Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Two Patients Faced Chemo. The One Who Survived Demanded a Test To See if It Was Safe.

KFF Health News Original

Worried that President Donald Trump’s FDA might not act, a panel of cancer experts recommended that doctors consider testing before dosing patients with a commonly used but sometimes deadly cancer drug. It came too late for many patients.

Ballad Health’s Hospital Monopoly Underperformed. Then Tennessee Lowered the Bar.

KFF Health News Original

Ballad Health, a state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in Tennessee and Virginia, can now be deemed a “clear and convincing” benefit to the public with performance that would earn a “D” on most grading scales, according to Tennessee state documents.

Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths

KFF Health News Original

Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.

Call Centers Replaced Many Doctors’ Receptionists. Now, AI Is Coming for Call Centers.

KFF Health News Original

Artificial intelligence products with lifelike voices are being marketed to schedule or cancel medical visits, refill prescriptions, and help triage patients. Soon, many patients might initiate contact with the health system by speaking not with a human but with AI.

Trump Won’t Force Medicaid To Cover GLP-1s for Obesity. A Few States Are Doing It Anyway.

KFF Health News Original

Late last year, South Carolina Medicaid approved a class of medications known as GLP-1s to treat obesity, placing it among the few state programs covering these effective but expensive drugs. But access remains limited, even for patients covered by Medicaid, because of stringent prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting the drug.

Rural Patients Face Tough Choices When Their Hospitals Stop Delivering Babies

KFF Health News Original

More than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies since 2021, including a South Dakota hospital that serves small towns, farming communities, and a Native American reservation. Patients there now travel at least an hour to give birth.

Los hospitales que atienden partos en zonas rurales están cada vez más lejos de las embarazadas

KFF Health News Original

Más de un centenar de hospitales rurales han dejado de atender partos desde 2021, según el Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. El cierre de los servicios de obstetricia se suele achacar a la falta de personal y la falta de presupuesto.

Pharmacists Stockpile Most Common Drugs on Chance of Targeted Trump Tariffs

KFF Health News Original

While Big Pharma seems ready to weather the tariff storm, independent pharmacists and makers of generic drugs — which account for 90% of U.S. prescriptions — see trouble ahead for patients.

Mental Health and Substance Misuse Treatment Is Increasingly a Video Chat or Phone Call Away

KFF Health News Original

More Californians are getting mental health or substance use disorder treatment online or over the phone than in person, according to a KFF Health News analysis of UCLA’s latest California Health Interview Survey. But the telehealth experience isn’t always positive.

Trump’s Fast-Tracked Deal for a Copper Mine Heightens Existential Fight for Apache

KFF Health News Original

Apache tribal members are already feeling psychological and spiritual harm as the Trump administration moves to fast-track a deal to turn their sacred land of Oak Flat, Arizona, into a copper mine.

An Arm and a Leg: A Health Policy Veteran Puts 2025 in Perspective

Podcast

Two stories from Washington, D.C., give listeners a sense of what changes the Trump administration has been making to health policy, with KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner and Arthur Allen.

Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay

KFF Health News Original

Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.