A ‘Barbaric’ Problem in American Hospitals Is Only Getting Bigger
Patients are getting stuck in the emergency department for days while waiting for a spot in an inpatient ward.
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Patients are getting stuck in the emergency department for days while waiting for a spot in an inpatient ward.
Montana health officials say they’re seeking to add doula services to the state’s Medicaid program, reversing a previous statement that they would “not be moving forward” amid a budget shortfall.
The costs of posttreatment care are forcing cancer survivors to make tough choices. GOP proposals to bring down health insurance costs won’t help people who need constant care and monitoring, health policy researchers and patient advocates say.
Real estate investment trusts are landlords for thousands of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Some select the managers and keep close watch over their performance but deny responsibility for bad care.
After KFF Health News reported that the Trump administration is seeking federal workers’ medical records, Democratic lawmakers are insisting that the Office of Personnel Management drop its request.
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A funding notice for Title X shifts the program’s emphasis from contraception to fertility, family formation, and addressing conditions that could cause infertility, including endometriosis. Experts say these priorities overlook key demographic trends, epidemiology, prevention of unwanted pregnancies, and the nation's high maternal mortality.
Starting next year, about 18.5 million adults will be subject to new Medicaid work rules in 42 states and Washington, D.C. Applicants must show they’ve been working for at least a month before receiving benefits. Some Republican-controlled states want to triple the required work period.
A KFF Health News analysis found Medi-Cal lost almost 100,000 immigrants without legal status in the second half of 2025. California officials say it’s not clear if immigrants are losing coverage faster than other populations, but researchers said the most obvious driver is fear of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
As President Donald Trump’s heightened immigration enforcement continues across the country, some states are updating temporary guardianship laws to keep the children of detained and deported immigrants out of state custody.
Even as the Trump administration publicly embraces the Make America Healthy Again movement and its ideals about reducing corporate harm to the environment, it has taken steps to stall environmental protections that MAHA followers hold dear.
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This week, the Trump administration won a court battle to delay a ruling on access to the abortion pill mifepristone, angering its own anti-abortion allies. Meanwhile, the president’s budget arrived on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are unlikely to agree to its proposed cuts to Health and Human Services programs. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Maya Goldman of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Some states already don’t have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees’ phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result.
When the only clinic that offered abortions in Michigan’s rural Upper Peninsula closed, an urgent care facility stepped in to fill the gap. Now, others are considering similar moves as brick-and-mortar clinics close in blue states.
The administration is asking insurers that cover federal employees and retirees to hand over details about their medical visits, their pharmacy claims, and more.
Montana was on track to start reimbursing doulas, who support new and expectant parents, through Medicaid this year. But state officials halted that plan amid a budget shortfall. Other such services deemed optional under Medicaid are at risk nationwide as states brace for federal cuts.
Post-mastectomy pain syndrome, or PMPS, is estimated to afflict tens of thousands of U.S. women each year. And yet it is not well understood and is inconsistently treated.
Rosa María Carranza has worked and paid taxes for more than two decades, but a provision in the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will make her and an estimated 100,000 other lawfully present immigrant seniors ineligible for Medicare. Now Carranza’s once secure retirement is in question.
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