Latest KFF Health News Stories
Prisons Routinely Ignore Guidelines on Dying Inmates’ End-of-Life Choices
Correctional officers often dictate end-of-life care for incarcerated people who are terminally ill. Most states either don’t have a formal policy or are given leeway — a big concern for families and advocates, as the incarcerated population rapidly ages.
Mental Health and Substance Misuse Treatment Is Increasingly a Video Chat or Phone Call Away
More Californians are getting mental health or substance use disorder treatment online or over the phone than in person, according to a KFF Health News analysis of UCLA’s latest California Health Interview Survey. But the telehealth experience isn’t always positive.
Newsom’s Pitch as He Seeks To Pare Down Immigrant Health Care: ‘We Have To Adjust’
Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he’s proud his state expanded health care to all low-income residents regardless of immigration status but that tough budget times call for some adjustments. The Democrat’s new budget proposes scaling back benefits to adults living in the country illegally, as well as charging them a $100 monthly premium.
Flawed Federal Programs Maroon Rural Americans in Telehealth Blackouts
Taxpayers — through federal infrastructure programs — have paid billions of dollars to internet companies to hook up rural Americans. Some communities have nothing to show for it, leaving medically vulnerable rural patients disconnected and without access to telehealth.
Trump’s Fast-Tracked Deal for a Copper Mine Heightens Existential Fight for Apache
Apache tribal members are already feeling psychological and spiritual harm as the Trump administration moves to fast-track a deal to turn their sacred land of Oak Flat, Arizona, into a copper mine.
Gavin Newsom enfrenta otra crisis sanitaria en el estado, que pone en riesgo la cobertura de salud para las personas sin papeles. Expertos opinan sobre las potenciales reducciones.
After Promising Universal Health Care, California Governor Must Reconsider Immigrant Coverage
Gov. Gavin Newsom was elected to office in 2019 on a promise of universal health care. He dramatically expanded coverage, but after six years, the Democrat is forced to contemplate deep cuts — including to the nation’s largest health care expansion to immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
Medicaid Payments Barely Keep Hospital Mental Health Units Afloat. Federal Cuts Could Sink Them.
Patients seeking mental health care are more likely to be on Medicaid than patients in more profitable areas of care, such as cancer or cardiac treatment.
Trump Once Vowed To End HIV in America. His Funding Cuts Are Rolling Back Progress.
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Honey, Sweetie, Dearie: The Perils of Elderspeak
A new training program teaches workers to stop the baby talk and address older people as adults.
A California Lawmaker Leans Into Her Medical Training in Fight for Health Safety Net
As California’s budget deadline looms, state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a physician-turned-lawmaker, says state leaders may soon have to make some tough decisions on health care spending. With the state’s Medi-Cal program billions of dollars short, California’s health care safety net is at risk — even without federal cuts to Medicaid.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
Meet the Florida Group Chipping Away at Public Benefits One State at a Time
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform has boosted the agenda of a conservative think tank that’s been working for more than a decade to reshape the nation’s public assistance programs.
Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
Trump Policies at Odds With ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Push
On the surface, President Donald Trump embraced the MAHA movement with a pledge to end the nation’s high rates of chronic disease. But the broader Trump agenda may prove to be the biggest barrier this effort confronts.
As Republicans Eye Sweeping Medicaid Cuts, Missouri Offers a Preview
Congressional Republicans are looking to cut at least $880 billion from a pool of federal funding that includes Medicaid — and the program is likely to take a major hit. A previous budget crunch in Missouri offers a window into how cuts ripple through people’s lives.
At Social Security, These Are the Days of the Living Dead
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
HIV Testing and Outreach Falter as Trump Funding Cuts Sweep the South
A disruption in federal funds has jeopardized HIV testing and outreach in Mississippi, and researchers warn of a resurgence of the epidemic in the South.
Despite Historic Indictment, Doctors Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills Across State Lines
When a New York physician was indicted for shipping abortion medications to a woman in Louisiana, it stoked fear across the network of doctors and medical clinics who engage in similar work. But some physicians vowed not to stop.
Alabama Can’t Prosecute Groups Helping Patients Get Abortions Elsewhere, Judge Rules
Although most abortions remain illegal in Alabama, a judge’s decision in early April allows doctors and advocacy groups to tell patients about abortion options in other states, and help with travel and other costs.
