Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Estados rojos y azules buscan limitar el uso de la inteligencia artificial en seguros de salud. Trump quiere lo opuesto

KFF Health News Original

Arizona, Maryland, Nebraska y Texas aprobaron el año pasado leyes que limitan el uso de la IA en los seguros de salud. Otros dos, Illinois y California, habían aprobado leyes similares el año anterior.

State Lawmakers Seek Restraints on Wage Garnishment for Medical Debt

KFF Health News Original

At least eight states are considering legislation to curtail wage garnishment over unpaid medical bills, as health care costs rise and more people become underinsured.

Nevada Debuts Public Option Amid Tumultuous Federal Changes to Health Care

KFF Health News Original

The state recently became the third to offer a public option health plan through its Affordable Care Act marketplace. But researchers said it’s unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping changes at the federal level.

Wyoming Wants To Make Its Five-Year Federal Rural Health Funding Last ‘Forever’

KFF Health News Original

State officials believe they’ve found a way to extend the life of federal Rural Health Transformation Program money Wyoming is receiving as part of last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — by investing most of it.

Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.

KFF Health News Original

A revolt is afoot in both red and blue states against the use of artificial intelligence in health insurance determinations — and against efforts led by President Donald Trump to tie states’ hands.

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Nuevas reglas de trabajo de Medicaid podrían impactar más fuerte en adultos de mediana edad

KFF Health News Original

Los adultos de entre 50 y 64 años, especialmente las mujeres, son quienes probablemente resulten más afectados por las nuevas reglas que imponen trabajar para acceder al programa de salud.

Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In

KFF Health News Original

A planned 10-year federal program called Making Care Primary was supposed to help primary care doctors by easing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on improving patients’ health. A year after the Trump administration eliminated the program, federal officials created an alternative plan that favors companies.

Alabama’s ‘Pretty Cool’ Plan for Robots in Maternity Care Sparks Debate

KFF Health News Original

Alabama, a state with one of the nation’s highest infant mortality rates, is betting on robots to help fix its maternal care crisis. But the state’s plan for telerobotic ultrasounds in rural areas has raised doubts.

Louisville Found PFAS in Drinking Water. The Trump Administration Wouldn’t Require Any Action.

KFF Health News Original

After detecting a sudden spike in PFAS in its drinking water, the city traced it upstream along the Ohio River to a factory in West Virginia. But the EPA has relaxed Biden-era plans to regulate PFAS levels. So what happens next?

End of Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies Puts Tribal Health Lifeline at Risk

KFF Health News Original

Tribal insurance programs give Native Americans access to affordable health care when the Indian Health Service falls short. Those plans are threatened by the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Obamacare: el impacto de los costos en las inscripciones no se conocerá hasta dentro de varios meses

KFF Health News Original

Los subsidios mejorados, que redujeron el porcentaje del ingreso familiar que se debía pagar por la atención médica y eliminaron el límite de ingresos para calificar, expiraron a fines del año pasado.

Obamacare Sign-Ups Drop, but the Extent Won’t Be Clear for Months

KFF Health News Original

Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won’t be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or haven’t paid — their new, often much higher, premiums.

US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’

KFF Health News Original

At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to deworm horses and other animals, has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among supporters of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and many conservatives.

This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain

KFF Health News Original

Ballad Health, the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.

Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo

KFF Health News Original

U.S. Public Health Service doctors and nurses are being deployed to Guantánamo and other detention centers as President Donald Trump escalates mass arrests in his campaign to curb immigration. Some have resigned in protest. Others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.