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With the exception of prior authorization, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is shifting to electronic submission standards for attachments and digital signatures. The agency expects to save $781 million annually with the change. Plus, the challenge of finding a new CDC director.
An estimated 1,126,000 people ended pregnancies in 2025, roughly the same number as in 2024, according to a Guttmacher Institute report. More people relied on telemedicine and fewer people were forced to travel to obtain abortions, the report suggests.
The study was based on electronic health records and included data from nearly 4 million admissions from 2016 through 2023. Also: Axios looks at how the Trump administration's visa policy may be sidelining possibly thousands of foreign-born doctors.
In an announcement Monday, House Republicans alleged "rampant hospice fraud" in Southern California that is costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Other states making news: Minnesota, Nebraska, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, and more.
Some physicians say insurance coverage for doulas should be the norm. UnitedHealthcare was the first major insurer to offer the benefit nationwide, NBC News reported. Studies suggest doulas can reduce the rates of preterm births, cesarean sections, and postpartum depression. Separately, researchers see a link between midwife care and lower childhood vaccination rates.
The discounted drugs from German manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim are Jentadueto and Jentadueto XR, for Type 2 diabetes, as well as the COPD drug Striverdi Respimat, NBC News reported. Plus, the effects of the Iran war on drug supply chains; a gene-therapy drug shortage; and more.
Individuals could still opt into a different insurance arrangement, according to Medicare Director Chris Klomp. Meanwhile, President Trump's surgeon general nominee is still facing pushback.
That's a 2.6% increase in positions offered compared with 2025, according to the National Resident Matching Program, though a slightly lower percentage of the offered positions were filled, compared with last year.
The victim was identified as Nicholas “Nic” Crews, 34, a social work case manager who had worked at the Jasper clinic for nearly three years. Crews died at the hospital a day after the March 17 shooting. His widow is 38 weeks pregnant with their third child, Military.com reported.
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
Costs keep many Americans, even those with insurance, from getting dental care. Understanding how dental insurance works and leaning into preventive care can help keep dental problems — and bills — manageable.
About 10 weeks after the FDA approved a groundbreaking weight loss pill, federal regulators are now reviewing a second pill, CNN says. Meanwhile, the FDA says yes to a higher-dose Wegovy shot; results from Eli Lilly's newest medication show it reportedly helped diabetic patients lose more weight than any drug on the market; and Ozempic and Wegovy are going generic in Canada, India, and China.
In a KFF poll, 80% of respondents said that all health care costs are higher than last year, and 55% said they will have to reduce spending on food and basic household expenses to afford care. Meanwhile, 9% have had to drop coverage altogether and are now uninsured.
The judge agreed with states that the government didn't follow long-standing procedures when it altered policy, noting, “The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance.” Plus, the uncertainty of ACIP.
Georgia bans abortion after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy. Medical records estimated the woman had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks, AP reported. Plus: Mississippi and Ohio lawmakers weigh abortion restrictions; Wyoming and Massachusetts note patient counts at clinics; and more.
The number doctors use to demarcate high blood pressure keeps going down, a trend applauded by many experts, who point to studies linking the condition and dementia.
A federal judge in Massachusetts this week sided with public health groups to block changes to the federally recommended schedule of childhood vaccines, dealing at least a temporary setback to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remake the schedule. Meanwhile, Congress has put its debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act on the back burner, but the issue of rising health care costs is still front and center for the voting public. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman to kick off a new series looking at health care solutions, called “How Would You Fix It?”
The study shows that women who undergo premature menopause have a higher risk of fatal and nonfatal heart attacks. Black women were found to be three times as likely as white women to experience premature menopause.
The expanded coverage for new moms will begin July 1. Plus, looks at health care proposals that leaders and lawmakers are considering in Maine, Delaware, and Maryland.
The 19th breaks down the data from the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration from January 1, 2025, through Feb. 16, 2026, noting an uptick from previous years of immigrants who were deported. It also offers a picture of what is happening with prenatal care in immigration facilities.
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