Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Nevada Debuts Public Option Amid Tumultuous Federal Changes to Health Care

KFF Health News Original

The state recently became the third to offer a public option health plan through its Affordable Care Act marketplace. But researchers said it’s unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping changes at the federal level.

Wyoming Wants To Make Its Five-Year Federal Rural Health Funding Last ‘Forever’

KFF Health News Original

State officials believe they’ve found a way to extend the life of federal Rural Health Transformation Program money Wyoming is receiving as part of last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — by investing most of it.

Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.

KFF Health News Original

A revolt is afoot in both red and blue states against the use of artificial intelligence in health insurance determinations — and against efforts led by President Donald Trump to tie states’ hands.

Trump Required Hospitals To Post Their Prices for Patients. Mostly It’s the Industry Using the Data.

KFF Health News Original

Politicians have pushed for price transparency in health care. But instead of patients shopping for services, it’s mostly health systems and insurers that are using the information, as fodder for negotiations over pay.

Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In

KFF Health News Original

A planned 10-year federal program called Making Care Primary was supposed to help primary care doctors by easing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on improving patients’ health. A year after the Trump administration eliminated the program, federal officials created an alternative plan that favors companies.

RFK Jr. Made Promises in Order To Become Health Secretary. He’s Broken Many of Them.

KFF Health News Original

Before being confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation’s official vaccine recommendations. He did both.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: New Flu Vax? FDA Says No Thanks

Podcast

It’s been a busy week at the FDA, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine. Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Jackie Fortiér of KFF Health News, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’

KFF Health News Original

At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to deworm horses and other animals, has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among supporters of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and many conservatives.

This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain

KFF Health News Original

Ballad Health, the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.

Con ICE usando datos de Medicaid, hospitales y estados están en medio de una encrucijada: informar o no a sus pacientes inmigrantes

KFF Health News Original

Ponerlos al tanto de estos riesgos podría disuadirlos de inscribirse en el Medicaid de Emergencia, que ofrece atención médica de urgencias a inmigrantes que no califican para la cobertura regular de Medicaid.

With ICE Using Medicaid Data, Hospitals and States Are in a Bind Over Warning Immigrant Patients

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration’s move to give deportation officials access to Medicaid data is forcing hospitals and states to consider alerting immigrant patients that information from emergency medical coverage applications could be used in efforts to remove them from the country.

NIH Grant Disruptions Slow Down Breast Cancer Research

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration has made the future of federal funding for cancer research uncertain. At one groundbreaking breast cancer research lab, work that could save lives has slowed significantly.

It’s 2026 and You’re Uninsured. Now What?

KFF Health News Original

Many Americans are expected to lose ACA or Medicaid coverage in coming months and years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the expiration of enhanced pandemic-era subsidies that helped people afford Obamacare plans. Doctors and researchers say there are still ways to find affordable care.

Cuando el seguro médico cuesta más que la hipoteca

KFF Health News Original

A pesar de las intensas discusiones y del cierre del gobierno más largo en la historia, el Congreso permitió que los subsidios mejorados de ACA expiraran el pasado 31 de diciembre.