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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Where Jobs Are Scarce, Over 1 Million People Could Dodge Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules

KFF Health News Original

Under a new law, many Americans will have to meet a work requirement to obtain and keep their Medicaid coverage. But due to an exemption, millions living in areas of high unemployment could be spared.

In Hepatitis B Vaccine Debate, CDC Panel Sidesteps Key Exposure Risk

KFF Health News Original

At a recent meeting of a key vaccine advisory panel, members debated changes to the timing of hepatitis B vaccination, while largely ignoring the risk of early childhood transmission from day care or household contact. A few days later, President Donald Trump did the same.

20 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Still Struggles With Evacuation Plans That Minimize Health Risks

KFF Health News Original

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.

Listen: Young Adults Turning 26 Face Health Insurance Cliff

KFF Health News Original

The erosion of the Affordable Care Act has created an insurance cliff for Americans who are turning 26 and don’t have a job that provides medical coverage. Scared off by high price tags and the complexity of picking a policy, some young adults are going without insurance.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public Health Further Politicized Under the Threat of More Firings

Podcast

In a rambling news conference that shocked public health experts, President Donald Trump — without scientific evidence — blamed the over-the-counter drug acetaminophen, and too many childhood vaccines, for the increase in autism diagnoses in the U.S. That came days after a key immunization advisory panel, newly reconstituted with vaccine doubters, changed several long-standing recommendations. Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Demetre Daskalakis joins KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories. Meanwhile, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join Rovner with the rest of the news, including a threat by the Trump administration to fire rather than furlough federal workers if Congress fails to fund the government beyond the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.

AI Will Soon Have a Say in Approving or Denying Medicare Treatments

KFF Health News Original

A pilot program testing the use of artificial intelligence to expand prior authorization decisions in Medicare has providers, politicians, and researchers questioning Trump administration promises to curb an unpopular practice that has frustrated patients and their doctors.

She Had a Broken Arm, No Insurance — And a $97,000 Bill

KFF Health News Original

Deborah Buttgereit knew piecing together the broken bone in her elbow would be expensive. But complications the doctor deemed a surprise, midsurgery, drove the total bill tens of thousands of dollars above the original estimate.

Trump Claims ‘No Downside’ to Avoiding Tylenol During Pregnancy. He’s Wrong.

KFF Health News Original

Doctors say acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, is safe to take during pregnancy. Other over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen aren’t recommended because they can harm fetal development. Untreated fever in pregnancy can pose maternal and fetal health risks.

As the Trump Administration and States Push Health Data Sharing, Familiar Challenges Surface

KFF Health News Original

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.

States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit

KFF Health News Original

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.

Mercury in Your Hot Dog? Vaccine Skeptics Face Their Limits at Crucial CDC Meeting

KFF Health News Original

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meeting on vaccines pitted scientific expertise against vaccine skepticism. An often confusing debate ended with critics of the current vaccine schedule tabling a vote to remove one of its cornerstones.

Kennedy’s Take on Vaccine Science Fractures Cohesive National Public Health Strategies

KFF Health News Original

A lack of faith in the soundness of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new direction has led states to explore enacting their own vaccine policies. A patchwork of divergent recommendations and requirements could result.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Ousted CDC Officials Clap Back at RFK Jr.

Podcast

Fired less than a month after being confirmed as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez appeared at a dramatic Senate hearing this week alongside another ousted CDC official and directly contradicted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s earlier testimony about why she was fired. Monarez told the Health, […]

Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages

KFF Health News Original

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.