News
Collaborating with KFF Health News with focus on Medicaid, Medicare, Rural & Public Health
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While Scientists Race To Study Spread of Measles in US, Kennedy Unravels Hard-Won Gains
Posted on December 05, 2025
The United States is poised to lose its measles-free status next year. If that happens, the country will enter an era in which outbreaks are common again.
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Workplace Mental Health at Risk as Key Federal Agency Faces Cuts
Posted on December 05, 2025
In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate the return to work for a year.
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Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.
Posted on December 04, 2025
The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native American tribes in sparsely populated areas and in need of significant improvements to health care access.
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Even as SNAP Resumes, New Work Rules Threaten Access for Years To Come
Posted on December 03, 2025
Alejandro Santillan-Garcia is worried he’s going to lose the aid that helps him buy food. The 20-year-old Austin resident qualified for federal food benefits last year because he aged out of the Texas foster care system, which he entered as an infant.
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They Need a Ventilator To Stay Alive. Getting One Can Be a Nightmare.
Posted on December 02, 2025
On vacation in Mexico last year, Michael DiPlacido passed out twice while scuba diving and again in his hotel. Back in St. Louis, doctors diagnosed him with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable disease that often requires mechanical ventilation. When his son Adam DiPlacido tried to find a permanent place to care for his father, who now needed a ventilator to breathe through a tracheostomy tube, he discovered none of Missouri’s nearly 500 nursing homes could take him.
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Medicaid Work Rules Exempt the ‘Medically Frail.’ Deciding Who Qualifies Is Tricky.
Posted on December 01, 2025
Eliza Brader worries she soon will need to prove she’s working to continue receiving Medicaid health coverage. She doesn’t think she should have to.
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Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.
Posted on November 20, 2025
Along with the occasional aches and pains, growing older can bring surprise setbacks and serious diseases. Longtime relationships with doctors people trust often make even bad news more tolerable. Losing that support — especially during a health crisis — can be terrifying. That’s why little-known federal requirements are supposed to protect people with privately run Medicare Advantage coverage when contract disputes lead their health care providers and insurers to part ways.
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A Hidden Health Crisis Following Natural Disasters: Mold Growth in Homes
Posted on November 19, 2025
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After returning from what felt like the best internship of her life, Danae Daniels was excited to unwind and settle into a new semester at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. But when she opened the door to her off-campus apartment, she was met with an overwhelming smell — and a devastating reality.
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Ticked Off Over Preauthorization: Walk-In Patient Avoided Lyme Disease but Not a Surprise Bill
Posted on November 18, 2025
Leah Kovitch was pulling invasive plants in the meadow near her home one weekend in late April when a tick latched onto her leg.
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Health Care Costs Jump to the Fore as Candidates Jockey To Be California Governor
Posted on November 12, 2025
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — California’s gubernatorial election is a year away, and the field of primary candidates is still taking shape. But one persistent issue has already emerged as a leading concern: the cost of health care.