All posts by tatum

KFF Health News: Montana’s Medicaid Expansion Conundrum

HELENA, Mont. — Despite concerns about what Congress and the Trump administration might have planned for Medicaid, Montana’s Republican-led legislature and GOP governor appear ready to keep the state’s Medicaid expansion program in place beyond its scheduled end date this s... Read more

KFF Health News: Republicans Are Eyeing Cuts to Medicaid. What’s Medicaid, Again?

In January, during a congressional hearing on his way to becoming secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got basic details wrong about Medicaid — a program he now oversees. He said that Medicaid is fully funded by the federal govern... Read more

KFF Health News: The Growing Inequality in Life Expectancy Among Americans

The life expectancy among Native Americans in the western United States has dropped below 64 years, close to life expectancies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti. For many Asian Americans, it’s around 84 — on par with life expectancies in Japan and Switzerland.... Read more

KFF Health News: Trump’s Return Puts Medicaid on the Chopping Block

Under President Joe Biden, enrollment in Medicaid hit a record high and the uninsured rate reached a record low. Donald Trump’s return to the White House — along with a GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives — is expected to change that. Republicans in Was... Read more

KFF Health News: In Year 7, ‘Bill of the Month’ Gives Patients a Voice

In 2024, our nationwide team of gumshoes set out to answer your most pressing questions about medical bills, such as: Can free preventive care really come with add-on bills for items like surgical trays? Or, why does it cost so much to treat a rattlesnake bite? Or, if it’s ca... Read more

KFF Health News: TV’s Dr. Oz Invested in Businesses Regulated by Agency Trump Wants Him To Lead

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose ... Read more

KFF Health News: Scientists Fear What’s Next for Public Health if RFK Jr. Is Allowed To ‘Go Wild’

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team. Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Rob... Read more

KFF Health News: Watchdog Calls for Tighter Scrutiny of Medicare Advantage Home Visits

A new federal watchdog audit is ratcheting up pressure on government officials to crack down on billions of dollars in overcharges linked to Medicare Advantage home visits. But so far, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rejected a recommendation from the Heal... Read more

KFF Health News: New Lines of Attack Form Against the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act is back under attack. Not as in the repeal-and-replace debates of yore, but in a fresher take from Republican lawmakers who say key parts of the ACA cost taxpayers too much and provide incentive for fraud. Several House Republican leaders have called o... Read more