The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
261 - 280 of 3,682 Results
As California’s budget deadline looms, state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a physician-turned-lawmaker, says state leaders may soon have to make some tough decisions on health care spending. With the state’s Medi-Cal program billions of dollars short, California’s health care safety net is at risk — even without federal cuts to Medicaid.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month†feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
On the surface, President Donald Trump embraced the MAHA movement with a pledge to end the nation’s high rates of chronic disease. But the broader Trump agenda may prove to be the biggest barrier this effort confronts.
Congressional Republicans are looking to cut at least $880 billion from a pool of federal funding that includes Medicaid — and the program is likely to take a major hit. A previous budget crunch in Missouri offers a window into how cuts ripple through people’s lives.
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Monica Soni, Covered California’s chief medical officer, oversees an effort to hold health plans financially accountable for the quality of care they provide, including childhood vaccination rates, which have fallen in California and nationwide. She worries federal spending cuts could soon bring turbulence to the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace.
This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office expects to release a report on how much it costs to run Georgia Pathways to Coverage — the country’s only active Medicaid work requirement program — as other states and Congress consider similar programs.
Carmen Aiken of Chicago thought their medical appointment would be covered because the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to pay for a long list of preventive services. But after the appointment, Aiken received a bill for more than $1,400.
Breakups between health providers and Advantage plans are increasingly common. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has allowed whole groups of patients to leave their plans.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
State-level efforts to regulate fertility coverage reveal the gauntlet of budgetary and political hurdles such initiatives face — obstacles that have led to millions of people being left out even when mandates become law.
Montana’s powerful hospital lobby was instrumental in renewing the state’s Medicaid expansion program and has also fended off most legislation to increase state oversight of their business.
Federal law requires states to offer health insurance to many people with low incomes or disabilities. But some states, including California, are far more generous than what’s required. Budget pressures may force lawmakers to cut benefits that have led to a historic low in the uninsured rate.
These fixers, officially known as caseworkers, unraveled complex and arcane health insurance rules to solve people’s coverage issues. They worked in a little-known federal department with which most consumers never interact — until they need help.
Although knee replacements are usually covered by health insurance, amputees face roadblocks to coverage and often must prove their prosthetics are medically necessary.
Republicans are pushing to implement requirements that Medicaid recipients work in order to obtain or retain coverage. Some states try to help enrollees find jobs. But states lack the data to show whether they’re effective.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Consumers who were enrolled fraudulently in Affordable Care Act coverage could receive unexpected tax bills — the first and possibly only clue they were a victim of fraud. Getting help may become difficult as federal workers are laid off and funding for assistance programs is cut.
© 2026 Â鶹ŮÓÅ