Medicaid

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Presidential Election Puts Affordable Care Act Back in the Bull’s-Eye

KFF Health News Original

The outcome of the upcoming presidential election could affect the number of insured Americans, the fate of premium-reducing subsidies, the shape of Medicaid, and the cost of coverage for tens of millions of people.

California Continues Progressive Policies, With Restraint, in Divisive Election Year

KFF Health News Original

This legislative cycle, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills affirming reproductive rights and mandating insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, but the Democrat was reluctant to impose new regulations and frequently cited costs for vetoing bills.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': LIVE From KFF: Health Care and the 2024 Election

Podcast

The Affordable Care Act has not been a major issue in the 2024 campaign, but abortion and reproductive rights have been front and center. Those are just two of the dozens of health issues that could be profoundly affected by who is elected president and which party controls Congress in 2025. In this special live episode, Tamara Keith of NPR, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Cynthia Cox and Ashley Kirzinger of KFF join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss how health policy has affected the campaign and how the election results might affect health policy. Plus, the panel answers questions from the live audience.

Patients Are Relying on Lyft, Uber To Travel Far Distances to Medical Care

KFF Health News Original

Uber and Lyft have become a critical part of the nation’s infrastructure for transporting ailing people from their homes — even in rural areas — to medical care sites in major cities such as Atlanta.

Montana Looks To Fast-Track Medicaid Access for Older Applicants

KFF Health News Original

As Montana’s population ages, providers serving low-income seniors say more people aren’t getting the care they need as they wait to get on Medicaid. Montana lawmakers are considering creating a shortcut to that care.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Health of the Campaign

Podcast

The 2024 presidential race is taking on a familiar tone — with Democrats accusing Republicans of wanting to ban abortion and repeal the Affordable Care Act and Republicans insisting they have no such plans. Voters will determine whom they believe. Meanwhile, for the second time in a month, a state judge overturned an abortion ban, but few expect the decision to settle the matter. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post “Bill of the Month,” about a teenage athlete whose needed surgery lacked a billing code.

Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding

KFF Health News Original

It was expected that the past year and a half would be a fraught time for Medicaid, the workhorse of the nation’s health system, which covers more people than any other government health insurance program. In April 2023, states resumed screening people for Medicaid eligibility and terminating coverage for those they said no longer qualified […]

California Medicaid Ballot Measure Is Popular, Well Funded — And Perilous, Opponents Warn

KFF Health News Original

Proposition 35, which would use revenue from a tax on managed-care plans to raise the pay of health care providers who serve Medi-Cal patients, has united a broad swath of California’s health care, business, and political establishments. But a newly formed, smaller group of opponents says it will do more harm than good.

Arkansas’ Governor Says Medicaid Extension for New Moms Isn’t Needed

KFF Health News Original

Federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days after delivery. Arkansas has not expanded what’s called postpartum Medicaid coverage, an option that gives poor women uninterrupted health insurance for a year after they give birth.

Tossed Medicine, Delayed Housing: How Homeless Sweeps Are Thwarting Medicaid’s Goals

KFF Health News Original

As California cities crack down on homeless encampments in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling authorizing fines and arrests, front-line workers say such sweeps are undercutting billions in state and federal Medicaid spending meant to stabilize people’s health and get them off the streets.

The First Year of Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Is Mired in Red Tape

KFF Health News Original

Georgia must decide soon whether to try to extend a limited Medicaid expansion that requires participants to work. Enrollment fell far short of goals in the first year, and the state isn’t yet able to verify participants are working.

‘What Happens Three Months From Now?’ Mental Health After Georgia High School Shooting

KFF Health News Original

The recent shooting at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta caused more than physical wounds. Medical experts worry a lack of mental health resources in the community — and in Georgia as a whole — means few options for those trying to cope with trauma from the shooting.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump-Harris Debate Showcases Health Policy Differences

Podcast

As expected, the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris offered few new details of their positions on abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and other critical health issues. But it did underscore for voters dramatic differences between the two candidates. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued rules attempting to better enforce […]

Longtime Head of L.A. Care To Retire After Navigating Major Medi-Cal Changes

KFF Health News Original

John Baackes, who steered Medi-Cal’s largest health plan following the Affordable Care Act expansion, and later prepared it for a state overhaul of Medi-Cal, will retire after this year. Baackes believes low payments to doctors and other providers, along with an acute labor shortage, hamper Medi-Cal’s success.

US Uninsured Rate Was Stable in 2023, Even as States’ Medicaid Purge Began

KFF Health News Original

About 8% of Americans lacked health insurance in 2023, the Census Bureau announced. But its report doesn’t capture the effect of states winnowing their Medicaid rolls by millions of people since the pandemic emergency ended.