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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

He Built Michigan’s Medicaid Work Requirement System. Now He’s Warning Other States.

KFF Health News Original

Michigan’s former top health official spent a year and $30 million building a system to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The difficulties he encountered have him worried about 40 states and Washington, D.C., having to launch such systems by 2027.

As Insurers Struggle With GLP-1 Drug Costs, Some Seek To Wean Patients Off

KFF Health News Original

Conventional wisdom says GLP-1 drugs must be taken indefinitely to maintain weight loss. But a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are challenging that consensus and exploring whether — and how — to taper patients off expensive GLP-1 drugs.

Listen: Limiting Benefits and Adding Restrictions, ‘MAHA’ Reshapes Food Aid

KFF Health News Original

The White House and congressional Republicans have made historic changes to the federal anti-hunger program SNAP. They say the changes will boost healthy eating for low-income Americans. Some nutrition experts aren’t so sure.

Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make a Profit? There’s Not Much Money in It

KFF Health News Original

Four pediatricians said evidence-based science and medicine and a desire to keep kids healthy drive doctors’ childhood vaccination recommendations. And while pediatric practices might make money immunizing privately insured children, most practices likely break even or lose money from providing the shots.

Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research

KFF Health News Original

The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to politicos, NIH workers say.

When Hospitals and Insurers Fight, Patients Get Caught in the Middle

KFF Health News Original

About 90,000 people spent months in limbo as central Missouri’s major, and often only, provider fought over insurance contracts. Patients getting caught in the crossfire of disputes has become a familiar complication, as about 8% of hospitals have left an insurer network since 2021. Trump administration policies could accelerate the trend.

Social Security Praises Its New Chatbot. Ex-Officials Say It Was Tested but Shelved Under Biden.

KFF Health News Original

Social Security, under the leadership of a tech enthusiast, rolled out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to answer calls. But as beneficiaries complain about glitches, lawmakers and former officials ask whether it’s a preview of a less human agency at which rushed-out AI takes the place of pushed-out government workers.

Blue States That Sued Kept Most CDC Grants, While Red States Feel Brunt of Trump Clawbacks

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration’s cuts of public health funds to state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of where someone lives, a new KFF Health News analysis shows.

Estos son los aumentos de precios que también deberían preocuparte

KFF Health News Original

Para muchas personas que tienen planes médicos creados por la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA) —porque trabajan para pequeñas empresas o pagan su propia cobertura— es probable que las tarifas hayan aumentado de forma aún más drástica.

Optum Rx Invokes Open Meetings Law To Fight Kentucky Counties on Opioid Suits

KFF Health News Original

In a Goliath-versus-David fight, UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, has filed lawsuits in five counties to stop them from including the company in national opioid litigation.

Guns, Race, and Profit: The Pain of America’s Other Epidemic

KFF Health News Original

Firearm violence is killing Americans at the scale of a public health epidemic. The suffering is concentrated in Black neighborhoods damaged by segregation, disinvestment, hate crimes, and other forms of racial discrimination.

Medicaid Cuts Could Have Vast Ripple Effects in This Rural Colorado Community

KFF Health News Original

In rural Colorado and across rural America, Medicaid is a lifeline, especially for people who wouldn’t otherwise have easy access to health care. That includes low-income seniors who need supplemental coverage in addition to Medicare, and people of all ages with disabilities.