Health Insurance News

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: The Host Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services,…

SACRAMENTO, California — La administración Trump ha extendido su política de mano dura en inmigración a la red de atención médica pública, iniciando investigaciones sobre el gasto de Medicaid en al menos seis estados liderados por demócratas. Estos estados brindan…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Trump administration is taking its immigration crackdown to the health care safety net, launching Medicaid spending probes in at least six Democratic-led states that provide comprehensive health coverage to poor and disabled immigrants living in the…

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…

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…

(DigitalVision/Getty Images) 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…

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…

Amy Frank says she spent 17 hours on the phone ensuring that post-surgery care for her husband, Allen Frank, would be covered by insurance. The couple was among 90,000 people in central Missouri caught in the middle of a contract…

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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…

Jonnell Wieder earned too much money at her job to keep her Medicaid coverage when the covid-19 public health emergency ended in 2023 and states resumed checking whether people were eligible for the program. But she was reassured by the…

Wary of inflation, Americans have been watching the prices of everyday items such as eggs and gasoline. A less-noticed expense should cause greater alarm: rising premiums for health insurance. They have been trending upward for years and are now rising…

[Editor’s note: This transcript was generated using both transcription software and a human’s light touch. It has been edited for style and clarity.]  Julie Rovner: Hello, and welcome back to this special episode of “What the Health?” I’m Julie Rovner,…

(Oona Zenda/KFF Health News) “My son was diagnosed with congenital CMV, a virus that can cause hearing loss. As part of this diagnosis, he will be required to have routine hearing tests every few months until he is 10 years…

As they move into adulthood, many young Americans face a unique and daunting challenge: finding their own health insurance by the time they turn 26. The lucky ones are covered through their jobs. But in an age of gig employment,…

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….

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…

Maryland is the first state to tap into an old fund connected to the Affordable Care Act to help solve a new problem: helping pay the expenses of patients who travel to Maryland for an abortion. With abortion now restricted…

Note: “An Arm and a Leg” uses speech-recognition software to generate transcripts, which may contain errors. Please use the transcript as a tool but check the corresponding audio before quoting the podcast. Dan: Hey there— This story’s outline may sound…

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…

People thinking about starting a business or retiring early — before they’re old enough for Medicare — may want to wait until November, when they can see just how much their Affordable Care Act health insurance will cost next year….

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,…

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…

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…

Despite recent efforts to bolster California’s behavioral health workforce, the state is operating with only about two-thirds of the psychiatrists and therapists it needs. The problem is so severe it’s making it hard to backfill retiring practitioners, particularly in the…

Francoise Cham of Miami has health insurance coverage for herself and her daughter through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, also known as Obamacare. The budget law signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 creates new rules for verifying eligibility…

Cuando el presidente Donald Trump firmó una ley que agrega requisitos laborales para algunos beneficiarios de Medicaid, es posible que haya perjudicado a legisladores de al menos 14 estados que estaban diseñando sus propios planes, según observadores del sector de…

When President Donald Trump signed a law adding work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, he may have undercut lawmakers in at least 14 states who were designing their own plans, according to health industry observers. Georgia is the only state…

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…

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…

If you want a Covid 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

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: The Host In his ongoing effort to reshape health policy, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to overhaul two more government entities: the U.S. Preventive Services Task…

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. Sounding the Alarm for Ambulances Thank you for shedding much-needed light on the exorbitant costs and…

In retrospect, Erica Kahn realizes she made two big mistakes. The first was choosing to temporarily forgo health insurance when she was laid off from her job. The second was screaming when a wild bat later landed on her face….

In Covered California, 112,600 immigrants, or nearly 6% of total enrollees, stand to lose their federal tax subsidies when a provision of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law takes effect in 2027, according to data provided by the exchange….

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Durante dos décadas, la pediatra Lanre Falusi, de Washington D.C., ha asesorado a los padres sobre el calendario de vacunas que deben recibir sus hijos, la seguridad de la vacunación y sus efectos secundarios. Pero dijo que este año las…

President Donald Trump rode to reelection last fall on voter concerns about prices. But as his administration pares back federal rules and programs designed to protect patients from the high cost of health care, Trump risks pushing more Americans into…

For two decades, Washington, D.C., pediatrician Lanre Falusi has counseled parents about vaccine safety, side effects, and timing. But this year, she said, the conversations have changed. “For the first time, I’m having parents of newborns ask me if their…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: The Host Much of the hubbub in health care this year has been focused on Medicaid, which faces dramatically reduced federal funding as the result of the huge budget bill signed by President…

President Donald Trump signed legislation that mandates some Medicaid recipients prove they’re working, volunteering, or completing other qualifying activities at least 80 hours a month to maintain coverage. This applies to 40 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that have expanded Medicaid…

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….

“Almost 5 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients ‘simply choose not to work’ and ‘spend six hours a day socializing and watching television.’” Scott Jennings on “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip” on July 1 Republicans defended the GOP megabill’s Medicaid changes as…

When Lawrence and Penny Higgins of Fairfield, Maine, first learned in 2020 that high levels of toxic chemicals called PFAS taint their home’s well water, they wondered how their health might suffer. They had consumed the water for decades, given…

Every time Ashton Alexander sees an ad for Georgia Pathways to Coverage, it feels like a “kick in the face.” Alexander tried signing up for Pathways, the state’s limited Medicaid expansion, multiple times and got denied each time, he said,…

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,…

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…

Last year in Massachusetts, after finding lumps in her breast, Jessica Chen went to Lowell General Hospital-Saints Campus, part of Tufts Medicine, for a mammogram and sonogram. Before the screenings, she asked the hospital for the estimated patient responsibility for…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: 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…

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…

Note: “An Arm and a Leg” uses speech-recognition software to generate transcripts, which may contain errors. Please use the transcript as a tool but check the corresponding audio before quoting the podcast. Dan: Hey there. Let’s meet Jeanne Chamberlin from…

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…

Shorter enrollment periods. More paperwork. Higher premiums. The sweeping tax and spending bill pushed by President Donald Trump includes provisions that would not only reshape people’s experience with the Affordable Care Act but, according to some policy analysts, also sharply…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: The Host Early Thursday afternoon, the House approved a budget reconciliation bill that not only would make permanent many of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, but also impose deep cuts to Medicaid,…

The last time a Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump moved to slash Medicaid spending, in 2017, a key political force stood in their way: GOP governors. Now, as Congress steamrolls toward passing historic Medicaid cuts of about $1 trillion…

Four years before Kimberly Gallagher enrolled in Medicaid herself, the public health insurance program’s rules prompted her to make an excruciating choice — to give up guardianship of her son so she could work as his caregiver. Now, another proposed…

The last time a Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump moved to slash Medicaid spending, in 2017, a key political force stood in their way: GOP governors. Now, as Congress steamrolls toward passing historic Medicaid cuts of about $1 trillion…

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…

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful” budget reconciliation bill would make some of the most sweeping changes in health policy in years, largely affecting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act plans — with reverberations felt throughout the health care system. With…

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…

Durante meses, María, de 55 años, cuidadora de adultos mayores en el condado de Orange, se ha esforzado por no sonreír. Le preocupa que si abre demasiado la boca, la gente vea sus dientes astillados y cubiertos de placa. Inmigrante…

For months, Maria, 55, a caregiver to older adults in California’s Orange County, has been trying not to smile. If she opens her mouth too wide, she worries, people will see her chipped, plaque-covered front teeth. An immigrant without legal…

CLARKESVILLE, Ga. — Last September, Alton Fry went to the doctor concerned he had high blood pressure. The trip would result in a prostate cancer diagnosis. So began the stress of trying to pay for tens of thousands of dollars…

Stephanie Ivory counts on Medicaid to get treated for gastrointestinal conditions and a bulging disc that makes standing or sitting for long periods painful. Her disabilities keep her from working, she said. Ivory, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, believes she would…

“A lot of times, health care comes with a job.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), in an interview with KOTA on May 30, 2025 Millions of people are expected to lose access to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: 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…

California lawmakers are poised to delay the state’s much-ballyhooed new law mandating in vitro fertilization insurance coverage for millions, set to take effect July 1. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to push the implementation date to January 2026, leaving…

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….

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…

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…

(Moment/Getty Images) Millions of Americans lack health insurance, and health policy researchers expect many more will lose coverage due to policies pushed by the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress. KFF Health News is documenting this moment, the first explicit rollback of health coverage since the advent of the modern U.S. health system in the early

While the Senate budget bill released this week proposes deep funding cuts and work requirements for Medicaid — proposals likely to increase the number of people without health insurance — another big health care issue looms that could affect millions…

Can’t see the audio player? Listen on: The Host The Supreme Court this week ruled in favor of Tennessee’s law banning most gender-affirming care for minors — a law similar to those in two dozen other states. Meanwhile, the Senate…

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When Alyne Diamond fell off a horse in August 2023 and broke her back, her employer-based health plan through UnitedHealthcare covered her emergency care in Aspen, Colorado. It also covered related pain management and physical therapy after she returned home…

MIAMI, Florida. — Josefina Muralles trabaja a tiempo parcial de noche como recepcionista en un condominio de Miami Beach. Así, puede cuidar durante el día de sus tres hijos, su madre mayor y su hermano, que está paralítico. También ayuda…

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (center) with fellow Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. As the Senate moves to a possible vote on President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” before Independence Day,…

MIAMI — Josefina Muralles works a part-time overnight shift as a receptionist at a Miami Beach condominium so that during the day she can care for her three kids, her aging mother, and her brother, who is paralyzed. She helps…

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…

The Host After explicitly promising senators during his confirmation hearing that he would not interfere in scientific policy over which Americans should receive which vaccines, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week fired every member of…

Cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs proposed in President Donald Trump’s budget plan would rapidly push more than 300 financially struggling rural hospitals toward a fiscal cliff, according to researchers who track the facilities’ finances. The hospitals would…

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…

“One out of every $5 or $6 in Medicaid [payments] is improper.” Russell Vought stated on June 1, 2025, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Responding to charges that President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill would…