The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
1-20 of 183 results
An experiment to provide meals to some Medicaid recipients shows food can be cost-effective medicine. But even as federal officials tout the power of nutrition, Medicaid budget cuts could lead states to think twice about covering healthy food for sick residents. One has already reconsidered.
States are spending rural health dollars on tech startups, betting that untested companies will succeed where doctors have vanished and hospitals have collapsed. Louisiana’s call for innovative technology drew more than 200 pitches, seeking from $250,000 to $3 million in seed money.
About half of U.S. adults say they can’t afford healthcare. California is among at least eight states that have set spending growth targets for the healthcare sector. It may soon impose enforcement penalties aimed at pushing hospitals and other providers to meet those goals.
Healthcare workers at a Michigan hospital have been on strike since last September. Violence on the job is one reason behind it, with federal data showing hospital workers are seven times as likely to be injured on the job due to violent acts as members of the general working population.
Special Medicaid programs in many states allow disabled people to work while receiving benefits, and most limit how much participants can earn and the assets they can hold. Some Iowans are pushing lawmakers to remove those limits, which they say can dampen their career prospects.
When the Trump administration upended years of vaccine advice, it left pediatricians in a quandary. Many say they can no longer direct families to the CDC as a trusted source of information. So some are creating their own.
The tiny federal agency that tracks consumer product safety is pressuring hospitals to turn over patient records from emergency room visits, including about injuries that have nothing to do with consumer products.
Ńîąóĺú´«Ă˝Ň•îl Health News is working to collect and post approved plans as more states respond to emails and public records requests for their documents.
A year after the Environmental Protection Agency stripped grant money from dozens of communities nationwide during Trump’s DEI crackdown, a small Georgia city is struggling to address environmental health concerns.
Prisoners with severe medical conditions can be granted compassionate release, but without a long-term care facility willing to accept them, many continue to wait in prison as their conditions worsen.
Republicans say California’s use of Medicaid money for social services amounts to waste, fraud, and abuse. But even as Gov. Gavin Newsom voices concern about losing funding, he says he’s proud of the state’s holistic approach to caring for its sickest and most expensive patients.
Massachusetts passed laws and joined lawsuits to protect access to gender-affirming care for minors. But faced with the Trump administration’s threats, some hospitals voluntarily stopped care. Families are outraged.
As a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place.
California is considering expanding financial help for low-income residents struggling to pay high health insurance premiums after losing federal subsidies. But relief for state marketplace customers will be limited. Here’s who may get help and what it could mean for premiums.
Congress' decision not to extend enhanced marketplace tax credits has boosted the appeal of alternative health coverage with lower monthly premiums. Consumer advocates dismiss the plans as "junk insurance,” while proponents say patients need alternatives to pricey marketplace options.
The new TrumpRx program relies partly on connecting consumers with discount coupons offered by drugmakers. For insured patients, though, using a coupon can prove dicey.
A $50 billion federal fund is supposed to modernize rural health with electronic health records, AI, telehealth, and more. But community clinics and rural health advocates fear that the contractors administering the money for states will bite off a big chunk before it reaches rural patients.
Millions of people rely on the supplemental insurance to offset the deductibles, copayments, and other costs faced by enrollees in the traditional Medicare program.
This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contain the virus. “That we’re even talking about this is nuts,” one virologist said.
The Affordable Care Act put in place a package of benefits that health insurance plans must cover. Critics contend this mandate has jacked up premiums. Evidence supporting that claim is mixed.
© 2026 KFF