All posts by rebecca

KFF Health News: Trump Promised Cheaper Drugs. Some Prices Dropped. Many Others Shot Up.

Since his second term started, President Donald Trump has announced, negotiated, or floated a flurry of initiatives aimed at taming the excesses of the pharmaceutical industry. No surprise. About 60% of American adults are “worried about being able to afford prescription dru... Read more

KFF Health News: A New Medicare Option for Weight Loss Drugs – What Older Americans Should Know

  (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Starting in July, Medicare beneficiaries may be able to get a GLP-1 prescription for weight loss for $50 a month. It’s a notable shift for Medicare, which has long been barred from covering weight loss treatments. ... Read more

KFF Health News: New Federal Medicaid Rules Require One Month of Work. Some States Demand More.

Millions of people who apply for Medicaid in the coming years will have to prove they’ve been working, going to school, or volunteering for at least a month before they can gain or retain health insurance through the government program. But Republican lawmakers in some state... Read more

KFF Health News: Can I Opt Out of Having My Doctor Take Notes With AI?

Family physician Eric Boose has been using an artificial intelligence tool to get back to what he calls “old-fashioned medicine” — talking with patients face-to-face, without having to type into a computer at the same time. “I can really just sit there and engage and j... Read more

KFF Health News: Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare

John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he’s waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it — then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, a... Read more

KFF Health News: Many ACA Customers Are Paying Higher Premiums. Most Blame Trump and Republicans, Poll Finds.

Most people who get their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act say they face sharply higher costs, with many worried they will have to pare back other expenses to cover them, according to a poll released Thursday. Some are uncertain whether they will be able to continu... Read more

KFF Health News: Even Patients Are Shocked by the Prices Their Insurers Will Pay — And It Costs All of Us

Samantha Smith of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, went into the operating room for emergency removal of an ectopic pregnancy. “I’m grateful I didn’t die,” she said, but she was shocked to see that the outpatient surgery was billed to her insurer for about $100,000. Jamie Est... Read more

Pennsylvania Alliance President Testifies at Informational Hearing on Online Scams

Pennsylvania Alliance President Mike Crossey joined state lawmakers and other witnesses in Harrisburg on Wednesday to testify about online scams targeting seniors. In his testimony, he discussed how scams allowed to proliferate on social media networks are harming older Americ... Read more

KFF Health News: Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.

It’s the rare policy question that unites Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Democratic-led Maryland government against President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California: How should health insurers use AI? Regulating artificial intelligence, especially ... Read more