Category: Medicaid

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Trump’s Nontraditional Health Picks

Not only has President-elect Donald Trump chosen prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump also has said he will nominate controversial TV host Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees coverage for nearly half of Americans. Meanwhile, the lame-duck Congress is back in Washington with just a few weeks to figure out how to wrap up work for the year. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Riley Ray Griffin of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sarah Varney, who has been covering a trial in Idaho challenging the lack of medical exceptions in that state’s abortion ban.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Trump 2.0

As Donald Trump readies for his return to the White House — with the backing of a GOP majority in the Senate and, possibly, the House — the entire health care industry is waiting to see what happens next. Clearly on the agenda: the future of abortion and reproductive rights, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and public health’s infrastructure. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Jackie Fortiér, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post “Bill of the Month” feature, about a 2-year-old who had a very expensive run-in with a rattlesnake.

California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed.

California this year completed its Medi-Cal expansion to include income-eligible residents regardless of their immigration status. This final installment of the “Faces of Medi-Cal” series profiles three of those newly eligible patients and how coverage has affected their health.

What’s at Stake: A Pivotal Election for Six Big Health Issues

In the final days of the campaign, stark disagreements between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump over the future of American health care are on display — in particular, in sober warnings about abortion access, the specter of future cuts to the Affordable Care Act, and bold pronouncements about empowering activists eager […]

Trump Wants Harris To Pay a Political Price for Generous Immigrant Health Policies

Several Democratic-led states have expanded public insurance programs to cover immigrants in the U.S. regardless of legal status. Donald Trump is trying to blame Kamala Harris for the policies.

In Montana, Conservative Groups See Chance To Kill Medicaid Expansion

Conservative groups are working to undermine support for Montana’s Medicaid expansion ahead of a political fight over whether to keep the program.

For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises the Stakes

Medications such as methadone can cut the risk of a fatal opioid overdose in half. Medicaid covers the medication. But as state Medicaid programs reevaluated coverage of each enrollee following a pause in disenrollments during the covid-19 pandemic, some patients lost a crucial pillar of their sobriety.

Vance Wrongly Blames Rural Hospital Closures on Immigrants in the Country Illegally

Experts disputed the claim by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, noting that a range of other issues — from low reimbursement rates to declining patient use — combine to cause these facilities to shutter.

Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress

The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.

Presidential Election Puts Affordable Care Act Back in the Bull’s-Eye

The outcome of the upcoming presidential election could affect the number of insured Americans, the fate of premium-reducing subsidies, the shape of Medicaid, and the cost of coverage for tens of millions of people.