Medicare Archives - Page 2 of 79

RFK Jr.’s Very Bad Week

Episode 437

March 12, 2026

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having rotator cuff surgery, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering, the controversial head of the FDA's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less than they do former Biden official Anthony Fauci. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News

40 Years of Health Policy

Episode 436

March 5, 2026

This month is 40 years since host Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner is joined by two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986.

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A man and woman seated at a table with papers, bills, receipts, and a calculator in front of them

Bill of the Month

Even Patients Are Shocked by the Prices Their Insurers Will Pay — And It Costs All of Us

Health care prices are on the rise, and patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren’t doing more to control costs.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

March 3, 2026

A husband sits in a chair conversing with his wife, who is in a wheelchair.

Priced Out

‘Kind of Morbid’: Health Premiums Threaten Their Nest Egg. A Terminal Diagnosis May Spare It.

Chaz and Jean Franklin were facing a sevenfold increase in their health premium payments with the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans at the end of 2025. Then Jean received a crushing diagnosis that will claim her life but save the couple money.

By Christine Mai-Duc

Feb. 26, 2026

Photo of the exterior of a stone building with a sign that says "Internal Revenue Service" along with a traffic light next to it

Priced Out

When It Comes to Health Insurance, Federal Dollars Support More Than ACA Plans

Questions of fairness came up in last year’s congressional debate about extending Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies. Critics wondered why the federal government should underwrite coverage costs for people with ACA coverage. In truth, though, almost all health insurance in the U.S. comes with some federal help.

By Julie Appleby

Feb. 20, 2026

A vector illustration of a "$" symbol between two hands.

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

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.

By Darius Tahir

Feb. 17, 2026

New Medicaid Work Rules Likely To Hit Middle-Aged Adults Hard

Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.

By Samantha Liss and Sam Whitehead

Feb. 11, 2026

An older woman wearing glasses stands in her kitchen.

Bill of the Month

Blurry Line Between Medical and Vision Insurance Leaves Patient With Unexpected Bill

A Wisconsin retiree with glaucoma needed her eyes examined. Her Medicare Advantage plan from UnitedHealthcare listed her optometrist’s clinic as in-network, but she learned the hard way that a clinic can be in-network and out-of-network at the same time.

By Tony Leys

Jan. 30, 2026

What the Health? From KFF Health News

The Hazards of ICE for Public Health

Episode 431

Jan. 29, 2026

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

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The emblem of the Department of Health & Human Services is shown on the side of a building

Medicare Advantage Insurers Face New Curbs on Overcharges in Trump Plan That Reins in Payments

Proposed Trump administration changes to federal Medicare Advantage payments would stop health insurers from mining patient data for extra medical diagnoses that generate more bills to taxpayers even without treatment.

By Fred Schulte

Jan. 29, 2026

A green clipboard with a Medicare Part C form. A pen rests on top of the form.

Sick of Fighting Insurers, Hospitals Offer Their Own Medicare Advantage Plans

Breakups between insurers and health systems, on top of plan cuts, left more than 3.7 million Medicare Advantage enrollees facing a tough choice last year: find new insurance or new doctors. But hospital systems say their Advantage plans can avert such upheaval, giving patients peace of mind.

By Susan Jaffe

Jan. 26, 2026

A senior man stands in a hallway with a walker. His reflection is visible, slightly blurred, in a mirror across from him.

THE NEW OLD AGE

These 3 Policy Moves Are Likely To Change Health Care for Older People

Two Trump administration regulatory rollbacks affect nursing home staffing and home care workers, and a new AI experiment in Medicare has alarmed eldercare advocates and congressional Democrats.

By Paula Span

Jan. 23, 2026

Kaiser Permanente To Pay $556 Million in Record Medicare Advantage Fraud Settlement

Kaiser Permanente agrees to pay $556 million to settle allegations of billing the government for conditions patients didn’t have.

By Fred Schulte

Jan. 15, 2026

The New Old Age

Older Americans Quit Weight Loss Drugs in Droves

In some studies, half of patients stopped taking GLP-1s within a year despite the benefits, citing the expense and side effects.

By Paula Span

Jan. 6, 2026

Watch: What Do Republicans Really Want on Health Care?

On “What the Health? From KFF Health News,” distributed by WAMU, chief Washington correspondent and podcast host Julie Rovner sat down with Avik Roy, a GOP health policy adviser, to talk about how health care has evolved as a Republican Party issue.

By Julie Rovner

Dec. 8, 2025

Two men walk beside each other in the hallway of a health clinic. Signage on the wall reads, "we help each other."

Rural Health Payout

Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.

The Trump administration has championed its Rural Health Transformation Program as an investment in American families who have been left behind. But Native American tribes, whose communities have a significant presence in rural America and have some of the greatest health needs, are ineligible to apply directly for funding.

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez

Dec. 4, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA

Episode 423

Nov. 20, 2025

Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the CDC altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy.

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A photo showing Mehmet Oz sitting at a table in a court room.

Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.

Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by KFF Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health providers are so skimpy they violate legal requirements.

By Susan Jaffe

Nov. 20, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

The Government Is Open

Episode 422

Nov. 13, 2025

The record-long federal shutdown is over after a small group of Democrats agreed to a deal with most Republicans that funds the government through January — but, notably, does not extend more generous Affordable Care Act tax credits. Plus, new details are emerging about how the Trump administration is using the Medicaid program to advance its policy goals. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.

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Shutdown Has Highlighted Washington’s Retreat From Big Ideas on Health Care

As voters feel financial pressure from runaway health care costs and crave innovations that would provide relief, the standoff in Congress has been firmly rooted in the status quo — keeping an existing provision of the Affordable Care Act alive.

By Stephanie Armour

Nov. 10, 2025

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