Category: Health Fitness

Trump administration officials, looking at the possible impact of large insurance premium increases for millions of next year’s Obamacare customers, want more people to consider plans with less generous benefits and high deductibles. The agency that oversees the ACA announced early this month that it would expand eligibility for “catastrophic” plans sold in Affordable Care […]

A key federal vaccine advisory panel whose members were recently replaced by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to vote to recommend delaying until age 4 the hepatitis B vaccine that’s currently given to newborns, according to two former senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials. “There is going […]

Kate Ruder When Judith Miller had routine blood work done in July, she got a phone alert the same day that her lab results were posted online. So, when her doctor messaged her the next day that her overall tests were fine, Miller wrote back to ask about the elevated carbon dioxide and low anion […]

Cuando Judith Miller se hizo un análisis de sangre rutinario en julio, recibió una alerta en su teléfono ese mismo día indicando que sus resultados ya estaban disponibles en línea. Así que, cuando su doctor le escribió al día siguiente para decirle que en general todo estaba bien, Miller le preguntó sobre el nivel elevado […]

New moms all over social media are breaking down their incredibly expensive hospital bills after giving birth. So why is giving birth so pricey in the U.S.? And given the Trump administration’s anti-abortion, pro-natalist policies, is anything on the table to make having a child more affordable? KFF Health News video producer Hannah Norman spoke […]

Amy Frank said it took 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks, bouncing between her insurer and her local hospital system, to make sure her plan would cover her husband’s post-surgery care. Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer. […]

Lauren Sausser When Sally Nix found out that her health insurance company wouldn’t pay for an expensive, doctor-recommended treatment to ease her neurological pain, she prepared for battle. It took years, a chain of conflicting decisions, and a health insurer switch before she finally won approval. She started treatment in January and now channels time […]

It was March 2020, and Robert Gordon was about to kick some 80,000 people off health insurance. As the Michigan state health director, he had spent the past year, and some $30 million in state tax dollars, trying to avoid that very thing. Gordon was a Democrat, a veteran of the Obama administration, and he […]

Jamie Ducharme After losing 50 pounds on the injectable weight loss medication Zepbound, Kyra Wensley received a surprising letter from her pharmacy benefit manager in April. Her request for coverage had been denied, the letter said, because she’d had a body mass index of less than 35 when she started Zepbound. The 25-year-old who lives […]

LISTEN: Carrot or the stick? Some nutritionists say incentives are the best way to improve the diets of low-income Americans on food aid, while the Trump administration seems focused on restrictions. KFF Health News senior correspondent Renuka Rayasam appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Sept. 3 to explain. The Trump administration is making historic changes […]

Madison Czopek, PolitiFact It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior. But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy […]

The Trump administration has given notice that political appointees, rather than scientists, will ultimately decide who gets grant money from the world’s largest biomedical research funder — the federal government’s National Institutes of Health. In an Aug. 7 executive order, President Donald Trump announced that political officers would have the power to summarily cancel any […]

Amy Frank dijo que pasó 17 horas al teléfono durante casi tres semanas, rebotando entre su aseguradora y el sistema hospitalario local, para asegurarse de que el plan de salud cubriera la atención que su esposo necesitaba después de una cirugía. Muchas de sus llamadas no pasaron de la música en espera. Cuando lograba comunicarse, […]

John McGing couldn’t reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn’t business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren’t generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans. McGing, calling on behalf of his son, had an in-the-weeds question: how to […]

Henry Larweh and Rachana Pradhan and Rae Ellen Bichell The Trump administration’s cuts to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of a state, according to a KFF Health News analysis. Democratic-led states and select blue-leaning cities fought back in […]

Preocupados por la inflación, los estadounidenses han estado atentos a precios de productos cotidianos como los huevos y la gasolina. Pero un gasto menos conocido debería causar más alarma: el aumento de las primas de los seguros médicos. Llevan años subiendo, y ahora lo están haciendo a un ritmo sin precedentes. Hay que considerar que, […]

UnitedHealth Group’s multibillion-dollar pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, is suing five Kentucky counties in an attempt to force them out of national opioid litigation against the company. Pharmacy benefit managers, often called PBMs, act as middlemen that negotiate prescription drug prices between drug companies, insurance plans, and pharmacies. Some lawyers and advocates say PBMs helped […]

En el Valle de San Luis, al sur de Colorado, las nubes se elevan sobre las imponentes montañas de la cordillera Sangre de Cristo. Un coro de mirlos gorjea mientras revolotea entre los juncos de un refugio de vida silvestre. Grandes campos cultivados en forma de círculo, intercalados con arbustos autóctonos, dan una sensación de […]

BOGALUSA, La. — Less than a mile from a century-old mill that sustained generations in this small town north of New Orleans, 19-year-old Tajdryn Forbes was shot to death near his mother’s house. She found Forbes face down in the street in August 2023, two weeks before he had planned to move away from the […]

Medicare enrollees who buy the optional Part D drug benefit may see substantial premium price hikes — potentially up to $50 a month — when they shop for next year’s coverage. Such drug plans are used by millions of people who enroll in what is called original Medicare, the classic federal government program that began […]

As the federal government reworks rules for a $42 billion broadband expansion program, millions of Americans live in places where there aren’t enough health care providers and internet speeds aren’t good enough for telehealth. A KFF Health News analysis found people in these “dead zones” live sicker and die younger on average than their peers […]

Elisabeth Rosenthal and Hannah Norman, KFF Health News Amid the challenges of adulthood, one rite of passage is unique to the United States: the need to find your own health insurance by the time you turn 26. That is the age at which the Affordable Care Act declares that young adults generally must get off […]

Elisabeth Rosenthal It was supposed to be easier than this. When the Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010, the goal was to help more Americans get health insurance. And, indeed, the establishment of online marketplaces and a broadening of the eligibility guidelines for Medicaid accomplished that. Fifteen years later, however, that system is […]

In southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, clouds billow above the towering mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range. A chorus of blackbirds whistle as they flit among the reeds of a wildlife refuge. Big, circular fields of crops, interspersed with native shrubs, give it a feel of bucolic quiet. But amid the stark beauty in […]

Se suponía que iba a ser más fácil. Cuando la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA) se aprobó en marzo de 2010, el objetivo era ayudar a que más personas en el país obtuvieran seguro médico. Y, de hecho, la creación de mercados en línea y la ampliación de los criterios de […]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers whose jobs have been reinstated after dizzying Trump administration disruptions say they remain stuck in a budgetary, political, and professional limbo. Their work includes major agency priorities such as HIV testing and monitoring, as well as work at the nation’s leading sexually transmitted infections lab. And while employees […]

The Host Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement that the federal government will cancel nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding is unnerving not only for those who develop vaccines, but also for public health experts who see the technology behind the first covid-19 shots as the nation’s best hope to […]

National Institutes of Health workers provide interventional radiology services to a patient at the NIH Clinical Center in 2008. (National Institutes of Health/CC BY-NC 2.0) The number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center — the renowned research hospital that cares for patients with rare or life-threatening diseases — has […]

Michelle Andrews Si quieres vacunarte contra covid-19 este otoño, ¿lo cubrirá el seguro médico de tu empleador? No hay una respuesta clara. El secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., un veterano activista antivacunas, ha modificado radicalmente la forma en que se aprueban estas vacunas, y para quiénes se recomiendan, creando incertidumbre […]

If you want a covid-19 shot this fall, will your employer’s health insurance plan pay for it? There’s no clear answer. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has upended the way covid vaccines are approved and for whom they’re recommended, creating uncertainty where coverage was routine. Agencies within […]

Paula Span A long list of Lynda Hollander’s paternal relatives had heart disease, and several had undergone major surgeries. So when she hit her mid-50s and saw her cholesterol levels creeping up after menopause, she said, “I didn’t want to take a chance.” A cardiologist told Hollander that based on factors like age, sex, cholesterol, […]

A new breed of cosmetic surgery chains, some backed by private equity investors, are competing for a slice of the nation’s growing body-contouring market. The chains sell an array of body-reshaping operations, such as “Mommy Makeovers” and liposuction, targeting customers willing to pay up to $20,000 out-of-pocket for a new figure. A joint investigation by […]

Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News and Henry Larweh A little-known federal agency that sends more than $12 billion annually to support community health centers, addiction treatment services, and workforce initiatives for America’s neediest people has been hobbled by the Trump administration’s staffing purges. The cuts are “just a little astonishing,” said Carole Johnson, who […]

A Fortina Hernández la llaman “la que lo sabe todo”. Durante más de dos décadas, esta trabajadora de salud comunitaria ha ayudado a cientos de familias del sureste de Los Ángeles a inscribirse en programas de ayuda alimentaria, ha informado sobre seguros médicos asequibles y ha ayudado con medicamentos para sus afecciones crónicas. Su frase […]

A few days after a harrowing cosmetic surgery procedure, Erin Schaeffer said, she woke up with fluid leaking from an open wound in her stomach. Schaeffer went on to spend a week in a Florida hospital battling a severe infection after a type of tummy tuck and liposuction at the Jacksonville branch of Sono Bello, […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A […]

MISSOULA, Mont. — As congressional Republicans finalized Medicaid work requirements in President Donald Trump’s budget bill, one man who relies on that government-subsidized health coverage was trying to coax his old car to start after an eight-hour shift making sandwiches. James asked that only his middle name be used to tell his story so that […]

La terapia de rehabilitación puede ser una bendición después de una hospitalización por un derrame cerebral, una caída, un accidente, un reemplazo de articulación, una quemadura grave o una lesión de la médula espinal, entre otras afecciones. La fisioterapia, la terapia ocupacional y la terapia del habla se ofrecen en diversos entornos: hospitales, residencias de […]

A last-minute scramble to add a $50 billion rural health program to President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending law has left hospital and clinic leaders nationwide hopeful but perplexed. The Rural Health Transformation Program calls for federal regulators to hand states $10 billion a year for five years starting in fiscal year 2026. But […]

Most of the 24 million people in Affordable Care Act health plans face a potential one-two punch next year — double-digit premium increases along with a sharp drop in the federal subsidies that most consumers depend on to buy the coverage, also known as Obamacare. Insurers want higher premiums to cover the usual culprits — […]

Jordan Rau, KFF Health News Federal health officials do not inform consumers about severe safety violations in hospitals that specialize in physical rehabilitation. Nor does Medicare impose fines as it does for nursing homes, or provide easy-to-understand five-star ratings as it does for general hospitals, according to an investigation by KFF Health News and The […]

The Host The Senate has passed — and sent back to the House — a bill that would allow the Trump administration to claw back some $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. But first, senators removed from the bill a request to cut funding for the President’s Emergency Plan […]

Darius Tahir One of the world’s biggest genetic databases comprises DNA data donated over the years by more than a million retired military service members. It’s part of a project run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The initiative, dubbed the Million Veteran Program, is a “crown jewel of the country,” said David Shulkin, a […]

Jordan Rau, KFF Health News and Irena Hwang, The New York Times Rehab hospitals that help people recover from major surgeries and injuries have become a highly lucrative slice of the health care business. But federal data and inspection reports show that some run by the dominant company, Encompass Health Corp., and other for-profit corporations […]

Rehabilitation therapy can be a godsend after hospitalization for a stroke, a fall, an accident, a joint replacement, a severe burn, or a spinal cord injury, among other conditions. Physical, occupational, and speech therapy are offered in a variety of settings, including at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and at home. It’s crucial to identify a […]

On his way to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped by the home of podcaster Gary Brecka. The two spent time in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and tried some intravenous nutrition drips that Brecka, a self-avowed longevity and wellness maven, sells and promotes on his show, […]

Doctors, hospitals, and health insurers for weeks issued dire warnings to Republican lawmakers that millions of people would lose health coverage and hospitals would close if they cut Medicaid funding to help pay for President Donald Trump’s big tax and spending bill. But Republicans ignored those pleas, made even deeper cuts, and sent the legislation […]

Lauren Sausser and Katheryn Houghton As a postpartum doula, Dawn Oliver does her best work in the middle of the night. During a typical shift, she shows up at her clients’ home at 10 p.m. She answers questions they may have about basic infant care and keeps an eye out for signs of postpartum depression. […]

By Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV and Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV July 10, 2025 Article HTML Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV and Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV Kelli Reardon undergoes an MRI twice a year to screen for breast cancer, a measure she said she must take to protect her health. Her mother died of the disease at age 48, putting Reardon […]

The Host As he had wanted, President Donald Trump signed his big budget bill into a big budget law in a White House ceremony on July 4, cementing, among other things, billions of dollars in cuts to health programs such as Medicaid. The new law will also reshape rules for the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, […]

Nicole Silva’s 4-year-old daughter was headed to a relative’s house near the southern Colorado town of La Jara when a vehicle T-boned the car she was riding in. A cascade of ambulance rides ensued — a ground ambulance to a local hospital, an air ambulance to Denver, and another ground ambulance to Children’s Hospital Colorado. […]

In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate the return to work for a year. In Pennsylvania, doctors applying for credentials at Geisinger hospitals are not required to answer intrusive questions […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A […]

The Trump administration has declared that it will aggressively combat chronic disease in America. Yet in its feverish purge of federal health programs, it has proposed eliminating the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and its annual funding of $1.4 billion. That’s one of many disconnects between what the administration says about […]

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” cuts federal spending on Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplaces by about $1 trillion over a decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, threatening the physical and financial health of tens of millions of Americans. The bill, which the Senate passed Tuesday, would reverse many of the […]

El “One Big Beautiful Bill” del presidente Donald Trump recorta el gasto federal en los mercados de Medicaid y la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo precio (ACA) en aproximadamente $1.000 millones a lo largo de una década, según la Oficina de Presupuesto del Congreso (CBO), una entidad no partidista. Esto amenaza la salud […]

The Trump administration has launched investigations into health care organizations in an effort to allow providers to refuse care for transgender patients on religious or moral grounds. One of the most recent actions by the Department of Health and Human Services, launched in mid-June, targets the University of Michigan Health system over a former employee’s […]

As fired and retired scientists rallied outside in the Atlanta heat, an advisory panel that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. handpicked to replace experts he’d fired earlier met inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters to plan a more skeptical vaccine future. The new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began their […]

The Host It’s not exactly news that our nation’s health care system is only a “system” in the most generous sense of the word and that no one entity is really in charge of it. Notwithstanding, there are some specific responsibilities that belong to the federal government, others that belong to the states, and still […]

Paula Span Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out-of-pocket. Her doctor and several pharmacies turned her down because she was below […]

Within an hour of receiving a covid vaccination in November 2020, Utah preschool teacher Brianne Dressen felt pins and needles through her arms and legs. In the medical odyssey that followed, she suffered double vision, chronic nausea, brain fog, and profound weakness. Once a rock climber, she became a couch potato. Although Dressen’s symptoms were […]

GREENVILLE, Miss. — Cedric Sturdevant woke up with “a bit of depression” but made it to church, as he does every Sunday. In a few days, he would drive from Mississippi to Washington, D.C., to join HIV advocates at an April rally against the Trump administration’s actions. It had clawed back more than $11 billion […]

Nearly seven months after the fatal shooting of an insurance CEO in New York drew widespread attention to health insurers’ practice of denying or delaying doctor-ordered care, the largest U.S. insurers agreed Monday to streamline their often cumbersome preapproval system. Dozens of insurance companies, including Cigna, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare, agreed to several measures, which […]

Kim Beckham, agente de seguros en Victoria, Texas, había visto a sus amigos sufrir tanto por la culebrilla (shingles) que quería recibir la primera vacuna aprobada contra esta infección tan pronto como estuviera disponible, incluso si tenía que pagarla de su bolsillo. Su médico y varias farmacias le dijeron que no podían administrarle la vacuna […]

Bernard J. Wolfson Republican efforts to restrict taxes on hospitals, health plans, and other providers that states use to help fund their Medicaid programs could strip them of tens of billions of dollars. The move could shrink access to health care for some of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable people, warn analysts, patient advocates, […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A […]

Jariel Arvin On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight in all. Pregnant with her second child, she schleps a backpack instead of a traditional black bag to carry a laptop and essential medical supplies — stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and pulse […]

Decenas de expertos en VIH de los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) recibieron correos electrónicos el miércoles 11 de junio revocando las notificaciones de despido recibidas diez semanas atrás. Sin embargo, el daño a sus proyectos podría ser permanente, y las restricciones continuas a sus investigaciones perjudicarán vidas, dijeron científicos de […]

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — By the time Eric Tennant was diagnosed in 2023 with a rare cancer of the bile ducts, the disease had spread to his bones. He weighed 97 pounds and wasn’t expected to survive a year with stage 4 cancer. Two years later, grueling rounds of chemotherapy have slowed the cancer’s progress, even […]

Hundreds of workers at the National Institutes of Health — the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world — are openly protesting the Trump administration’s policies regarding the agency, saying the upheaval and harm being done to the institution is so great that they felt they had no choice.  A letter sent June […]

Dozens of HIV experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received emails on Wednesday revoking notices they received 10 weeks ago that laid them off. Damage to their projects may be permanent, however, and ongoing restrictions on their research will harm lives, multiple HIV scientists at the CDC told KFF Health News on […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A […]

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. A podcast producer and director emeritus of WOUB Public Media zeroed in on our article about restless doctors, sharing his thoughts on X: This must be Trump and Kennedy’s idiotic plan […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News Major changes could be in store for the more than 24 million people with health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, including how and when they can enroll, the paperwork required, and, crucially, the premiums they pay. A driver behind these changes is the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the name […]

Rob Kennedy mingled with about a dozen other people in a community space in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The room, decorated with an under-the-sea theme, had a balloon arch decked out with streamers meant to look like jellyfish and a cloud of clear balloons mimicking ocean bubbles. Kennedy comes to this memory cafe twice a month […]

Don Thompson SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After decades of unsuccessful efforts to improve California prison conditions ruled unconstitutional and blamed for record-high suicides, advocates and a federal judge are betting that bonuses and better work accommodations will finally be enough to attract and keep the mental health providers needed to treat prisoners. The funds come from […]

The Trump administration’s cancellation of $766 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines against potential pandemic flu viruses is the latest blow to national defense, former health security officials said. They warned that the U.S. could be at the mercy of other countries in the next pandemic. “The administration’s actions are gutting our deterrence from […]

JoEllen Zembruski-Ruple, while in the care of New York City’s renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, swallowed the first three chemotherapy pills to treat her squamous cell carcinoma on Jan. 29, her family members said. They didn’t realize the drug could kill her. Six days later, Zembruski-Ruple went to Sloan Kettering’s urgent care department to […]

A principios de este año, cuando el presidente Donald Trump comenzaba a remodelar el gobierno, Michael, un médico de emergencias nacido, criado y formado en Estados Unidos, hizo las maletas y se marchó con su familia. Michael trabaja ahora en un pequeño hospital de un pueblo de Canadá. KFF Health News y NPR le han […]

Despite years of patient complaints and quality-of-care concerns, Ballad Health — the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly — will now be held to a lower standard by the Tennessee government, and state data that holds the monopoly accountable will be kept from the public for two years. Ballad is the only option for hospital care […]

Stephanie Armour The Trump administration’s anti-regulatory approach and cost-cutting moves risk unraveling a critical system of checks and balances that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply, industry experts told KFF Health News.  An E. coli outbreak that occurred late last year — for which the investigation was concluded in February — signals […]

Earlier this year, as President Donald Trump was beginning to reshape the American government, Michael, an emergency room doctor who was born, raised, and trained in the United States, packed up his family and got out. Michael now works in a small-town hospital in Canada. KFF Health News and NPR granted him anonymity because of […]

SAN FRANCISCO — Health nonprofits and medical interpreters warn that federal cuts have eliminated dozens of positions in California for community workers who help non-English speakers sign up for insurance coverage and navigate the health care system. At the same time, people with limited English proficiency have scaled back their requests for language services, which […]

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Organizaciones de salud sin fines de lucro e intérpretes médicos advierten que los recortes federales han eliminado docenas de puestos de trabajadores comunitarios en California, que ayudan a quienes no hablan inglés a obtener cobertura médica y a navegar el sistema de salud. Al mismo tiempo, las personas con dominio limitado […]

At one call center in the Philippines, workers help Americans with diabetes or neurological conditions troubleshoot devices that monitor their health. Sometimes they get pressing calls: elderly patients who are alone and experiencing a medical emergency. “That’s not part of the job of our employees or our tech supports,” said Ruth Elio, an occupational nurse […]

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Page Campbell’s doctor recommended she try an injectable prescription drug called Wegovy to lose weight before scheduling bariatric surgery, she readily agreed. “I’ve struggled with my weight for so long,” said Campbell, 40, a single mother of two. “I’m not opposed to trying anything.” In early April, about four weeks after […]

It’s a marvel of food technology: ice cream that resists melting. In a video explaining the science behind it, a seller of food chemicals shows scoops of ice cream holding their shape under hot lights. The super ingredient? Polysorbate 80. Polysorbate 80 is an emulsifier, a chemical used to control the consistency of thousands of […]

Health care has proved a vulnerable target for the firehose of cuts and policy changes President Donald Trump ordered in the name of reducing waste and improving efficiency. But most of the impact isn’t as tangible as, say, higher egg prices at the grocery store. One thing experts from a wide range of fields, from […]

WINNER, Dakota del Sur — Sophie Hofeldt tenía previsto hacerse los controles de embarazo y dar a luz en el hospital local, a 10 minutos de su casa. En cambio, ahora, para ir a la consulta médica, tiene que conducir más de tres horas entre ida y vuelta. Es que el hospital donde se atendía, […]

WINNER, S.D. — Sophie Hofeldt planned to receive prenatal care and give birth at her local hospital, 10 minutes from her house. Instead, she’s driving more than three hours round trip for her appointments. The hospital, Winner Regional Health, recently joined the increasing number of rural hospitals shuttering their birthing units. “It’s going to be […]

In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man’s defensive wall in a tariff war. Independent pharmacist Benjamin Jolley and his colleagues worry that the tariffs, aimed at bringing drug production to the United States, could instead drive companies out of business […]

More Californians are talking to their therapists through a video screen or by phone than in person, marking a profound shift in how mental health care is delivered as record-setting numbers seek help. While patients and providers say teletherapy is effective and easier to get than in-person services, experts in the field noted that teletherapy […]

OAK FLAT, Ariz. — Carrying eagle feathers and chanting prayers, Western Apache runners hit the road on a roughly 80-mile journey this month to try to save their sacred land from being fast-tracked by President Donald Trump into a copper mine. This nationally watched battle, which hinges on religious freedom, awaits the U.S. Supreme Court. […]

Dan Weissmann News has been coming out of Washington, D.C., since the start of the second Donald Trump administration like water out of a fire hose. It can feel impossible to stay on top of all the changes. So in this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with KFF Health […]

Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News On the eastern plains of Colorado, in a county of less than 6,000 people, Lincoln Health runs the only hospital within a 75-minute drive. The facility struggles financially, given its small size and the area’s tiny population. But for over a decade, the Hugo, Colorado-based health system has remained afloat […]

Cuando una mujer se desplomó en una escalera mecánica en el aeropuerto de Buffalo, en Nueva York, el pasado junio, Phil Clough supo qué hacer. Él y otro transeúnte la colocaron boca arriba y le revisaron el pulso (débil) y la respiración (superficial y errática). Luego la mujer dejó de respirar por completo. Al darse […]

Rennie Glasgow, who has served 15 years at the Social Security Administration, is seeing something new on the job: dead people. They’re not really dead, of course. In four instances over the past few weeks, he told KFF Health News, his Schenectady, New York, office has seen people come in for whom “there is no […]

El principal organismo no partidario de control gubernamental del país ha confirmado que está examinando los costos de operar el único programa de Medicaid activo con requisito de trabajo, mientras legisladores republicanos estatales y federales consideran requisitos similares. La Oficina de Responsabilidad Gubernamental de Estados Unidos (GAO) informó a KFF Health News que su análisis […]

The Trump administration’s unprecedented $500 million grant for a broadly protective flu shot has confounded vaccine and pandemic preparedness experts, who said the project was in early stages, relied on old technology, and was just one of more than 200 such efforts. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shifted the money from […]

The FDA has rehired at least some workers tasked with releasing public records generated by the agency’s regulatory activities, two employees said. The recall reverses firings carried out roughly a month ago by the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the agency. Workers who process records about medical device and tobacco regulation under […]

The country’s top nonpartisan government watchdog has confirmed it is examining the costs of running the nation’s only active Medicaid work requirement program, as Republican state and federal lawmakers consider similar requirements. The U.S. Government Accountability Office told KFF Health News that its analysis of the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program could be released this […]

Sumana Reddy, a primary care physician, struggles on thin financial margins to run Acacia Family Medical Group, the small independent practice she founded 27 years ago in Salinas, a predominantly Latino city in an agricultural valley often called “the salad bowl of the world.” Reddy can’t match the salaries offered by larger health systems — […]

Aneri Pattani Cuando la administración Trump recortó a finales de marzo más de $11.000 millones en fondos estatales destinados a la era de covid-19, los programas de recuperación de adicciones sufrieron pérdidas rápidas. Una organización de Indiana que emplea a personas en recuperación para ayudar a compañeros con trastornos por adicciones y afecciones mentales se […]

When a woman collapsed on an escalator at the Buffalo, New York, airport last June, Phil Clough knew what to do. He and another bystander put her flat on her back and checked her pulse (faint) and her breathing (shallow and erratic). Then she stopped breathing altogether. Realizing that she might be having a cardiac […]

For several years, Fred Neary had been seeing five doctors at the Baylor Scott & White Health system, whose 52 hospitals serve central and northern Texas, including Neary’s home in Dallas. But in October, his Humana Medicare Advantage plan — an alternative to government-run Medicare — warned that Baylor and the insurer were fighting over […]

Hospitals have spent years amassing political influence at the federal and state levels. According to the nonprofit OpenSecrets, hospitals and nursing homes’ federal lobbying spending rose from $35 million in 2000 to more than $133 million last year, a 280% increase.  They recently had a unique opportunity to flex some of that political muscle in […]

When the Trump administration cut more than $11 billion in covid-era funds to states in late March, addiction recovery programs suffered swift losses. An Indiana organization that employs people in recovery to help peers with substance use disorders and mental illness was forced to lay off three workers. A Texas digital support service for people […]

Kristen Schorsch, WBEZ Chicago He’s 17 and lives in the Chicago suburbs. He loves theater and recently helped direct a play at his high school. He takes competitive AP courses and is working on his Eagle Scout project. And he’s been on a journey for four years. Once a week, the transgender teen injects testosterone […]

Mike Dennison HELENA, Mont. — As Republican legislative leaders in Montana girded for this year’s battle over whether to extend Medicaid expansion in the state, they took aim at one of the program’s biggest backers: hospitals. If Montana’s hospitals wanted to extend the government health insurance program that cost taxpayers about $1 billion in 2024, […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News They’re the fixers, the ones who step in when Affordable Care Act enrollees have a problem with their coverage, like a newborn incorrectly left off a policy or discovering that a rogue broker had signed them up or switched their plan without consent. Specially trained caseworkers help resolve such issues, […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News They’re the fixers, the ones who step in when Affordable Care Act enrollees have a problem with their coverage, like a newborn incorrectly left off a policy or discovering that a rogue broker had signed them up or switched their plan without consent. Specially trained caseworkers help resolve such issues, […]

Paula Span The assisted living facility in Edina, Minnesota, where Jean Peters and her siblings moved their mother in 2011, looked lovely. “But then you start uncovering things,” Peters said. Her mother, Jackie Hourigan, widowed and developing memory problems at 82, too often was still in bed when her children came to see her midmorning. […]

Even by rural hospital standards, Keokuk County Hospital and Clinics in southeastern Iowa is small. The 14-bed hospital, in Sigourney, doesn’t do surgeries or deliver babies. The small 24-hour emergency room is overseen by two full-time doctors. CEO Matt Ives wants to hire a third doctor, but he said finding physicians for a rural area […]

The Host Emmarie Huetteman KFF Health News Emmarie Huetteman, senior editor, oversees a team of Washington reporters, as well as “Bill of the Month” and KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” She previously spent more than a decade reporting on the federal government, most recently covering surprise medical bills, drug pricing reform, and other health policy debates […]

Rae Ellen Bichell and Rachana Pradhan The National Institutes of Health’s sweeping cuts of grants that fund scientific research are inflicting pain almost universally across the U.S., including in most states that backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. A KFF Health News analysis underscores that the terminations are sparing no part of the […]

Michele Andrews had been seeing her internist in Northampton, Massachusetts, a small city two hours west of Boston, for about 10 years. She was happy with the care, though she started to notice it was becoming harder to get an appointment. “You’d call and you’re talking about weeks to a month,” Andrews said. That’s not […]

For many years, Eric Wunderlin’s health issues made it hard to find stable employment. Struggling to manage depression and diabetes, Wunderlin worked part-time, minimum-wage retail jobs around Dayton, Ohio, making so little he said he sometimes had to choose between paying rent and buying food. But in 2018, his CareSource Medicaid health plan offered him […]

Arielle Zionts Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only way to maintain services and protect patients is to end their contracts with the private insurers.  Medicare is the main federal health insurance program for people 65 or older. Participants […]

Mass firings at the FDA have decimated divisions tasked with releasing public records generated by the agency’s regulatory activities in sectors including tobacco, food, medical devices, and veterinary medicine. But as the dust settled on the layoff melee, a notable exception emerged among the agency’s staff charged with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests. […]

Because of past fraud by rogue brokers, some Affordable Care Act policyholders may get an unexpected tax bill this season. But that isn’t the only potential shock. Other changes coming soon — stemming from proposals by the administration of President Donald Trump — could affect their coverage and its cost. And sorting out related problems […]

Alanys Ortiz entiende las señales de Josephine Senek antes de que ella pueda decir nada. Josephine, quien vive con una rara y debilitante condición genética, mueve los dedos cuando está cansada y muerde el aire cuando algo le duele. Josephine tiene 16 años y ha sido diagnosticada con mosaicismo de tetrasomía 8p, autismo severo, trastorno […]

Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only way to maintain services and protect patients is to end their contracts with the private insurers. Medicare Advantage plans pay hospitals lower rates than traditional Medicare, said Jason Merkley, CEO of Brookings […]

Rachana Pradhan and Brett Kelman Public access to government records that document the handling of illnesses, faulty products, and safety lapses at health facilities will slow after mass firings at the federal Department of Health and Human Services swept out staff members responsible for releasing records, according to transparency advocates and health experts. HHS Secretary […]

MANSFIELD, La. — When Desoto Regional Health System took out $36 million in loans last year to renovate a rural hospital that opened in 1952, officials were banking on its main funding source remaining stable: Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for low-income people and the disabled. But those dollars are now in jeopardy, as […]

Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has made combating fraud a centerpiece of his administration. Trump has said he will target fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs, and his Republican allies in Congress have made combating fraud a key argument in their plans to slash Medicaid. Trump also has empowered […]

Alanys Ortiz reads Josephine Senek’s cues before she speaks. Josephine, who lives with a rare and debilitating genetic condition, fidgets her fingers when she’s tired and bites the air when something hurts. Josephine, 16, has been diagnosed with tetrasomy 8p mosaicism, severe autism, severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, among other conditions, which will require […]

A view of 5600 Fishers Lane in Rockville, Maryland, which houses the headquarters of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other health agencies. According to a senior AHRQ official who spoke on condition of anonymity, a climate of deep depression has settled over the agency’s offices. (Antony-22/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0) Sue Sheridan’s baby […]

Five years ago, the CEO of one of the largest pain clinic companies in the Southeast was sentenced to more than three years in prison after being convicted in a $4 million illegal kickback scheme. But after just four months behind bars, John Estin Davis walked free. President Donald Trump commuted Davis’ sentence in the […]

HENRICO, Va. — Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company. Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder. […]

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s small, independent pharmacies say they’re getting increasingly squeezed on reimbursements by pharmacy benefit managers — and are pushing an ambitious bill to rein in what they say are unfair practices by the powerful industry negotiators known as PBMs. “Who in their right mind would subject themselves to this sort of treatment […]

Mari Villar was slammed by a car that jumped the curb, breaking her legs and collapsing a lung. Amy Paulo was in pain from a femur surgery that wasn’t healing properly. Katie Kriegshauser suffered organ failure during pregnancy, weakening her so much that she couldn’t lift her baby daughter. All went to physical therapy, but […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to […]

HELENA, Mont. — Mark Nay’s first client had lost the van she was living in and was struggling with substance use and medical conditions that had led to multiple emergency room visits. Nay helped her apply for Medicaid and food assistance and obtain copies of her birth certificate and other identification documents needed to apply […]

The routine is familiar for most people: When checking in for an appointment with a doctor or other health care provider, patients typically complete and sign a pile of paperwork, including a form that contains some version of the statement, “I agree to pay for all charges not covered by my insurance company.” Patients may […]

The Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI programs could exacerbate an unexpectedly steep drop in diversity among medical school students, even in states like California, where public universities have been navigating bans on affirmative action for decades. Education and health experts warn that, ultimately, this could harm patient care. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has […]

When the FDA announced in January, before President Joe Biden’s term ended, that it would ban a dye called red dye No. 3 in food and ingested drugs, the federal agency cited just one 1987 study on rats to support its action. The industry-funded study, based on data from two prior studies, was led by […]

HELENA, Mont. — Montana lawmakers are grappling with how — if at all — the state should rein in kratom, an unregulated plant-derived substance with addictive properties sold mainly as a mood and energy booster at gas stations, vape shops, and elsewhere. Kratom, which originates from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia, […]

(iStock/Getty Images) Spending cuts, immigration, and Medicaid are at the top of the Washington agenda. That climate provides fertile ground for misinformation and myths to multiply on social networks. Some of the most common are those surrounding immigrants, Latinos, and Medicaid. These claims include assertions that Latinos who use Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News La administración Trump publicó el lunes 10 de marzo su primer conjunto importante de cambios propuestos a la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA). Funcionarios federales dicen que tienen como objetivo acabar con el fraude en el programa. Pero expertos aseguran que dificultará la inscripción, lo que […]

Phillip Reese Kirk Vartan pays more than $2,000 a month for a high-deductible health insurance plan from Blue Shield on Covered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. He could have selected a cheaper plan from a different provider, but he wanted one that includes his wife’s doctor. “It’s for the two of us, and […]

Vanessa G. Sánchez When patients walked into Planned Parenthood clinics, a consumer data company sold their precise locations to anti-abortion groups for targeted ads. When patients picked up prescriptions for testosterone replacement therapy, law enforcement retrieved their names and addresses without a warrant. And when a father was arrested by immigration authorities, agents allegedly accessed […]

President Donald Trump’s health officials want you to take your vitamins. Mehmet Oz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has fed calves on camera to tout the health wonders of bovine colostrum on behalf of one purveyor in which he has a financial stake. Janette Nesheiwat, the potential surgeon general, […]

Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco medical school, has spent well over a decade researching the disquieting risk that one of modern medicine’s most valuable tools, computerized tomography scans, can sometimes cause cancer. Smith-Bindman and like-minded colleagues have long pushed for federal policies aimed at improving safety for patients undergoing CT […]

After a patch of ice sent Marc Durocher hurtling to the ground, and doctors at UMass Memorial Medical Center repaired the broken hip that resulted, the 75-year-old electrician found himself at a crossroads. He didn’t need to be in the hospital any longer. But he was still in pain, unsteady on his feet, unready for […]

A year ago, a new head of Social Security set out to stop the agency from financially devastating many of the people it was meant to help. The agency had long made it a practice to reduce or halt benefit checks to recoup billions of dollars in payments it sent recipients but later said they […]

When congressional Republicans in 2017 pushed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and slash Medicaid, dozens of physician groups, patient advocates, hospitals, and others rallied to defend the law and the safety-net program. Eight years later, two industry groups have been notably restrained as GOP lawmakers consider sweeping new Medicaid cuts: the American Medical Association […]

The Trump administration issued its first major set of proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act on Monday that federal officials said are intended to crack down on fraud in the program. Policy experts said they will make it harder for consumers to sign up for coverage, potentially reducing enrollment. Details were released Monday after […]

Researchers racing to develop bird flu vaccines for humans have turned to a cutting-edge technology that enabled the rapid development of lifesaving covid shots. There’s a catch: The mRNA technology faces growing doubts among Republicans, including people around President Donald Trump. Legislation aimed to ban or limit mRNA vaccines was introduced this year by GOP […]

Arthur Allen Panelists at a covid conference last fall were asked to voice their regrets — policies they had supported during the pandemic but had come to see as misguided. Covid contact tracing, one said. Closing schools, another said. Vaccine mandates, a third said. When Marty Makary’s turn came, the Johns Hopkins University surgeon said, […]

The U.S. public health system has long been under strain, stymied by declines in funding as well as employees. And so state and local public health departments around the nation — tasked with monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks that threaten to sicken the masses — have relied on workers from the Centers for Disease […]

Cada vez más estados están facilitando que médicos que se formaron en otros países obtengan licencias médicas, un cambio que, según los partidarios, podría aliviar la escasez de doctores en áreas rurales. Los cambios involucran a los programas de residencia: la experiencia práctica y supervisada que los médicos deben completar después de graduarse de la […]

The Trump administration’s sudden firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees gutted training programs across the nation whose participants bolstered the workforce of state and local public health departments that for decades have been starved of resources. The programs are designed to cultivate a new generation of public health leaders, many of whom […]

Fred Schulte, KFF Health News The Justice Department’s years-long court battle to force UnitedHealth Group to return billions of dollars in alleged Medicare Advantage overpayments hit a major setback Monday when a special master ruled the government had failed to prove its case. In finding for UnitedHealth, Special Master Suzanne Segal found that the DOJ […]

Noam N. Levey As President Donald Trump wrapped up his first term in 2020, he signed legislation to protect Americans from surprise medical bills. “This must end,” Trump said. “We’re going to hold insurance companies and hospitals totally accountable.” But the president’s wide-ranging push to slash government spending, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is weakening […]

Chikao Tsubaki had been having a terrible time. In his mid-80s, he had a stroke. Then lymphoma. Then prostate cancer. He was fatigued, isolated, not all that steady on his feet. Then Tsubaki took part in an innovative care initiative that, over four months, sent an occupational therapist, a nurse, and a handy worker to […]

A growing number of states have made it easier for doctors who trained in other countries to get medical licenses, a shift supporters say could ease physician shortages in rural areas. The changes involve residency programs — the supervised, hands-on training experience that doctors must complete after graduating medical school. Until recently, every state required […]

Angela Hart Los Angeles County homelessness leaders last year reported nearly 30,000 permanent housing placements — an annual high for the sprawling region of 10 million residents. Thousands more got into shelter and short-term housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom and local leaders celebrated the progress as evidence that an unprecedented multibillion-dollar public investment to move people […]

Angela Hart ALTADENA, Calif. — As flames engulfed a nearby canyon, dozens of residents in a sober-living home fled to an unoccupied building about 30 miles south. The evacuees, many of whom were previously homeless, watched helplessly as their home burned on live TV. When they awoke on air mattresses the next morning, loss set […]

Jackie Fortiér The lobby at this St. John’s Community Health clinic in South Los Angeles bustles with patients. But community health worker Ana Ruth Varela is worried that it’s about to get a lot quieter. Many patients, she said, are afraid to leave their homes. “The other day I spoke with one of the patients. […]

Jackie Fortiér El vestíbulo de la clínica comunitaria St. John’s Community Health en el sur de Los Ángeles está repleto de pacientes, pero a la trabajadora de salud comunitaria Ana Ruth Varela le preocupa que todo se vuelva mucho más tranquilo. Dijo que muchos pacientes tienen miedo de salir de sus casas. “El otro día […]

At a recent Nevada legislative committee hearing, lawmakers faced off with members of the governor’s administration over how to fill gaping holes in the state’s upcoming budget. At issue: whether opioid settlement money — paid by health care companies that were sued for fueling the opioid crisis and meant to help states abate addiction — […]

Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA’s “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances — ending the federal agency’s “war on public health,” as he put it. In fact, the FDA can’t even require that supplements […]

Renuka Rayasam Congressional lawmakers are facing tricky arithmetic as they hammer out a budget plan to finance President Donald Trump’s agenda.  Republicans need to free up roughly $4 trillion to pay for renewing Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which expire at the end of the year. Trump has vowed not to touch the costliest government programs, […]

A Kentucky county nestled in the heart of Appalachia, where the opioid crisis has wreaked devastation for decades, spent $15,000 of its opioid settlement money on an ice rink. That amount wasn’t enough to solve the county’s troubles, but it could have bought 333 kits of Narcan, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses. Instead, […]

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. — Each month, Michelle Shaw went to a pain clinic to get the shots that made her back feel worse — so she could get the pills that made her back feel better. Shaw, 56, who has been dependent on opioid painkillers since she injured her back in a fall a decade ago, […]

Christine Mai-Duc When Colleen Henderson’s 3-year-old daughter complained of pain while using the bathroom, doctors brushed it off as a urinary tract infection or constipation, common maladies in the potty-training years. After being told her health insurance wouldn’t cover an ultrasound, Henderson charged the $6,000 procedure to her credit card. Then came the news: There […]

Collection agents for the state of Iowa have sent letters seeking millions of dollars from the estates of at least two people with disabilities who died after spending most of their lives in a state institution. The amounts represent what Medicaid spent covering the residents’ care when they lived at the Glenwood Resource Center, a […]

HAVANA, Florida. — Para ser una comunidad rural, este pueblo de 1,750 habitantes ha sido más afortunado que la mayoría. Aquí ha ejercido un médico de familia durante los últimos 30 años. Pero eso se acabó en diciembre cuando Mark Newberry se jubiló. Para atraer a un nuevo médico, los líderes de Havana publicaron anuncios […]

President Donald Trump’s return to the White House sent a clear signal about Medicaid to Republicans across the country: Requiring enrollees to prove they are working, volunteering, or going to school is back on the table. The day after Trump’s inauguration, South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster asked federal officials to approve a work requirement […]

Nothing sweeps us off our feet like a health policy valentine. Readers showed their love this season, writing poetic lines about surprise medical bills, bird flu, the cost of health care, and more.  Here are some of our favorites, starting with the grand prize winner, whose entry was turned into a cartoon by staff illustrator […]

Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms. She’s desperate for information, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a critical source of urgent analyses of the flu and other public health […]

Christine Mai-Duc California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators in Sacramento seem to agree: Prescription drug prices are too high. But lawmakers and the second-term governor are at odds over what to do about it, and a recent proposal could trigger one of the biggest health care battles in Sacramento this year. A California bill […]

Mike Dennison HELENA, Mont. — When Lou and Lindsay Volpe’s son was diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease at age 11, their health insurer required constant preapproval of drugs and treatments — a process the Volpes say often delayed critical care for their son. “You subscribe to your insurance policy, you pay into that for […]

For more than a decade, Kaiser Permanente has been under the microscope for shortcomings in mental health care, even as it is held in high esteem on the medical side. In 2013, California regulators fined the insurer $4 million for failing to reduce wait times, giving patients inaccurate information, and improperly tracking appointment data. And […]

Shannon Sharpe was having one of those 15-minutes-of-internet-infamy moments. Social media blew up in September after the retired Denver Broncos tight end — accidentally, he later said — broadcast some of his intimate activities online. One of his sponsors took advantage of the moment: the telehealth company Ro, which sells a variety of prescription medicines […]

Michelle Andrews One August afternoon in 2023, Angela Martin’s cousin called with alarming news. Martin’s 74-year-old aunt had been mauled by four dogs while out for a walk near her home in rural Purlear, North Carolina. She was bleeding heavily from bites on both legs and her right arm, where she’d tried to protect her […]

SUITLAND, Md. — At a SuperSuds Laundromat just south of Washington, D.C., a steady stream of customers loaded clothes into washers and dryers on a recent Sunday morning, passing the time on their phones or watching television. Amid the low hum of spinning clothes, Adrienne Jones made the rounds in a bright yellow sweatshirt, asking […]

Julie Rovner, KFF Health News Abortion foes worried before his election that President Donald Trump had moved on, now that Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion policy, as he said on the campaign trail, “has been returned to the states.” Their concerns mounted after Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime supporter of […]

Victoria Clayton SALINAS, Calif. — This coastal valley made famous by the novelist John Steinbeck is sometimes known affectionately as “America’s salad bowl,” though the planting and harvesting is done mostly by immigrants from Mexico. For Taylor Farms, a major global purveyor of packaged salads and cut vegetables, that’s made it a logical place to […]

Victoria Clayton SALINAS, California. — Este valle costero, que se hizo famoso gracias al novelista John Steinbeck, a veces se conoce cariñosamente como “la ensaladera de Estados Unidos”, aunque la siembra y la cosecha las realizan principalmente inmigrantes de México. Para Taylor Farms, que es uno de los principales proveedores mundiales de ensaladas envasadas y […]

WALHALLA, S.C. — Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a small primary care clinic run by Clemson University draws patients from across the region. Many are Hispanic and uninsured, and some are willing to travel from other counties, bypassing closer health care providers, just to be seen by Michelle Deem, the clinic’s […]

Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News and Arthur Allen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist President Donald Trump nominated to lead the nation’s top health agency, did little to win over his critics at two Senate confirmation hearings this week.  Democrats argued he’s not qualified for the job. And by botching answers to basic questions […]

Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press Montana lawmakers are grappling with what they can do to improve patient care and operations at the state’s psychiatric hospital since realizing that the efforts underway to restore the troubled facility’s good standing could take more time. The nearly 150-year-old Montana State Hospital has recently struggled to care for patients […]

The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have […]

In summertime, cows wait under a canopy to be milked at Mark McAfee’s farm in Fresno, California. From his Cessna 210 Centurion propeller plane, the 63-year-old can view grazing lands of the dairy company he runs that produces products such as unpasteurized milk and cheese for almost 2,000 stores. Federal regulators say it’s risky business. […]

States and the nation’s health industry were thrown into disarray after the Trump administration ordered Monday that the government freeze nearly all federal grants at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, a sweeping directive that at least initially appeared to include funding for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers more than 70 million Americans. By […]

President Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer with no formal medical or public health expertise, as secretary of Health and Human Services. Two Senate committees will question Kennedy this week on how his disproven views of science and medicine qualify him to run the $1.7 trillion, 80,000-employee federal health system. […]

HELENA, Mont. — As part of a proposed revamping of the state’s behavioral health system, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration is looking into moving a facility for people with developmental disabilities, beefing up renovations at the Montana State Hospital, and creating a Helena unit of that psychiatric hospital. The changes, backers say, would fill gaps […]

California está aconsejando a los proveedores de atención médica que no pongan el estatus migratorio de los pacientes en las facturas y los registros médicos, y enfatiza que no tienen que ayudar a los agentes federales durante arrestos. Algunos hospitales y clínicas de Massachusetts están colgando carteles sobre derechos de privacidad en las salas de […]

For decades, the United States has held considerable power in determining the direction of global health policies and programs. President Donald Trump issued three executive orders on his first day in office that may signal the end of that era, health policy experts said. Trump’s order to withdraw from the World Health Organization means the […]

In his return to the White House this week, President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders on immigration, including declaring an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, suspending refugee admissions, and calling to roll back birthright citizenship. His administration rescinded a long-standing policy not to arrest people without legal status at or near sensitive […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News and Stephanie Armour President Donald Trump’s early actions on health care signal his likely intention to wipe away some Biden-era programs to lower drug costs and expand coverage under public insurance programs. The orders he issued soon after reentering the White House have policymakers, health care executives, and patient advocates […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to […]

California is advising health care providers not to write down patients’ immigration status on bills and medical records and telling them they don’t have to assist federal agents in arrests. Some Massachusetts hospitals and clinics are posting privacy rights in emergency and waiting rooms in Spanish and other languages. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are requiring […]

Tus bocadillos podrían ser blanco del nuevo gobierno de Trump. Durante años, el gobierno federal ha evitado regular la comida chatarra, la comida rápida y los alimentos ultraprocesados. Ahora, las actitudes están cambiando. Algunos miembros del círculo íntimo del presidente Donald Trump se están preparando para luchar contra las “grandes empresas alimentarias”, es decir, las […]

John Daley, Colorado Public Radio DENVER — Outside HCA HealthONE Rose medical center, the snow is flying. Inside, on the third floor, there’s a flurry of activity within the labor and delivery unit. “There’s a lot of action up here. It can be very stressful at times,” said Kristina Fraser, an OB-GYN in blue scrubs. […]

The new Trump administration could be coming for your snacks. For years, the federal government has steered clear of regulating junk food, fast food, and ultra-processed food. Now attitudes are changing. Some members of President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle are gearing up to battle “Big Food,” or the companies that make most of the food […]

The Host Incoming President Donald Trump’s inauguration is Monday, yet the new GOP-led Congress is already rushing to work his priorities into legislation, eyeing cuts to Medicaid to pay for new tax and immigration priorities. But even in its waning days, the Biden administration continues to make big policy moves, including a possible order for […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the nation braces for potential policy shifts under President-elect Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” mantra, the nation’s most populous state and largest health care market is preparing for a few changes of its own. With supermajorities in both houses, Democrats in the California Legislature passed — and Democratic Gov. Gavin […]

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.” BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Frank Wampol had a dark realization when he came across some alarming data a few years ago: Over 5,000 male construction workers die from suicide annually — […]