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Big cuts to healthcare programs in the 2025 GOP budget law are creating an affordability crunch for many Americans: Higher health insurance premiums. Confusion about who Medicaid will cover under the new rules. ϳԹ News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner explains how the changes could leave nearly 2 million children uninsured.
Some states bar professional midwives from attending home births if they don’t have a nursing license. Their advocates say laws to allow midwife licensing would make home birth safer and more accessible, plus help address a maternity care shortage.
As artificial intelligence embeds itself into health care, some physicians and patient advocates worry it could be used by insurance companies to refuse payment for care. Maryland passed one law banning AI from acting alone on a denial. Meanwhile, Virginia’s then-governor vetoed that state’s attempt at regulating AI in health insurance.
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.
The administration has largely converted the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement into an arm of immigration enforcement, detaining children longer while helping immigration officers arrest their parents or other family members. One father was chained when he went to an ICE office to discuss being reunited with his son and daughter.
Patchwork state policies and limited federal oversight have led to a fragmented system for tracking when potential organ donors provide consent or change their minds.
Last summer, the Trump administration announced a voluntary pledge by health insurers to reform prior authorization, which often requires patients or their doctors to seek preapproval from insurers before proceeding with medical care. Patient advocates and medical providers remain skeptical.
Cancer treatments, disease outbreaks, addiction science: Scientists say an exodus from the National Institutes of Health will harm the nation's ability to respond to illness.
More than three dozen states cover dental services for low-income and disabled individuals on Medicaid, in recognition of such care’s importance to overall health. But with about $900 billion in funding cuts expected to hit states over the next decade, many programs could roll back dental coverage.
Aging means “becoming a target” of the industry, one expert said. After decades of debate, politicians of all stripes are proposing bans.
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won’t be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or haven't paid — their new, often much higher, premiums.
Ballad Health, the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.
The physician workforce is aging fast, and some hospitals now require that older clinicians undergo testing for cognitive decline. Many have resisted.
In Georgia, a high number of callers to the 988 crisis line hang up or disconnect before reaching a counselor. Many other calls are transferred out of state.
A proposed abortion ban in South Carolina would have allowed the criminal prosecution of women who obtain the procedure. It’s unlikely to become law, but this bill and other proposals across the country show how some conservative lawmakers are embracing increasingly punitive abortion restrictions.
Some patients who had liposuction or other surgeries later required emergency hospital care — and some died, court records show.
The White House says encampment sweeps have enhanced the capital, but city leaders estimate nearly 700 homeless people roam by day and bed down outdoors by night. Some have scattered to the suburbs while others avoid detection, making it hard for medical providers to care for them.
Local governments have received hundreds of millions of dollars from the opioid settlements to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts. Their spending decisions in 2024 were sometimes surprising and even controversial. Our new database offers more than 10,500 examples.
Even if Congress strikes a deal soon to extend more generous Affordable Care Act subsidies, the prices and types of ACA plans available could change dramatically. Unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval could cloud this year’s open enrollment season, which begins in most states on Saturday.
More men are now living long enough to develop osteoporosis. But few are aware of the risk, and fewer still are screened and treated.
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