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Two survivors of veterans who died from military-related illnesses are challenging the Department of Veterans Affairs' practice of dropping family caregiver application appeals once a veteran passes away. The daughter of an Army Vietnam veteran who cared for her father in his final years and the wife of a separate Vietnam-era veteran filed a potential class-action suit Monday in federal court arguing that their cases should still be considered by the Board of Veterans Appeals even though their veterans had died. (Kime, 8/14)

Veterans will no longer be exempt from work requirement rules for food stamps under President Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending and tax law, leaving many worried about how they will find employment. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is the federal aid program formerly known as food stamps, currently allows work exemptions for veterans, but that will soon end under legislation signed into law last month. (Samee Ali, 8/14)

A network of clinics that provides health care in Maine asked a judge Thursday to restore its Medicaid funding while it fights a Trump administration effort to keep federal money from going to abortion providers. President Donald Trump’s policy and tax bill, known as the “ big beautiful bill,” blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The parameters in the bill also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, a much smaller provider that offers health care services in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast. (Whittle, 8/14)

Missouri’s 67 rural hospitals are pondering a dramatically different future under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan. The recently approved budget bill will slash federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. By some estimates, it could lead to 8.6 million people nationwide losing health coverage. (Cunningham, 8/13)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Breaking Down Why Medicare Part D Premiums Are Likely To Go Up

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 in 1965 and added a drug benefit only in 2006. The drug plans are offered through private insurers, and enrollees must pay monthly premiums. (Appleby, 8/15)

As the Trump administration tries to make Medicare more modern through the use of digital health apps, it faces a horde of unresolved policy issues that could present challenges to its stated goal to "stop theoretical debates and start delivering real results." On July 30, 60 healthcare and tech companies committed to engage in a Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative led by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D. The CMS will create an app store of vetted digital health solutions, require apps to use modern identity solutions and integrate AI chatbots to give beneficiaries information about healthcare access. (Beavins, 8/14)

Health insurance premiums for Californians buying coverage through Covered California will rise by an average of 10.3% in 2026, the state marketplace announced Thursday. Officials warned that costs could climb even higher if Congress allows enhanced federal subsidies to expire at the end of next year. The projected increase — up from a 7.9% hike in 2025 — is driven largely by rising medical and prescription drug costs. (Vaziri, 8/14)

Born in September 2024, Cameron is the child that Alyssa and Brad Casacci always wanted. But within hours of Cam’s birth, their world was turned upside down. “They did an MRI on this 1-day-old baby and kind of confirmed the worst: He had a very large stroke on the left side of his brain. [Additional] seizure activity was secondary to that injury,” Alyssa told Nexstar’s WIVB. The family was then transferred to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, New York, where they spent the next 19 days holding out hope for a miracle to save their baby boy. (Morello and Petree, 8/14)

When John Karadell was admitted to the hospital after a stroke, his doctors quickly pushed for him to begin an intensive form of rehabilitation — the sooner the better. “They used words like, ‘This is crucial. This is essential to your recovery,’” said Karadell, 58, of Howell, Michigan. ... But after 11 days in a hospital bed with no word on when he’d be transferred to the facility, Karadell said he learned his health insurer, Aetna, had denied coverage for what’s known as acute post-stroke rehabilitation. (Lovelace Jr., Kane and Thompson, 8/14)