What the Health? From KFF Health News

About halfway through 2026 — and just a few months before the critical midterm elections — Democrats appear to be doubling down on healthcare as a campaign issue as costs rise and insurance coverage declines. Meanwhile, Congress is taking aim at nonprofit hospitals. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government join KFF Health News’...

The Supreme Court handed down its last decisions of its 2025-26 term this week, including in an immigration case that could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of workers in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.  Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more.   V...

With the fiscal year mostly over, hundreds of millions of dollars in health-related grants approved by Congress still have not reached their designated recipients, with the Trump administration again delaying distribution. Meanwhile, on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban abortion, the number of abortions in the U.S. is actually rising.  Maya Goldman of...

Senate Democrats hope to highlight rising healthcare prices by forcing a vote on the Trump administration’s changes to the Affordable Care Act before the midterm elections. Meanwhile, Alabama is the latest state to try to cut off residents’ access to medication abortion via telehealth.  Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News...

As predicted, the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans is causing many people to lose coverage for failing to make premium payments.  Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded angrily to a New York Times article suggesting he’s not actively engaged in the work of his sprawling department.  Lauren Weber of The Washington Post...

Adult Medicaid enrollees with serious health conditions may not be automatically exempt from new work rules, according to a new regulation from the Trump administration — the opposite of what state officials were informally told would be the case.  Meanwhile, the administration is also proposing to give political appointees even more power over who gets health and science grant funding.  Margot Sa...

When Republicans passed their big budget bill in 2025, they thought the effects of cuts to health programs wouldn’t show up until after the 2026 midterms. They were wrong.  Meanwhile, the party is trumpeting its efforts to lower drug prices.  Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Maya Goldman of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and mo...

In just the first few days after losing his bid for reelection in Louisiana, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy has already started signaling that his loyalty to President Donald Trump has waned. But how much Cassidy will try to accomplish toward his health agenda in his remaining months in office remains to be seen.  Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Ti...

In one of the most widely expected departures in recent memory, Marty Makary stepped down as head of the FDA this week.  Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is considering blocking telehealth prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone.  Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss thes...

A federal court’s decision to override the FDA and restrict availability of the abortion pill mifepristone has launched abortion back into the national spotlight. It’s also raised new questions about the job security of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.  Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these...

Democrats and Republicans on one of the House committees that oversees the Medicare program had strong words about high hospital pricing at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, but it remains unclear whether the reality will match their rhetoric when it comes to reining in those prices.  Meanwhile, some good health policy news: A study found the 988 suicide prevention hotline reduced suicides sign...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completed his whirlwind tour of House and Senate committees this week, ostensibly to promote President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for his department but also to answer for some of his more controversial positions, particularly on vaccines.  Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order to facilitate the use of hallucinogens to treat mental...

President Donald Trump tapped a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director — a former deputy surgeon general and vaccine supporter. Meanwhile, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the rounds on Capitol Hill to testify about the president’s budget request, though the topics lawmakers wanted to discuss ran the gamut.  Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health...

This week, the Trump administration won a court battle to delay a ruling on access to the abortion pill mifepristone, angering its own anti-abortion allies. Meanwhile, the president’s budget arrived on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are unlikely to agree to its proposed cuts to Health and Human Services programs.  Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Maya Gol...

Despite public opposition to the cuts they made to federal health programs in 2025, Republicans reportedly are considering still more cuts to help pay for the war in Iran. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot ban mental health professionals from using “conversion therapy” on LGBTQ+ minors.  Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law, and Jessie Hellmann o...

The Trump administration faces the challenge of naming a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who can both satisfy the Make America Healthy Again movement and get confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, a new Senate bill to rescind the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is again elevating the abortion debate, which some Republicans would prefer to stay on the back bur...

A federal judge in Massachusetts this week sided with public health groups to block changes to the federally recommended schedule of childhood vaccines, dealing at least a temporary setback to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remake the schedule. Meanwhile, Congress has put its debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act on the back burner, but the issue...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having surgery on a torn rotator cuff, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering in the Senate, the controversial head of the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less th...

This month is 40 years since host Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner is joined by two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986. This week’s special guests are Chip Kahn, a former GOP House and Senate staffer and former head of the Federation of American Hosp...

Health care got barely a mention in President Donald Trump’s record-long State of the Union address this week. Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has presented few concrete plans to address what Americans say is the biggest problem with health care: its skyrocketing costs.  Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to become U.S. surgeon general, Casey Means, got her long-delayed nomination hearing in...

The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the Food and Drug Administration will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs. Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health...

It’s been a busy week at the Food and Drug Administration, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine, a decision that’s reverberating through the drug industry.  Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Li...

Congress has passed — and President Donald Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed. In 2025, billions of dollars were stalled, disrupting patient care and scientific research, until federal judges ordered funding resumed.  Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne K...

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills on their way to passage have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month.  Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Mi...

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is considerably bleaker for the health care outline released by President Donald Trump last week.  Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Ro...