Latest California Healthline Stories
Are 5 Million Nondisabled Medicaid Recipients Watching TV All Day? That’s Unsupported
CNN pundit Scott Jennings said almost 5 million nondisabled Medicaid recipients “simply choose not to work” and “spend six hours a day socializing and watching television.” But a recent analysis found only about 300,000 cited a lack of interest in working as the reason they were unemployed.
Georgia Shows Rough Road Ahead for States as Medicaid Work Requirements Loom
President Donald Trump signed legislation that requires many Medicaid recipients to prove they’re working to qualify for health care coverage, allocating $200 million for states that expanded Medicaid to prepare systems to verify people’s eligibility. Georgia’s program, which has been expensive and difficult to administer, has had limited enrollment.
$50B Rural Health ‘Slush Fund’ Faces Questions, Skepticism
Lawmakers added a $50 billion program for rural health to President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package with promises it would help plug the hole left by Medicaid cuts. Rural hospital and clinic leaders worry the infusion won’t reach the right places.
Louisiana Upholds Its HIV Exposure Law as Other States Change or Repeal Theirs
State lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to extend the law this year to cover the intentional exposure of other sexually transmitted infections.
Surprise Medical Bills Were Supposed To Be a Thing of the Past. Surprise — They’re Not.
The No Surprises Act, which was signed in 2020 and took effect in 2022, was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation that would protect people who had health insurance from receiving surprise medical bills. And yet bills that take patients by surprise keep coming.
In Rush To Satisfy Trump, GOP Delivers Blow to Health Industry
The health industry couldn’t persuade GOP lawmakers to oppose big Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill for many reasons. A big one: Congressional Republicans were more worried about angering Trump than a backlash from hospitals and low-income constituents back home.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Digesting Trump’s Big Budget Law
President Donald Trump’s big budget bill became his big budget law on July 4, codifying about $1 trillion in cuts to the Medicaid program. But the law includes many less-publicized provisions that could reshape the way the nation pays for and receives health care. Meanwhile, at the Department of Health and Human Services, uncertainty reigns as both staff and outside recipients of federal funds face cuts. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported the latest KFF Health News’ “Bill of the Month” feature, about some very pricey childhood immunizations.
Insurers Fight State Laws Restricting Surprise Ambulance Bills
A Colorado bill banning surprise billing for ambulance rides passed unanimously in both legislative chambers, only to be met with a veto from the governor. As more states pass such legislation, some are hitting the same snag — concerns about raising premiums.
Aseguradoras rechazan leyes estatales que protegen contra facturas sorpresa por uso de ambulancias
Cuando una compañía de ambulancias cobra más de lo que una aseguradora está dispuesta a pagar, los pacientes pueden terminar con una factura enorme de la que no tienen escapatoria.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump’s Bill Reaches the Finish Line
The House on Thursday moved to approve the largest-ever cuts to federal safety net programs, the last step before the measure goes to President Donald Trump’s desk. After the Senate very narrowly passed the bill, House GOP leaders ushered it past resistance from conservatives wary of adding trillions to the federal debt and moderates concerned about its cuts to Medicaid. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to pursue his anti-vaccine agenda, despite promising that he would not. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.