Latest Morning Briefing Stories

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Cansados de pelear con las aseguradoras, hospitales ofrecen sus propios planes Medicare Advantage

KFF Health News Original

Aunque los planes administrados por hospitales representan solo una pequeña porción del mercado de Medicare Advantage, su número de afiliados sigue creciendo, en línea con el aumento general de beneficiarios de ese sistema.

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Farmers Now Owe a Lot More for Health Insurance

KFF Health News Original

More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, a much larger share than the overall percentage of U.S. adults. After a tough year for farmers, the loss of enhanced ACA subsidies is putting health insurance out of reach for many.

Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell: Companies Get Paid Only if Costly Gene Therapies Work

KFF Health News Original

The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program — created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump — could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.

Los pagos de Medicaid por el tratamiento de la anemia falciforme dependerán de su éxito

KFF Health News Original

Actualmente hay dos terapias génicas aprobadas por la FDA, con costos de $2,2 millones por paciente en un caso y $3,1 millones en el otro, sin incluir el gasto de la hospitalización prolongada que requieren.

Estados Unidos podría perder su estatus de país libre de sarampión

KFF Health News Original

Esto marca un cambio importante desde que Estados Unidos eliminara el sarampión en el año 2000. Hasta ahora, el virus aparecía de manera esporádica, con personas infectadas en el extranjero, pero rara vez provocaba brotes locales debido a las altas tasas de vacunación.

How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.

KFF Health News Original

Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: Culture Wars Take Center Stage

Podcast

With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned to culture war issues. Meanwhile, “confusion” remains the watchword at HHS as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” report.

Native Americans Are Dying From Pregnancy. They Want a Voice To Stop the Trend.

KFF Health News Original

Native American women face higher rates of death than other demographics. In response, Native Americans have been working with state and federal officials to boost tribal participation and leadership in maternal mortality review committees to better track and address pregnancy-related deaths.

GOP Cuts Will Cripple Medicaid Enrollment, Warns CEO of Largest Public Health Plan

KFF Health News Original

Martha Santana-Chin, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, last year took the helm of L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. She warns that looming federal cuts will push up to 650,000 people off L.A. Care’s Medicaid rolls by the end of 2028.

States Race To Launch Rural Health Transformation Plans

KFF Health News Original

Every state will receive at least $100 million annually from the federal Rural Health Transformation fund, but some scored millions more based on how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services judged the “quality” of their plans and willingness to pass policies embracing “Make America Healthy Again” initiatives.

This California Strategy Safeguarded Some Medicaid Social Services Funding From Trump

KFF Health News Original

Programs like Jamboree Housing Corp. have leveraged Medi-Cal funding to offer residents access to social services that experts say are key to keeping them off the streets. California intends to keep it that way, despite federal cuts.

RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Has Picked Up Steam in Statehouses. Here’s What To Expect in 2026.

KFF Health News Original

“Make America Healthy Again” policies driven by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made major strides in state legislatures, with food additives among the most common targets. The trend is expected to continue this year.

Nuevas alternativas para resolver la crisis del cuidado de salud en casa

KFF Health News Original

El cuidado en el hogar ya es una de las ocupaciones de más rápido crecimiento en el país: el año pasado había 3,2 millones de asistentes de salud en el hogar y de cuidado personal, frente a 1,4 millones una década atrás.