Tracking State Rural Health Transformation Plans
KFF Health News is working to collect and post approved plans as more states respond to emails and public records requests for their documents.
Rural Health
KFF Health News covers the health issues facing people who live in America’s rural reaches.
161-180 of 829 results
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Investigation
At Least 170 US Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.
As a warming climate intensifies storms, KFF Health News has identified more than 170 U.S. hospitals at risk of significant and potentially dangerous flooding. Climate experts warn that the Trump administration’s cuts leave the nation less prepared.
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20 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Still Struggles With Evacuation Plans That Minimize Health Risks
As the climate changes, hurricanes are intensifying more quickly, leaving Louisiana’s current mass evacuation plan in limbo. But transportation officials say the price is too high to switch to methods used in Florida and Texas.
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As Trump Punts on Medical Debt, Battle Over Patient Protections Moves to States
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
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As the Trump Administration and States Push Health Data Sharing, Familiar Challenges Surface
Despite billions of tax dollars and two decades of effort invested in improving health care data sharing, Americans’ medical records often remain siloed, leading to duplicate testing, increased costs, and wasted time for patients and doctors.
By Sarah Kwon -
States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit
North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new federal tax-and-budget law takes effect.
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Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages
In a rural, largely Republican region of California, homegrown efforts to bolster the medical workforce face an uphill battle, in part because of federal health care cuts approved by the GOP Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July, as well as a state budget deficit.
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Ticks Are Migrating, Raising Disease Risks if They Can’t Be Tracked Quickly Enough
Doctors need to know when to screen for tick-borne diseases in their communities. But it’s getting harder for local health departments to get funding for tick surveys as federal public health grants from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dry up.
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Projected Surge in Uninsured Will Strain Local Health Systems
In South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, many people go without health insurance, and the health system struggles as a result. Similar communities dot the nation, and more could face such difficulties under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law.
By Sam Whitehead and Renuka Rayasam -
Collaborative Networks Become Popular Lifeline for Rural Hospitals
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
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Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
Independent and rural hospitals are collaborating with their neighbors to shore up their finances instead of joining larger health systems to stay afloat.
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Researchers Shift Tactics To Tackle Extremism as Public Health Threat
As extremism and radicalization worsen in the United States, a group of researchers is trying out a new approach that addresses the issue as a public health problem.
By Taylor Sisk -
When I Go, I’m Going Green
In a survey by the National Funeral Directors Association, more than 60% of respondents said they would be interested in exploring green and natural burial alternatives.
By Paula Span -
Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make a Profit? There’s Not Much Money in It
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.
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Blue States That Sued Kept Most CDC Grants, While Red States Feel Brunt of Trump Clawbacks
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.
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As Measles Exploded, Officials in Texas Looked to CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered.
Trump officials sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists, slowing their response to the measles outbreak in West Texas. Cases surged and sparked new outbreaks across the U.S. and Mexico. Together, these linked outbreaks have sickened more than 4,500 and killed at least 16 in the U.S. and Mexico.
By Amy Maxmen -
Native Americans Want To Avoid Past Medicaid Enrollment Snafus as Work Requirements Loom
As states prepare to implement changes to Medicaid required by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-and-spending law, tribal leaders say they are concerned Native American enrollees could lose their coverage, despite exemptions made by Congress.
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Optum Rx Invokes Open Meetings Law To Fight Kentucky Counties on Opioid Suits
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.
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Guns, Race, and Profit: The Pain of America’s Other Epidemic
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.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam -
‘A Fear Pandemic’: Immigration Raids Push Patients Into Telehealth
With intensified immigration enforcement in California, community clinics serving Latino and immigrant populations say they’ve noticed an increase in appointment cancellations and telehealth usage. But, as the covid-19 pandemic showed, accessing the necessary technology can be a challenge and virtual appointments can take a person’s health care only so far.
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Medicaid Cuts Could Have Vast Ripple Effects in This Rural Colorado Community
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.