Latest Morning Briefing Stories
A California Lawmaker Leans Into Her Medical Training in Fight for Health Safety Net
As California’s budget deadline looms, state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a physician-turned-lawmaker, says state leaders may soon have to make some tough decisions on health care spending. With the state’s Medi-Cal program billions of dollars short, California’s health care safety net is at risk — even without federal cuts to Medicaid.
Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
Trump Policies at Odds With ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Push
On the surface, President Donald Trump embraced the MAHA movement with a pledge to end the nation’s high rates of chronic disease. But the broader Trump agenda may prove to be the biggest barrier this effort confronts.
At Social Security, These Are the Days of the Living Dead
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
HIV Testing and Outreach Falter as Trump Funding Cuts Sweep the South
A disruption in federal funds has jeopardized HIV testing and outreach in Mississippi, and researchers warn of a resurgence of the epidemic in the South.
An Arm and a Leg: Why ‘The Pitt’ Is Our Fave New Drama
An emergency room doctor says what the TV show “The Pitt” gets right about hospitals, including why they’re so crowded and the bills so high.
Covered California Pushes for Better Health Care as Federal Spending Cuts Loom
Monica Soni, Covered California’s chief medical officer, oversees an effort to hold health plans financially accountable for the quality of care they provide, including childhood vaccination rates, which have fallen in California and nationwide. She worries federal spending cuts could soon bring turbulence to the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Government Watchdog Expects Medicaid Work Requirement Analysis by Fall
This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office expects to release a report on how much it costs to run Georgia Pathways to Coverage — the country’s only active Medicaid work requirement program — as other states and Congress consider similar programs.
Avanza análisis sobre el requisito de trabajo para Medicaid
La idea de un mandato nacional que requiera que los beneficiarios de Medicaid trabajen, estudien o realicen otras actividades que cumplan los requisitos para mantener la cobertura está ganando terreno.
Federal Cuts Gut Food Banks as They Face Record Demand
Food banks nationwide are being pinched by record demand, high food prices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts. As the economy plods onto shaky ground, food bank leaders hope Congress patches the holes by passing a new farm bill.