The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Showing 1 - 20 of 66
The Trump administration has laid out what millions of Americans on Medicaid must do to prove they鈥檙e working or completing other activities. Health policy researchers and consumer advocates say there are some important takeaways.
Some states already don鈥檛 have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees鈥 phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result.
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
2026 has been a challenging year to buy health insurance. Contributing factors include changes to the Medicaid program and hikes to the cost of Obamacare plans. But doctors and researchers say there are ways people without insurance can find affordable care.
Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.
People on Medicaid deemed 鈥渕edically frail鈥 won鈥檛 need to meet new federal requirements that enrollees work 80 hours a month or perform another approved activity. But state officials are grappling with how to interpret who qualifies under the vague federal definition, which could affect millions.
The Trump administration says it鈥檚 developing a digital tool to help people prove they鈥檙e meeting new Medicaid work requirements. 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News talked to officials from the two states running pilot programs and found little evidence of new 鈥 or effective 鈥 technology.
In South Texas鈥 Rio Grande Valley, many people go without health insurance, and the health system struggles as a result. Similar communities dot the nation, and more could face such difficulties under President Donald Trump鈥檚 tax-and-spending law.
The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.
GOP lawmakers in 10 states have refused for a decade to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But when President Donald Trump got another whack at Obamacare, these holdout states went unrewarded.
President Donald Trump signed legislation that requires many Medicaid recipients to prove they鈥檙e working to qualify for health care coverage, allocating $200 million for states that expanded Medicaid to prepare systems to verify people鈥檚 eligibility. Georgia鈥檚 program, which has been expensive and difficult to administer, has had limited enrollment.
Fewer Americans will likely have health insurance, compromising their physical and financial health, as the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress weigh major changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. 鈥淭he effects could be catastrophic,鈥 one policy analyst predicts.
A new vaccine advisory panel appointed by the HHS secretary, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, reflected his unsupported claims about the safety of childhood inoculations.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office expects to release a report on how much it costs to run Georgia Pathways to Coverage 鈥 the country鈥檚 only active Medicaid work requirement program 鈥 as other states and Congress consider similar programs.
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鈥檙e effective.
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News correspondent Sam Whitehead discusses Medicaid's history and role in the U.S. health system.
Republicans in Congress have suggested big cuts to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The complex, multifaceted program touches millions of Americans and has become deeply woven into state budgets and the U.S. health care system.
As Republicans consider adding work requirements to Medicaid, Georgia and Arkansas 鈥 two states with experience running such programs 鈥 want to scale back the key parts supporters have argued encourage employment and personal responsibility.
Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia 鈥 states with some of the worst health outcomes 鈥 also have some of the highest childhood vaccination rates. But doctors and health officials worry a rising tide of vaccine skepticism is causing those public health bright spots to dim.
Stay informed by signing up for the Morning Briefing and other emails:
漏 2026 KFF