What the Health? From KFF Health News: Abortion Pills, the Budget, and RFK Jr.

The Host At the Trump administration’s request, a federal judge in Louisiana this week agreed to delay a ruling affecting the continued availability of the abortion drug mifepristone. That angered anti-abortion groups that want the drug, if not banned, at least more strictly controlled. But the administration clearly wants to avoid big abortion fights in […]

States Face Another Challenge With Medicaid Work Rules: Staffing Shortages

Katie Crouch says calling her state’s Medicaid agency to get information about her benefits can feel like a series of dead ends. “The first time, it’ll ring interminably. Next time, it’ll go to a voice mail that just hangs up on you,” said the 48-year-old, who lives in Delaware. “Sometimes you’ll get a person who […]

Immigrant Seniors Lose Medicare Coverage Despite Paying for It

OAKLAND, Calif. — Rosa María Carranza leaned forward to hold a 3-year-old’s back as the girl climbed a rock in the forested hills of northeast Oakland. Dressed in hiking gear and beaded necklaces, Carranza, 67, maneuvered between trees and children on a sunny morning in December. “Hold on to that branch,” she said in Spanish. […]

What the Health? From KFF Health News: GOP Mulls More Health Cuts

The Host Recent polling finds that health costs are a top worry for much of the American public, while Republicans in Congress are considering still more cuts to federal health spending on programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot ban mental health professionals from using […]

What the Health? From KFF Health News: A Headless CDC

The Host The Trump administration this week missed a deadline to nominate a new director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without a nominee, current acting Director Jay Bhattacharya — who is also the director of the National Institutes of Health — has to give up that title, leaving no one at the […]

Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare

John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he’s waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it — then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, about a third of his income, he said. And with a […]