Category: Medicare

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: American Health Under Trump — Past, Present, and Future

Dreaming of a Trump victory, Republicans have a wish list of health policy changes — including loosening Affordable Care Act regulations to make cheaper coverage available and ending Medicare drug price negotiations. Meanwhile, after a publicly reported death stemming from a state abortion ban, Vice President Kamala Harris is emphasizing the consequences of Trump’s work to overturn Roe v. Wade. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University join KFF Health News senior editor Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more.

KFF Health Tracking Poll September 2024: Support for Reducing Prescription Drug Prices Remains High, Even As Awareness of IRA Provisions Lags

More than two years ago President Biden signed into law Medicare drug pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. KFF’s September Health Tracking Poll examines voter’s views on these provisions and finds that large majorities of voters are unawa…

Allowing Medicare to Negotiate Drug Prices Remains Broadly Popular Among Voters, Though Most Are Unaware of the Law and Its Projected Savings

Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of older Americans remains broadly popular across partisans, though many voters are unaware of the new law and the billions of dollars it is expected to save in 2026, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll f…

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Trump-Harris Debate Showcases Health Policy Differences

As expected, the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris offered few new details of their positions on abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and other critical health issues. But it did underscore for voters dramatic differences between the two candidates. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued rules attempting to better enforce […]

Longtime Head of L.A. Care To Retire After Navigating Major Medi-Cal Changes

John Baackes, who steered Medi-Cal’s largest health plan following the Affordable Care Act expansion, and later prepared it for a state overhaul of Medi-Cal, will retire after this year. Baackes believes low payments to doctors and other providers, along with an acute labor shortage, hamper Medi-Cal’s success.

Medicare’s cobra effect: How a well-intentioned policy spiraled into a health care crisis

In the sweltering heat of 19th-century colonial Delhi, legend has it that cobras were taking over the streets. To eliminate the dangerous snakes, British officials offered a bounty for every dead cobra brought to government offices. Soon, locals began …

Feds Killed Plan To Curb Medicare Advantage Overbilling After Industry Opposition

A private 2014 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services faces new scrutiny in a multibillion-dollar Justice Department fraud case against UnitedHealth Group.

Turning 26 and Struggling To Find Health Insurance? Tell Us About It.

KFF Health News and The New York Times are looking into a dreaded “adulting” milestone: finding your own medical insurance at 26.

For Pharma, Trump vs. Harris Is a Showdown Between Two Industry Foes

Vice President Kamala Harris is seen as more aggressive than former President Donald Trump in taking on pharmaceutical companies, but Trump allies say he would also make lowering drug costs a top priority.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Let the General Election Commence

Abortion and reproductive health issues headlined the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as expected. But what Vice President Kamala Harris has in mind for other health policies as the Democratic nominee remains something of a mystery. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump says he would not use the 19th-century Comstock Act to impose, in effect, a national ban on abortion, which angered his anti-abortion backers. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a woman who fought back after being charged for two surgeries despite undergoing only one.