Can this goofy kid get more fans than Rick Perry?

25/01/2025

When Copay Assistance Backfires on Patients In early 2019, Jennifer Hepworth and her husband were stunned by a large bill they unexpectedly received for their daughter’s prescription cystic fibrosis medication. Their payment had risen to $3,500 from the usual $30 for a month’s supply.



That must be a mistake, she told the pharmacy. But it wasn’t. It turned out that the health insurance plan through her husband’s job had a new program in which it stopped applying any financial assistance they received from drugmakers to the family’s annual deductible.

Insurers or employers can tap into funds provided to patients by drugmakers through copay assistance programs, which were designed by the companies to help patients afford increasingly expensive medications. But,

In early 2019, Jennifer Hepworth and her husband were stunned by a large bill they unexpectedly received for their daughter’s prescription cystic fibrosis

25/01/2025

Cinco cambios críticos que puede sufrir Medicaid bajo Trump Durante la presidencia de Joe Biden, la inscripción en Medicaid alcanzó un nivel récord y la tasa de personas sin seguro médico llegó a su nivel histórico más bajo.



Pero se espera que el regreso de Donald Trump a la Casa Blanca, junto con un Senado y una Cámara de Representantes controlados por republicanos, cambie esta situación.

Los republicanos en Washington afirman que planean utilizar recortes de financiamiento y cambios regulatorios para reducir drásticamente Medicaid, el programa de salud federal gerenciado por los estados que cuesta casi $900.000 millones al año y que, junto con el Programa de Seguro Médico Infantil (CHIP), ofrece atención a unos 79 millones de estadounidenses, en su

Durante la presidencia de Joe Biden, la inscripción en Medicaid alcanzó un nivel récord y la tasa de personas sin seguro médico llegó a su nivel histórico más

25/01/2025

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Hello, Trump. Bye-Bye, Biden.
The Host







Julie Rovner
KFF Health News






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.




Incoming President Donald Trump’s inauguration is Monday, yet the new GOP-led Congress is already rushing to work his priorities into legislation, eyeing cuts to Medicaid to pay for new tax and immigration priorities. But even in its waning days, the Biden

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

24/01/2025

A Tale of Two States: Arizona and Florida Diverge on How To Expand Kids’ Health Insurance Arizona and Florida — whose rates of uninsured children are among the highest in the nation — set goals last year to widen the safety net that provides health insurance to people 18 and younger.



But their plans to expand coverage illustrate key ideological differences on the government’s role in subsidizing health insurance for kids: what to charge low-income families as premiums for public coverage — and what happens if they miss a payment.

“It’s a tale of two states,” said Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families.

That divergence represents more than just two states taking their own path. It showcases a broader

Arizona and Florida — whose rates of uninsured children are among the highest in the nation — set goals last year to widen the safety net that provides health

24/01/2025

Biden Leans Into Health Care, Asking Voters To Trust Him Over Trump Angling to tap into strong support for the sweeping health law he helped pass 14 years ago, one of President Joe Biden’s latest reelection strategies is to remind voters that former President Donald Trump tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act.



“Folks, he’s coming for your health care, and we’re not going to let it happen,” Biden says of Trump in a television and digital ad out this month, part of a $14 million investment in the handful of states expected to decide the presidency in November.

The new ad draws on the popularity of the ACA among independent voters and alludes to Biden’s edge over Trump on health issues, which the current president hopes will help propel him to victory.

Swaying

Angling to tap into strong support for the sweeping health law he helped pass 14 years ago, one of President Joe Biden’s latest reelection strategies is to

24/01/2025

An Arm and a Leg: The Woman Who Beat an $8,000 Hospital Fee Hospital facility fees. They can feel like a charge just for walking in the door. Hospitals say they go toward overhead on facilities with lots of specialized equipment and staff, like emergency rooms.

But these fees have grown and become more common in recent years. And as hospitals buy up outpatient facilities, patients are starting to get charged facility fees for routine tests, procedures, and visits to the doctor’s office.

In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Georgann Boatright, a retired speech pathologist from Oxford, Mississippi, who was told by her local hospital that she needed to pay an $8,000 “operating room fee” for a routine test. She was determined not to get

Hospital facility fees. They can feel like a charge just for walking in the door. Hospitals say they go toward overhead on facilities with lots of specialized

24/01/2025

He Fell Ill on a Cruise. Before He Boarded the Rescue Boat, They Handed Him the Bill. Vincent Wasney and his fiancée, Sarah Eberlein, had never visited the ocean. They’d never even been on a plane. But when they bought their first home in Saginaw, Michigan, in 2018, their real estate agent gifted them tickets for a Royal Caribbean cruise.



After two years of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, they set sail in December 2022.

The couple chose a cruise destined for the Bahamas in part because it included a trip to CocoCay, a private island accessible to Royal Caribbean passengers that featured a water park, balloon rides, and an excursion swimming with pigs.

It was on that day on CocoCay when Wasney, 31, started feeling off, he said.

The next morning, as the

Vincent Wasney and his fiancée, Sarah Eberlein, had never visited the ocean. They’d never even been on a plane. But when they bought their first home in

24/01/2025

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 Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans.

The proposals include rolling back the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, which over the last 11 years added about 20 million low-income adults

Under President Joe Biden, enrollment in Medicaid hit a record high and the uninsured rate reached a record low.

23/01/2025

Health Insurers Limit Coverage of Prosthetic Limbs, Questioning Their Medical Necessity When Michael Adams was researching health insurance options in 2023, he had one very specific requirement: coverage for prosthetic limbs.



Adams, 51, lost his right leg to cancer 40 years ago, and he has worn out more legs than he can count. He picked a gold plan on the Colorado health insurance marketplace that covered prosthetics, including microprocessor-controlled knees like the one he has used for many years. That function adds stability and helps prevent falls.

But when his leg needed replacing last January after about five years of everyday use, his new marketplace health plan wouldn’t authorize it. The roughly $50,000 leg with the electronically controlled knee wasn’t

When Michael Adams was researching health insurance options in 2023, he had one very specific requirement: coverage for prosthetic limbs.

23/01/2025

Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance on Health Care STILLWATER, Minn. — Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate is making health care a front-burner issue in the final sprint to the November presidential election.



Walz, a 60-year-old former high school teacher and football coach, has a record of supporting left-leaning health care initiatives during his two terms as governor and while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He also leads a state central to the health care industry: Minnesota is home both to the nation’s largest health insurer, UnitedHealth Group, and one of its most prestigious hospital systems, the Mayo Clinic.

Republicans have seized on his record to portray the

STILLWATER, Minn. — Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate is making health care a front-burner issue in the

23/01/2025

Biden’s on Target About What Repealing ACA Would Mean for Preexisting Condition Protections If the Affordable Care Act were terminated, “that would mean over a hundred million Americans will lose protections for preexisting conditions.”

President Joe Biden in a campaign advertisement, May 8

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign wants voters to contrast his record on health care policy with his predecessor’s. In May, Biden’s campaign began airing a monthlong, $14 million ad campaign targeting swing-state voters and minority groups with spots on TV, digital, and radio.



In the ad, titled “Terminate,” Biden assails former President Donald Trump for his past promises to overturn the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Biden also warns of the

If the Affordable Care Act were terminated, “that would mean over a hundred million Americans will lose protections for preexisting conditions.”

23/01/2025

Rage Has Long Shadowed American Health Care. It’s Rarely Produced Big Change. Among the biggest-grossing films in America in February 2002 were a war drama about American troops in Somalia (“Black Hawk Down”), an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie (“Collateral Damage”), and a future Oscar winner about a brilliant mathematician struggling with schizophrenia (“A Beautiful Mind”).



But none of these films topped the box office that month. That title went to “John Q.,” a movie about health insurance.

Or, more precisely, a story about a desperate father — played by Denzel Washington — who takes a hospital emergency room hostage at gunpoint when his HMO refuses to cover a heart transplant for his young son.

John Q.’s violent quest for justice was, of

23/01/2025

Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding It was expected that the past year and a half would be a fraught time for Medicaid, the workhorse of the nation’s health system, which covers more people than any other government health insurance program.



In April 2023, states resumed screening people for Medicaid eligibility and terminating coverage for those they said no longer qualified or failed to renew, which had been prohibited under pandemic-era protections. Many health advocates feared the uninsured rate, which had just hit historic lows, would resurge.

But while more than 25 million Americans have lost Medicaid coverage during the Medicaid “unwinding,” many also gained coverage as more than a dozen states expanded health coverage for lower-income

It was expected that the past year and a half would be a fraught time for Medicaid, the workhorse of the nation’s health system, which covers more people than

22/01/2025

He Went in for a Colonoscopy. The Hospital Charged $19,000 for Two. Tom Contos is an avid runner. When he started experiencing re**al bleeding in March, he thought exercise could be the cause and tried to ignore it. But he became increasingly worried when the bleeding continued for weeks.

The Chicago health care consultant contacted his physician at Northwestern Medicine, who referred him for a diagnostic colonoscopy, at least partly because Contos, 45, has a family history of colon issues.

“I work out a lot,” he said. “But my partner said this isn’t normal. My primary care physician said, ‘Given your family history, let’s get you in.’”

Northwestern Memorial Hospital asked him to prepay $1,000 out-of-pocket, and he underwent the procedure in June.

Then the bill

Tom Contos is an avid runner. When he started experiencing re**al bleeding in March, he thought exercise could be the cause and tried to ignore it. But he

22/01/2025

Election Outcome Could Bring Big Changes to Medicare On the campaign trail, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are eager to portray themselves as guardians of Medicare. Each presidential candidate accuses the other of backing spending cuts and other policies that would damage the health insurance program for older Americans.



But the election’s outcome could alter the very nature of the nearly 60-year-old federal program. More than half of Medicare beneficiaries are already enrolled in plans, called Medicare Advantage, run by commercial insurers, and if Trump wins, that proportion is expected to grow — perhaps dramatically.

Trump and many congressional Republicans have already taken steps to aggressively promote Medicare Advantage. And

On the campaign trail, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are eager to portray themselves as guardians of Medicare. Each

22/01/2025

Biden Said State of the Union Is Strong and Made Clear His Campaign Is Off and Running President Joe Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments in health care in a wide-ranging State of the Union address on Thursday evening that touched on subjects such as immigration, the economy, crime, job growth, infrastructure, and the Israel-Hamas war.



With Biden and former President Donald Trump now the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, Biden used the roughly 68-minute speech to counter his lackluster public approval ratings and draw clear contrasts between his administration’s policies and those of Trump and some congressional Republicans. But he never mentioned Trump by name, instead referring to him as his “predecessor.”

Biden came out swinging,

President Joe Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments in health care in a wide-ranging State of the Union address on Thursday evening that touched

22/01/2025

A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Makes Money Doing It LOS ANGELES — They distribute GPS devices so they can track their homeless patients. They stock their street kits with glass pipes used to smoke m**h, crack, or fentanyl. They keep company credit cards on hand in case a patient needs emergency food or water, or an Uber ride to the doctor.



These doctors, nurses, and social workers are fanning out on the streets of Los Angeles to provide health care and social services to homeless people — foot soldiers of a new business model taking root in communities around California.

Their strategy: Build trust with homeless people to deliver medicine wherever they are — and make money doing it.

“The biggest population of homeless people in

LOS ANGELES — They distribute GPS devices so they can track their homeless patients. They stock their street kits with glass pipes used to smoke m**h, crack,

21/01/2025

Lo nuevo y lo que debes tener en cuenta en el próximo período de inscripción abierta de ACA Estamos en esa época del año otra vez. En la mayoría de los estados, la temporada de inscripción abierta de la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA) para los planes de salud comienza el 1 de noviembre y dura hasta el 15 de enero.



Los consumidores que no actualicen su información o seleccionen una alternativa serán automáticamente reinscriptos en su plan actual o, si ese plan ya no está disponible, en uno con cobertura similar.

El año pasado se registró un récord de inscripciones, con unas 21 millones de personas. Esta vez, los consumidores descubrirán que han cambiado algunas cosas.

No seas víctima de estafas publicitarias

Aunque algunos planes de

Estamos en esa época del año otra vez. En la mayoría de los estados, la temporada de inscripción abierta de la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA)