As Trump Punts on Medical Debt, Battle Over Patient Protections Moves to States
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
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Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
A pilot program testing the use of artificial intelligence to expand prior authorization decisions in Medicare has providers, politicians, and researchers questioning Trump administration promises to curb an unpopular practice that has frustrated patients and their doctors.
The decisions by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices matter, because insurers and federal programs rely on them, but they are not binding. States can follow the recommendations, or not.
Denied coverage for preventive care? You鈥檙e not powerless. In this new episode of NPR鈥檚 鈥淟ife Kit鈥� podcast, 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News reporter Jackie Forti茅r explores why denials happen and how to avoid common pitfalls.
In South Texas鈥� Rio Grande Valley, many people go without health insurance, and the health system struggles as a result. Similar communities dot the nation, and more could face such difficulties under President Donald Trump鈥檚 tax-and-spending law.
Tens of millions of people face sticker shock enrolling in Affordable Care Act insurance for 2026. To save money, the Trump administration wants them to consider less generous coverage.
Advisory committee meetings help FDA scientists make decisions and increase public understanding of drug regulation, and abandoning them doesn鈥檛 make sense, former officials said.
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News video producer Hannah Norman breaks down why new parents are getting billed thousands of dollars for births.
The GOP said its overhaul of Medicaid was aimed at reducing fraud and getting more adult beneficiaries to work. Among the likely side effects: fewer services and doctors for treating sick children.
The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.
A combative Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, appeared before a Senate committee Thursday, defending his firing of the newly confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other changes that could limit the availability of vaccines. Meanwhile, Congress has only a few weeks to complete work on annual spending bills to avoid a possible government shutdown and to ward off potentially large increases in premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥� Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥� Tony Leys, who discusses his 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥� report about a woman鈥檚 unfortunate interaction with a bat 鈥� and her even more unfortunate interaction with the bill for her rabies prevention treatment.
Michigan鈥檚 former top health official spent a year and $30 million building a system to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The difficulties he encountered have him worried about 40 states and Washington, D.C., having to launch such systems by 2027.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is hunting for Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse in at least six Democratic-led states that expanded coverage to low-income and disabled immigrants without legal status, according to records obtained by 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News and The Associated Press.
Many people don鈥檛 know they can fight a health insurance denial, let alone how to do it. Here are practical tips for consumers who want to appeal a prior authorization decision.
Conventional wisdom says GLP-1 drugs must be taken indefinitely to maintain weight loss. But a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are challenging that consensus and exploring whether 鈥� and how 鈥� to taper patients off expensive GLP-1 drugs.
About 90,000 people spent months in limbo as central Missouri鈥檚 major, and often only, provider fought over insurance contracts. Patients getting caught in the crossfire of disputes has become a familiar complication, as about 8% of hospitals have left an insurer network since 2021. Trump administration policies could accelerate the trend.
As states prepare to implement changes to Medicaid required by President Donald Trump鈥檚 recent tax-and-spending law, tribal leaders say they are concerned Native American enrollees could lose their coverage, despite exemptions made by Congress.
The cost of health insurance is rising faster than the price of eggs or gasoline.
This summer marks the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, the twin government programs that have shaped the health care system into what it is today. In this special episode, 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥� Julie Rovner interviews two experts on the history, significance, and future of these programs: Medicare historian and University of North Carolina professor Jonathan Oberlander and George Washington University professor emerita Sara Rosenbaum, who has studied Medicaid since nearly its beginning and has helped shape Medicaid policy over the past four decades.
A joint project of NPR and 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News, Healthcare Helpline helps you navigate the health system hurdles between you and good care. Send us your tricky questions, and we may tap a policy sleuth to puzzle them out. Here is what to do if your preventive care gets denied.
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