harder for farmworkers to navigate.
By Paula Andalo The Politics of Health at Midyear
Episode 454Just a few months before the midterm elections, Democrats appear to be doubling down on healthcare as a campaign issue as costs rise and insurance coverage declines. Meanwhile, Congress is taking aim at nonprofit hospitals. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month.”
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Affordable Care Act Insurers Want More Premium Increases as Enrollment Sags
Insurers that sell plans in Obamacare marketplaces across 16 states and the District of Columbia have asked regulators to approve a 14% median premium increase for 2027, according to a new Peterson-KFF analysis.
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Patients Face a Thicket of Red Tape Trying To Maintain Consistent Health Coverage
Many Americans are shopping around for affordable options as the cost of health insurance soars. But some who hope to keep the same doctors and medications face a thicket of red tape and disruption after they switch plans.
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Copay Assistance Is Meant To Defray Patient Drug Costs. Some Insurers Keep It Instead.
Drugmakers provide financial assistance to help patients afford increasingly expensive medications. But some insurers do not count those payments toward a plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum and make patients pay instead.
By Daniel Chang -
Thousands of Medicare Beneficiaries Thought Their Drug Plan Was Free. Then They Lost It.
Thousands of people who had a Medicare drug plan with zero-dollar premiums last year got small premium increases this year — and didn’t know it. They were dropped from their coverage for failing to pay amounts as little as $8, and most can’t get it again until 2027.
By Susan Jaffe -
Journalists Discuss Healthcare Costs’ Political Fallout, Concerns About Canceled ICE Facility
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Supreme Court Makes Health Policy
Episode 453The Supreme Court handed down its last decisions of its 2025-26 term this week, including in an immigration case that could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of workers in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more.
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Affordable Healthcare Emerges as a Voter Priority in Purple Nevada
The Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP may complicate Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s reelection chances.
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These Church Members Disagree on Politics. Together They’re Wiping Out Medical Debt.
Trinity Moravian Church, a politically diverse congregation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been raising money to retire medical debt in the surrounding community.
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Florida Hospitals Act Fast To Discharge Gun Victims — Especially if They’re Not Insured
Uninsured patients made up about 1 in 4 of the more than 20,000 gunshot wound inpatient hospitalizations in Florida from 2018 to 2024, an analysis of state data by KFF Health News and The Trace found. They also had shorter hospital stays than those with any form of coverage.
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She Struggled To Get a Lifesaving Drug Even After Insurers Vowed To Help
Margaret Hvatum ended up in the hospital after her insurer denied coverage of a medicine she relies on to boost her immune system. Hvatum got entangled in the preapproval process, which the insurance industry has vowed to improve.
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Indiana Caps Prices Hospitals Charge Employers, With Tax Exemptions on the Line
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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Trouble Getting Weight Loss Drugs Covered by Insurance? Here’s What To Know
If your doctor prescribes a GLP-1 medication for weight loss but your insurance won’t cover it, you have options.
Trump Officials Still Delaying Funds
Episode 452With the fiscal year mostly over, hundreds of millions of dollars in health-related grants approved by Congress still have not reached their designated recipients, with the Trump administration again delaying distribution. Meanwhile, on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban abortion, the number of abortions in the U.S. is actually rising. Maya Goldman of Axios, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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Democrats To Propose Bill Capping Out-of-Pocket Medicare Costs for Enrollees
Some Senate Democrats want to cap the amount beneficiaries in traditional Medicare have to pay toward care, but the move is expected to draw GOP opposition for potentially adding billions to Medicare costs.
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Worried About Your Aging Parents? Welcome to the Caregiving Club
Being a caregiver can start long before you go to a doctor appointment with a loved one or move your parents into your house. The HealthQ team explores how embracing the role matters — and how the recognition and support that come next can ease a difficult season of life.