Author: Hill Castle

Felice J. Freyer BRISTOL, R.I. — At age 82, Roberta Rabinovitz realized she had no place to go. A widow, she had lost both her daughters to cancer, after living with one and then the other, nursing them until their deaths. Then she moved in with her brother in Florida, until he also died. And so last fall, while recovering from lung cancer, Rabinovitz ended up at her grandson’s home in Burrillville, Rhode Island, where she slept on the couch and struggled to navigate the steep staircase to the shower. That wasn’t sustainable, and with apartment rents out of reach,…

Madison Czopek, PolitiFact For parents of school-aged children, the fall to-do list can seem ever-growing. Buy school supplies. Fill out endless school forms. Block off parent-teacher nights. Do the kids’ tennis shoes still fit? Somewhere, at some point, you might remember flu shots. Get your flu shot. Get their flu shots. Or should you? Can you? Is that still a thing? Amid political chatter about vaccines and the government entities that oversee them, it’s understandable to wonder where all this leaves the 2025-26 flu vaccine. In short: Yes, the flu shot is still a thing. And four doctors we spoke…

Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees’ reaction to a deadly shooting at the agency’s Atlanta office on CBS News 24/7’s “The Daily Report” on Aug. 11. Click here to watch Gounder on “The Daily Report.” KFF Health News Southern correspondent Sam Whitehead discussed how President Donald Trump’s recent megabill is unlikely to insulate Medicaid expansion holdout states from health cuts on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on Aug. 8. Click here to hear Whitehead on “The Georgia Health Report.” Read Whitehead’s “Even in States That Fought Obamacare, Trump’s New Law Poses…

As they move into adulthood, many young Americans face a unique and daunting challenge: finding their own health insurance by the time they turn 26. The lucky ones are covered through their jobs. But in an age of gig employment, more are falling off the “26 insurance cliff” and landing hard. For a project produced in partnership with The New York Times, my colleague Hannah Norman and I gathered statistics (where they existed) and asked young people to tell us their stories. And, boy, they did. The article clearly touched a nerve, gathering over 1,600 comments the day after it…

Scott Maucione, WYPR Maryland is the first state to tap into an old fund connected to the Affordable Care Act to help solve a new problem: helping pay the expenses of patients who travel to Maryland for an abortion. With abortion now restricted or illegal in 22 states, jurisdictions like Maryland have become a destination for patients from as close as neighboring West Virginia to as far as Texas. With a staff of six, the Baltimore Abortion Fund helps patients who need to travel pay for bus or plane tickets, lodging in Maryland, and sometimes meals. The fund spends about…

Medicare enrollees who buy the optional Part D drug benefit may see substantial premium price hikes — potentially up to $50 a month — when they shop for next year’s coverage. Such drug plans are used by millions of people who enroll in what is called original Medicare, the classic federal government program that began in 1965 and added a drug benefit only in 2006. The drug plans are offered through private insurers, and enrollees must pay monthly premiums. It’s not known whether insurers will pursue the maximum increase allowed, as premium prices for next year won’t be revealed until…

The Host A new executive order from President Donald Trump has potentially broad implications for the future of the federal research enterprise by transferring direct funding decisions away from career professionals to political appointees. And a gunman, reportedly disgruntled over covid vaccines, attacked the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, highlighting how increasingly inflammatory rhetoric from health critics endangers the public health workforce. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico. Among the takeaways from this…

Jacob Sweidan ha visto a sus pacientes superar las redadas federales de inmigración de la década de 1990, el pedido de un gobernador para abolir la ciudadanía por nacimiento y las muy publicitadas medidas represivas en el lugar de trabajo y las políticas de separación familiar del primer mandato del presidente Donald Trump. Pero en sus 40 años como pediatra en el sur de California, atendiendo a personas demasiado pobres para costear la atención médica, incluyendo a muchas familias inmigrantes, Sweidan dijo que nunca había visto semejante baja en las visitas de pacientes como ahora. “Tienen miedo de venir a…

President Donald Trump’s administrations have been notorious for an array of “alternative facts” — ranging from the relatively minor (the size of inaugural crowds) to threats to U.S. democracy, such as who really won the 2020 election. And over the past six months, the stakes have been life or death: Trump’s health officials have been endorsing alternative facts in science to impose policies that contradict modern medical knowledge. It is an undeniable fact — true science — that vaccines have been miraculous in preventing terrible diseases from polio to tetanus to measles. Numerous studies have shown they do not cause…

Jacob Sweidan has seen his patients through the federal immigration raids of the 1990s, a sitting governor’s call to abolish birthright citizenship, and the highly publicized workplace crackdowns and family separation policies of President Donald Trump’s first term. But in his 40 years as a pediatrician in Southern California serving those too poor to afford care, including many immigrant families, Sweidan said he’s never seen a drop-off in patient visits like this. “They are scared to come to the offices. They’re getting sicker and sicker,” said Sweidan, who specializes in neonatology and runs five clinics in Los Angeles and Orange…

Se suponía que iba a ser más fácil. Cuando la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA) se aprobó en marzo de 2010, el objetivo era ayudar a que más personas en el país obtuvieran seguro médico. Y, de hecho, la creación de mercados en línea y la ampliación de los criterios de elegibilidad para Medicaid lograron ese propósito. Sin embargo,15 años después, el sistema dista mucho de ser fácil de usar. A los jóvenes que buscan seguro médico pueden ayudarlos los navegadores que trabajan para los mercados en línea. Pero si prefieres hacerlo por tu cuenta, aquí…

In southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, clouds billow above the towering mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range. A chorus of blackbirds whistle as they flit among the reeds of a wildlife refuge. Big, circular fields of crops, interspersed with native shrubs, give it a feel of bucolic quiet. But amid the stark beauty in one of the state’s most productive agricultural regions, there was a sense of unease among the community’s leaders as Congress debated a budget bill that could radically reshape Medicaid, the government health program for low-income people. “I’m trying to be worried and optimistic,” said Konnie…

Dan Weissmann When a New York couple purchased a health insurance plan from a telemarketer, they thought it covered everything they wanted: doctor visits, tests, and medicine. But then came the unexpected bills for thousands of dollars, forcing them to skip crucial medical care.  In their series “Health Care Hustlers,” Bloomberg reporters Zachary Mider and Zeke Faux revealed how this couple and thousands of other people signed up for health plans by unknowingly agreeing to work fake “jobs.”   Mider and Faux join “An Arm and a Leg” host Dan Weissmann to peel back the surprising layers of this story, from…

People thinking about starting a business or retiring early — before they’re old enough for Medicare — may want to wait until November, when they can see just how much their Affordable Care Act health insurance will cost next year. Sharp increases are expected. Premiums for ACA health plans, also known as Obamacare, which many early retirees and small-business owners rely on for coverage, are going up, partly due to policy changes advanced by the Trump administration and Congress. At the same time, more generous tax subsidies that have helped most policyholders pay for coverage are set to expire at…

EKALAKA, Mont. — There was no doctor on-site when a patient arrived in early June at the emergency room in the small hospital at the intersection of two dirt roads in this town of 400 residents. There never is. Dahl Memorial’s three-bed emergency department — a two-hour drive from the closest hospital with more advanced services — instead depends on physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Physician assistant Carla Dowdy realized the patient needed treatment beyond what the ER could provide, even if it had had a doctor. So, she made a call for a medical plane to fly the patient…

Elisabeth Rosenthal and Hannah Norman, KFF Health News Amid the challenges of adulthood, one rite of passage is unique to the United States: the need to find your own health insurance by the time you turn 26. That is the age at which the Affordable Care Act declares that young adults generally must get off their family’s plan and figure out their coverage themselves. When the ACA was voted into law in 2010, what’s known as its dependent coverage expansion was immediately effective, guaranteeing health insurance to millions of young Americans up to age 26 who would otherwise not have…

It was supposed to be easier than this. When the Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010, the goal was to help more Americans get health insurance. And, indeed, the establishment of online marketplaces and a broadening of the eligibility guidelines for Medicaid accomplished that. Fifteen years later, however, that system is anything but user-friendly. Young adults looking for health insurance will likely benefit from talking with so-called navigators who work for the online marketplaces. But if you want to go it alone, here are some tips about shopping for a plan, based on the advice of policy experts…

LISTEN: The Trump administration cut stricter rules for what’s considered a safe amount of salmonella on the chicken you buy at the grocery store. Stephanie Armour tells WAMU’s “Health Hub” how regulatory rollbacks and job cuts could weaken our food safety system. If there were an outbreak of E. coli or another foodborne pathogen, would you want to know about it? Some scientists at the Food and Drug Administration worry that looser regulations and layoffs could make it harder for people to get that news and protect themselves. KFF Health News senior correspondent Stephanie Armour explained on WAMU’s “Health Hub”…

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers whose jobs have been reinstated after dizzying Trump administration disruptions say they remain stuck in a budgetary, political, and professional limbo. Their work includes major agency priorities such as HIV testing and monitoring, as well as work at the nation’s leading sexually transmitted infections lab. And while employees are back, many projects have been canceled or stalled, as funding disappears or is delayed. “For a while, work was staring at a blank screen,” an HIV scientist said. “I had a couple of projects before this. I’m trying to get them restarted.” “We don’t…

KFF Health News Montana correspondent Katheryn Houghton discussed Medicaid work requirements on The Majority Report with Sam Seder on Aug. 7. Click here to watch Houghton on The Majority Report with Sam Seder. Read Houghton’s “Republicans Call Medicaid Rife With Fraudsters. This Man Sees No Choice but To Break the Rules.” and “New Medicaid Federal Work Requirements Mean Less Leeway for States,” co-reported with Bram Sable-Smith. Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed what’s fueling the rise of colon cancer in adults under 54 on CBS News 24/7’s “The Daily Report” on Aug. 4. Click here to w犀利士…

Despite recent efforts to bolster California’s behavioral health workforce, the state is operating with only about two-thirds of the psychiatrists and therapists it needs. The problem is so severe it’s making it hard to backfill retiring practitioners, particularly in the state’s rural areas.  “It feels helpless, because there is more than you can fix. There’s more people than you can help that need it,” said Nick Zepponi, a social worker at the Hill Country Community Clinic CARE Center in Redding in Northern California. The county’s suicide rate is more than double the state average and during the covid-19 pandemic overdose…

Francoise Cham of Miami has health insurance coverage for herself and her daughter through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, also known as Obamacare. The budget law signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 creates new rules for verifying eligibility for subsidized coverage, shorter enrollment periods, and other changes that will cause a projected 870,000 Floridians to lose health insurance by 2034.(Daniel Chang/KFF Health News) MIAMI — GOP lawmakers in the 10 states that refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for over a decade have argued their conservative approach to growing government programs would pay off in the long…