Author: Hill Castle
Rebecca Kasen has seen and heard things in recent years in and around Michigan’s capital city that she never would have expected. “It’s a very weird time in our lives,” said Kasen, executive director of the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing. Last November, a group of people were captured on surveillance video early one morning mocking a “Black Lives Matter” sign in the front window of the center, with one of them vandalizing its free pantry. That same fall, Women’s Center staff reported being harassed. A couple of blocks down East Michigan Avenue, Strange Matter Coffee, which supports progressive causes…
Our annual family vacation on Cape Cod included all the familiar summer pleasures: climbing dunes, walking beaches, spotting seals, eating oysters, reading books we had intended to get to all year. And a little shopping. My grandkid wanted a few small toys. My daughter stocked up on thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles at the game store in Provincetown. I bought a pair of earrings and a couple of paperbacks. And a gravesite. It’s near a cluster of oaks, in a cemetery in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where some mossy Civil War-era headstones are so weathered that you can no longer decipher who lies beneath…
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed recommendations for covid-19 vaccinations for children on NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Aug. 20. Gounder then discussed the infant mortality crisis in Mississippi on CBS News’ “CBS Evening News Plus” on Aug. 22. She also discussed the resignation of top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials after the ousting of agency director Susan Monarez on CBS News’ “CBS Mornings” on Aug. 28. Click here to hear Gounder on “Morning Edition.” Click here to watch Gounder on “CBS Evening News Plus.” Click here to watch Gounder on “CBS Mornings.” Read Gounder’s “Senior CDC…
The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third edition. Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, defended that action and others before a…
The recent firing of former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez and the subsequent resignation of four of the agency’s top career officials marks a major offensive by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-vaccine, anti-science agenda that will have profound effects on the lives and health of all Americans, public health leaders say. Kennedy was called to appear this week before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss these events and other vaccine and public health policy developments. Kennedy wants to see the Pfizer and…
It was March 2020, and Robert Gordon was about to kick some 80,000 people off health insurance. As the Michigan state health director, he had spent the past year, and some $30 million in state tax dollars, trying to avoid that very thing. Gordon was a Democrat, a veteran of the Obama administration, and he did not want people to lose the Medicaid coverage they had recently gained through the Affordable Care Act. But Gordon and his boss, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, had reluctantly inherited a law passed two years earlier, when Republicans led the state. And that law mandated…
SACRAMENTO, California — La administración Trump ha extendido su política de mano dura en inmigración a la red de atención médica pública, iniciando investigaciones sobre el gasto de Medicaid en al menos seis estados liderados por demócratas. Estos estados brindan cobertura médica integral a inmigrantes pobres y con discapacidades que viven en el país sin estatus migratorio permanente. Los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid (CMS) están examinando los pagos que cubren atención médica para personas sin papeles, para asegurarse que no haya malgasto, fraude o abuso, según registros públicos obtenidos por KFF Health News y The Associated Press.…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Trump administration is taking its immigration crackdown to the health care safety net, launching Medicaid spending probes in at least six Democratic-led states that provide comprehensive health coverage to poor and disabled immigrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is scouring payments covering health care for immigrants without legal status to ensure there isn’t any waste, fraud, or abuse, according to public records obtained by KFF Health News and The Associated Press. While acknowledging that states can bill the federal government for Medicaid emergency and pregnancy care…
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee follows the ouster last week of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez. At least four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest. What are the biggest takeaways? What comes next? Tune in for a post-hearing discussion with KFF Health News correspondents Stephanie Armour, Julie Rovner, and Arthur Allen, and KFF’s Josh Michaud, associate director for Global Health Policy. Stephanie Armour Senior health policy correspondent Read Stephanie’s stories. Julie Rovner Chief Washington correspondent Read Julie’s stories. Arthur Allen Senior correspondent…
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee follows the ouster last week of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez. At least four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest. What are the biggest takeaways? What comes next? Tune in for a post-hearing discussion with KFF Health News correspondents Stephanie Armour, Julie Rovner, and Arthur Allen, and KFF’s Josh Michaud, associate director for Global Health Policy, on Sept. 4 at 3 p.m. ET. Stephanie Armour Senior health policy correspondent Read Stephanie’s stories. Julie Rovner Chief Washington correspondent…
(DigitalVision/Getty Images) When Sally Nix found out that her health insurance company wouldn’t pay for an expensive, doctor-recommended treatment to ease her neurological pain, she prepared for battle. It took years, a chain of conflicting decisions, and a health insurer switch before she finally won approval. She started treatment in January and now channels time and energy into helping other patients fight denials. “One of the things I tell people when they come to me is: ‘Don’t panic. This isn’t a final no,’” said Nix, 55, of Statesville, North Carolina. To control costs, nearly all health insurers use a system…
After losing 50 pounds on the injectable weight loss medication Zepbound, Kyra Wensley received a surprising letter from her pharmacy benefit manager in April. Her request for coverage had been denied, the letter said, because she’d had a body mass index of less than 35 when she started Zepbound. The 25-year-old who lives in New York had been taking Zepbound without incident for months, so she was confused: Why was her BMI, which had been around 32 when she started, becoming an issue only now? Wensley had no interest in quitting an effective drug. “Going right off like that, it’s…
LISTEN: Carrot or the stick? Some nutritionists say incentives are the best way to improve the diets of low-income Americans on food aid, while the Trump administration seems focused on restrictions. KFF Health News senior correspondent Renuka Rayasam appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Sept. 3 to explain. The Trump administration is making historic changes to federal food aid as part of its plan to “Make America Healthy Again.” But some nutrition experts warn recent cuts to funding and more stringent rules to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could do the opposite: Worsen food insecurity and push families…
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation With Margaret Brennan” on Aug. 31 to discuss leadership changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and vaccine policy concerns. Gounder noted that the departures of top officials and confusion over how to get vaccines affect the public health of Americans. She pointed out that Americans may want to get vaccinated and stay healthy to avoid having to miss work or school. She recently explored these issues in her article “Senior CDC Officials Resign After Monarez’s Ouster, Citing Concerns Over Scientific Independence.”…
It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior. But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said financial bonuses are driving such recommendations. “Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate,” Kennedy said in an Aug. 8 video posted on the social platform X. “They’re pressured to follow the money, not the science.” Doctors and public health officials have been fielding questions on this topic for years. A…
The Trump administration has given notice that political appointees, rather than scientists, will ultimately decide who gets grant money from the world’s largest biomedical research funder — the federal government’s National Institutes of Health. In an Aug. 7 executive order, President Donald Trump announced that political officers would have the power to summarily cancel any federal grant, including for scientific work, that is not “consistent with agency priorities.” Senior officials should not “routinely defer” to recommendations from peer reviewers, who have provided the backbone of federal science funding for eight decades. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya reinforced the message in an…
Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to fire CDC director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. The firing marks a major offensive by Kennedy to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-vaccine, anti-science agenda that will have profound effects on the lives and health of all Americans, public health leaders say. Kennedy wants to see the Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNA-based covid-19 vaccines pulled from the market, according…
Durante una cena bajo palmeras en la terraza de Mar-a-Lago en diciembre, el presidente electo Donald Trump tranquilizó a los directores ejecutivos de las farmacéuticas Eli Lilly y Pfizer diciéndoles que el activista antivacunas Robert F. Kennedy Jr. no sería una elección radical para dirigir el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS). “Creo que va a ser mucho menos radical de lo que imaginan”, aseguró Trump ese mismo mes durante una conferencia de prensa en su complejo turístico en Palm Beach, Florida. Ocho meses después, Kennedy ha intensificado sus ataques contra el sistema de vacunación. Uno de sus principales…
Amy Frank dijo que pasó 17 horas al teléfono durante casi tres semanas, rebotando entre su aseguradora y el sistema hospitalario local, para asegurarse de que el plan de salud cubriera la atención que su esposo necesitaba después de una cirugía. Muchas de sus llamadas no pasaron de la música en espera. Cuando lograba comunicarse, el hospital le decía que llamara a su aseguradora. La aseguradora, a su vez, le pedía que el hospital enviara por fax un formulario a un número específico. El hospital respondía que se le había indicado enviarlo a otro número distinto. “Era un gran vacío…
Amy Frank said it took 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks, bouncing between her insurer and her local hospital system, to make sure her plan would cover her husband’s post-surgery care. Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer. The insurer told her to have the hospital fax a form to a special number. The hospital responded that they’d been instructed to send faxes to a different number. “It was just a big loophole we were caught in, going around and around,” Frank said.…
LISTEN: Measles. Chickenpox. Meningitis. Many vaccines can run more than $100 a dose out-of-pocket. Jackie Fortiér tells WAMU’s “Health Hub” how Trump administration changes to the federal vaccine guidelines could make some routine shots too expensive for families. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, replaced the members of a federal vaccine advisory committee in June. The committee plays an important role in recommending vaccines, and its guidance influences the coverage decisions insurance companies make. KFF Health News reporter Jackie Fortiér appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” on Aug. 27 to explain why confusion over…
John McGing couldn’t reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn’t business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren’t generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans. McGing, calling on behalf of his son, had an in-the-weeds question: how to prevent overpayments that the federal government might later claw back. His call was intercepted by an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot. No matter what he said, the bot parroted canned answers to generic questions, not McGing’s obscure query. “If you do a key press, it didn’t do…