Health Care Costs

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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Projected Surge in Uninsured Will Strain Local Health Systems

In South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, many people go without health insurance, and the health system struggles as a result. Similar communities dot the nation, and more could face such difficulties under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law.

In the Fallout From Trump’s Health Funding Cuts, States Face Tough Budget Decisions

The Trump administration has pushed a significant amount of health costs to states, whose budgets may already be strained by declining state tax revenues, a slowdown in pandemic spending, and economic uncertainty. State and local governments now face difficult decisions.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': On Capitol Hill, RFK Defends Firings at CDC

Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, defended that action and others before a sometimes skeptical Senate Finance Committee. Criticism of Kennedy’s increasingly anti-vaccine actions came not just from Democrats on […]

Listen: Limiting Benefits and Adding Restrictions, ‘MAHA’ Reshapes Food Aid

The White House and congressional Republicans have made historic changes to the federal anti-hunger program SNAP. They say the changes will boost healthy eating for low-income Americans. Some nutrition experts aren’t so sure.

As Insurers Struggle With GLP-1 Drug Costs, Some Seek To Wean Patients Off

Conventional wisdom says GLP-1 drugs must be taken indefinitely to maintain weight loss. But a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are challenging that consensus and exploring whether — and how — to taper patients off expensive GLP-1 drugs.