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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

California propone ampliar subsidios de seguros de salud a todos los inmigrantes adultos

KFF Health News Original

California es el primer estado en ampliar Medicaid a todos los adultos que reúnan los requisitos, independientemente de su estatus migratorio, una medida celebrada por los activistas de la salud y por líderes políticos de todo el estado.

California Floats Extending Health Insurance Subsidies to All Adult Immigrants

KFF Health News Original

The legislature is considering taking the first steps to make Covered California plans available to immigrants without permanent legal status. The state has already extended Medi-Cal coverage to low-income immigrants.

Sign Here? Financial Agreements May Leave Doctors in the Driver’s Seat

KFF Health News Original

Agreeing to an out-of-network doctor’s own financial policy — which generally protects their ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing insurance and legal jargon — can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing.

Whatever Happened to Biden’s Public Option?

KFF Health News Original

In the 2020 elections, then-candidate Joe Biden and many of his congressional colleagues loudly advocated for a federal “public option” health insurance plan. It was framed, at the time, as part of his incoming administration’s response to the pandemic. “Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost to them, though […]

Medicare’s Push To Improve Chronic Care Attracts Businesses, but Not Many Doctors

KFF Health News Original

Most Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, making them eligible for a federal program that rewards physicians for doing more to manage their care. It shows promise in reducing costs. But not many doctors have joined.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access

Podcast

A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, 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’ Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.

Médicos de atención primaria asumen tareas de dentista para ayudar a pacientes vulnerables

KFF Health News Original

En Denver, la inestabilidad de la vivienda, las barreras del idioma, la falta de transporte y el “costo astronómico” de la odontología sin seguro hacen que la atención dental sea inaccesible para muchos nuevos inmigrantes.

An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare Machines

Podcast

In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.

End of Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Households Threatens Telehealth Access

KFF Health News Original

A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon. The end of the subsidy launched earlier in the pandemic could have profound impacts on health care access.

Medical Debt Affects Much of America, but Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard

KFF Health News Original

Colorado is ahead of the curve on policies to prevent medical debt, but the gap between the debt load in places inhabited primarily by people of color versus non-Hispanic white residents is greater than the national average.