Health Care Costs

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Wash, Dry, Enroll: Finding Medicaid Help at the Laundromat

KFF Health News Original

State Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs have long struggled to connect with lower-income Americans to help them access care. Now some are trying an alternative approach: meeting them at the laundromat.

Indiana Governor Appoints Business Leader To Shake Up Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Gloria Sachdev, a pharmacist by training, has spent years taking on the health care establishment in Indiana, working to pull down high hospital prices and make information public to patients. Now, in a newly created position in the governor’s Cabinet, she’s no longer fighting from the outside.

Across the South, Rural Health Care Has Become ‘Trendy.’ Medicaid Expansion Has Not.

KFF Health News Original

State legislatures nationwide, including several in the South, are spending millions to improve rural health outcomes and access. For years, though, most Southern states have refused billions of federal dollars to provide public health insurance to more low-income adults. That isn’t likely to change with Trump back in office.

Most Insurance Covers IUDs. Hers Cost More Than $14,000.

KFF Health News Original

The Affordable Care Act requires most insurance plans to cover preventive care, including many forms of contraception, without cost to patients — but not if they’re “grandfathered” plans, which predate the law.

Telehealth Companies Boost Ad Spending While Taking on More Complex Medicine

KFF Health News Original

Telehealth startups including Ro and Nurx are spending millions to promote themselves as easy dispensers of medicines. Some companies offer care for birth control, sexual dysfunction, and more complex conditions, including behavioral health disorders and obesity.

Trump’s Funding ‘Pause’ Throws States, Health Industry Into Chaos

KFF Health News Original

A sweeping Trump administration order threw the nation’s health system into disarray Tuesday, as states and the health industry tried to make sense of what looked like a freeze on federal Medicaid funding.

A Program To Close Insurance Gaps for Native Americans Has Gone Largely Unused

KFF Health News Original

Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.

Covered California Hits Record Enrollment, but Key Subsidies in Jeopardy

KFF Health News Original

Enhanced federal subsidies and more state aid for out-of-pocket costs have made health insurance purchased through California’s marketplace more affordable. It’s unclear if the incoming Republican Congress will extend the enhanced subsidies beyond 2025.

New California Laws Target Medical Debt, AI Care Decisions, Detention Centers

KFF Health News Original

California has a few major changes coming to its health policy landscape in 2025. New laws that took effect Jan. 1 ban medical debt from credit reports, allow public health inspections of private immigration detention centers, and ban toxic chemicals in makeup.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': New Year, New Congress, New Health Agenda

Podcast

Health is unlikely to be a top priority for the new GOP-led 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. But it’s likely to play a key supporting role, with an abortion bill already scheduled for debate in the Senate. Meanwhile, it’s unclear when and how the new Congress will deal with the bipartisan bills jettisoned from the previous Congress’ year-end omnibus measure — including a major deal to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit managers. In this “catch up on all the news you missed” episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Health Care Is Newsom’s Biggest Unfinished Project. Trump Complicates That Task.

KFF Health News Original

As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, health care stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents. The issue will likely shape his national profile for better or worse. And now, Donald Trump brings a new wrinkle.

La salud, un proyecto inconcluso del gobernador de California

KFF Health News Original

Algunas de las iniciativas emblemáticas de Newsom en materia de salud, que podrían definir su perfil en el escenario nacional, están en peligro con el regreso de Donald Trump a la Casa Blanca.