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‘If They Cut Too Much, People Will Die’: Health Coalition Pushes GOP on Medicaid Funding
By Christine Mai-Duc
As House Republicans mull a massive $880 billion cut from federal programs likely including Medicaid, constituents, disability advocates, and health care providers are joining forces to lobby GOP members in California — including those who represent rural, deeply conservative pockets that stand to lose the most.
‘They Won’t Help Me’: Sickest Patients Face Insurance Denials Despite Policy Fixes
By Lauren Sausser
The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson prompted both grief and public outrage about the ways insurers deny treatment. Republicans and Democrats agree prior authorization needs fixing, but patients are growing impatient.
Montana’s Small Pharmacies Behind Bill To Corral Pharmacy Benefit Managers
By Mike Dennison
A bill designed to force PBMs to pay higher fees to independent drugstores sailed through the state House, but lobbyists are marshaling their forces to kill the measure in the Senate.
Treatment Tops Housing in Trump Homeless Policy
By Angela Hart
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Daily Edition for Friday, March 28, 2025
Sharp Seeks Prompt Payment From Cash-Strapped Palomar: Palomar Health faces a demand from Sharp HealthCare to immediately repay $26 million — the principal and interest on a loan — or face a lawsuit alleging it violated the terms of an exclusive negotiating agreement. Palomar’s board of trustees met Thursday in closed session to discuss “significant exposure to litigation,” but reported no votes taken. Read more from The San Diego Union Tribune.
Their Physical Therapy Coverage Ran Out Before They Could Walk Again
By Jordan Rau
Health plans limit physical or occupational therapy sessions to as few as 20 a year, no matter the patient’s infirmities. The limits persist despite federal rules banning insurers from setting annual dollar limits on the care they will provide.
He Had Short-Term Health Insurance. His Colonoscopy Bill: $7,000.
By Julie Appleby
After leaving his job to launch his own business, an Illinois man opted for a six-month health insurance plan. When he needed a colonoscopy, he thought it would cover most of the bill. Then he learned his plan’s limited benefits would cost him plenty.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Ax Falls at HHS
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a proposed reorganization for the department — which, counting those who already have left the agency, amounts to about a 25% cut in its workforce. And its planned “Administration for a Healthy America” will collapse several existing HHS agencies into one. Meanwhile, the department continues to cut billions in health spending while the nation faces measles outbreaks in several states and the continuing possibility of another pandemic, such as bird flu. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss the news.
Daily Edition for Thursday, March 27, 2025
LA County Sheriff To Retest Thousands Of DNA Samples: The L.A. County Sheriff's Department used DNA testing kits for months without realizing they were faulty. An internal investigation has been launched. “This failure will undoubtedly delay criminal cases,” said Brooke Longuevan, president of the public defenders union. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and ABC News.
