This month is 40 years since @julierovner.bsky.social began reporting on health policy in Washington.
To mark the anniversary, Rovner speaks with two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986.
“There’s been a fundamental destruction.”
Scientists are leaving the National Institutes of Health in droves under President Donald Trump.
@rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & @k-hought.bsky.social report on what's left behind ⤵️
The ambitious liver doctor would go just about anywhere in his home state to give people the hepatitis B vaccine.
Now, after Sen. Bill Cassidy tried to simultaneously back vaccines and RFK Jr., he's fighting for his political life.
Can’t afford health insurance this year?
➡️ Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about $$ and the cost of care
➡️ Search for providers that specifically work with uninsured patients
➡️ Call your local health department
➡️ Research generic drug options & shop around
Listen for more tips 🎧
Patient advocates say state administrators in Iowa appears to be reining in Medicaid spending by cutting home care services for people with disabilities that help them live outside institutions.
National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.
Thousands of Minnesotans are still too scared to leave home, even for desperately needed medical care. So doctors and nurses have quietly operated informal, underground medical networks to bring that care to them.
Some state lawmakers and health associations say the political rhetoric around a federal program initially pitched to keep rural hospitals afloat doesn’t match reality.
“[It] will not save a single hospital in our state,” said the head of the Nebraska Rural Health Association.
Many cities send teams of mental health professionals to respond to calls for people experiencing delusions or hallucinations instead of police.
But without consistent sources of funding, some mobile crisis teams are shutting down despite their successes. Can states step in?
Health care prices are on the rise, with bills for many brief, routine procedures reaching tens of thousands of dollars.
Patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren’t doing more to control costs.
For years, many cash-strapped cities haven’t prioritized lead cleanups. Lessons from several cities and one state may provide a road map for dealing with lead in pipes, soil and paint.
@halleparker.bsky.social reports ⤵️
Several states have expanded dental services for Medicaid patients in recent years. But with federal funding cuts looming from the Big Beautiful Bill, many states could roll back coverage.
“We will lose all the gains we have made,” one dental policy researcher said.
NEW: Most of the Medicaid cuts passed by congressional Republicans last year don't take effect until after the midterms, but the Trump's signature law is already squeezing state Medicaid programs.
In Idaho, one service on the possible chopping block is home care for people with disabilities.
In the wake of the federal Big Beautiful Bill, state lawmakers in Idaho and elsewhere are mulling cuts to Medicaid services that help disabled people live at home or in their communities.
“We just hold our breath every legislative session,” says one mother.
@realbrambo.bsky.social reports ⤵️
A Mass. woman knew the drug her doctor prescribed required preauthorization, but she didn’t realize the approval had an expiration date. It took weeks of calls and paperwork to get her prescription refilled.
Tips for navigating the process ⤵️
Insurers must approve certain treatments or tests, especially costly ones. Navigating the process, called prior authorization, can take weeks. Finding out when your prior authorization expires can help avoid health care disruptions.
Read more tips from @sarahboden.bsky.social ⤵️
The drug to treat his autoimmune disorder costs thousands of dollars per month. A copay card was supposed to help him cover his share. It lasted less than two months.
Then, he started rationing the pills.
After urging Republicans to make health care a central issue in midterm campaigns, Pres. Trump gave the issue only passing mention in his record-long State of the Union speech.
“Trump doesn’t really care that much about health care. He finds it complicated," says @sherylnyt.bsky.social🎧⤵️
Premium increases hit early retirees, middle-income earners, and residents of high-cost states hardest. Chaz and Jean Franklin are all three.
Read their full story ⤵️
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/insurance-premium-payments-terminal-diagnosis-aca-subsidies-covered-california/
More than 1,000 American nurses have been approved to work in British Columbia in less than a year.
Some said they are leaving the U.S. for one reason: President Donald Trump.
“It raises alarm bells," said @kellymorrisonmn.bsky.social. "There are no beds, no blankets, minimal food. It’s freezing in there. Everyone is in leg shackles. It’s chaotic, disorganized, and frankly dangerous.”
@stephaniearmour.bsky.social reports ⤵️
Measles was supposed to be history in the U.S., but it’s spreading among unvaccinated children in South and, now, North Carolina. Health experts warn it’s hard to tell it apart from other sicknesses. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
The federal government penalized a North Carolina hospital for mishandling two children with measles.
But doctors say mistakes can easily happen because few health workers have ever seen the disease.
@arjonesreports.bsky.social has more ⤵️
In a claim disputed by researchers, RFK Jr. says he knows people, including family members, who’ve had a tougher time quitting SSRI anxiety meds than people have quitting heroin.
Doctors say the drugs are safe for extended use.
Louisiana has among the nation's worst health outcomes for mothers & new babies.
A program in New Orleans is trying to improve those odds by sending a nurse to the family during the crucial first months of life. Lawmakers want to expand the program statewide, reports @rosemarywestwood.bsky.social.
Aging means “becoming a target” of the prescription drug industry, one expert said.
After decades of debate, politicians of all stripes are proposing bans of direct-to-consumer advertising.
In the latest push on medical debt protections, legislators in at least eight states are eyeing how to tamp down the practice of siphoning patients’ paychecks to pay back medical debt.
@raelnb.bsky.social reports kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Pres. Trump issued an executive order aimed at encouraging the production of glyphosate, a weed killer found in Roundup. It’s a blow to the MAHA movement and puts RFK Jr. in a tough position.
“This is a man who’s advocated against glyphosate and pesticides for years and years.”
Listen for more 🎧
“It’s had a bipartisan target on its back for 40 years,” a health policy expert said, referring to a job-based health insurance tax break granted to both workers and employers.
The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where the FDA announced this week it will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs.
Listen for more on the latest health care news 🎧 ⤵️
Less than 36 hours before his wife was scheduled to undergo major surgery, NYT personal finance columnist @ronlieber.bsky.social got a letter from his family’s insurance plan denying coverage for the procedure.
Listen to his ideas about how we can better handle these denials 🎧 ⤵️
