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In Mississippi, Medicaid coverage of weight loss drugs fails to catch on

April Hines has battled with her weight since she was a teenager. But in the past couple of years, she's fallen from 600 pounds to 385, and her blood pressure and blood sugar levels are down, too. "I'm not as fatigued as I used to be, and I've been able to go back to church," she said.

15 Oct 2025

Common hospice medications may carry major unintended risks for people with dementia

Hospice care aims to bring comfort, peace, and dignity to patients at the end of life. Yet for the growing number of Americans with dementia who enter hospice, their course is often long and unpredictable - making it especially important to ensure treatments align with each person's goals and stage of illness.

14 Oct 2025

Why brittle bones aren’t just a woman’s problem

Ronald Klein was biking around his neighborhood in North Wales, Pennsylvania, in 2006 and tried to jump a curb. "But I was going too slow — I didn't have enough momentum," he recalled.

14 Oct 2025

Senators press Deloitte, other contractors on errors in Medicaid eligibility systems

Senators have launched an inquiry into companies paid billions in taxpayer dollars to build eligibility systems for Medicaid, expressing concern that error-riddled technology and looming work requirements "will cause Americans to lose Medicaid coverage to this bureaucratic maze."

10 Oct 2025

Common painkiller and antidepressant combo may increase seizure risk in older adults

When older adults living in nursing homes are prescribed the pain medicine tramadol alongside certain antidepressants, their risk of seizures may go up, according to a study published October 8, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Oct 2025

Housing support programs tied to improved cancer detection among seniors

A new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that older adults receiving federal housing assistance were on average diagnosed at earlier stages with three common cancers-colon, breast, and non-small cell lung-compared to peer cancer patients who were not receiving assistance.

8 Oct 2025

Inappropriate triage prolongs time to pain medication in vaso-occlusive crisis

Most individuals living with sickle cell disease who presented to the emergency department with a pain crisis, known as vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC), were not triaged appropriately according to established national guidelines, reveals a study published today in Blood Advances.

8 Oct 2025

California’s nursing shortage is getting worse. Front-line workers blame management.

California, like much of the nation, is not producing enough nurses working at bedsides to meet the needs of an aging and diverse population, fueling a workforce crunch that risks endangering quality patient care.

8 Oct 2025

This geriatrics training program escaped the Ax. for now.

In St. Louis, a team of students aboard a well-equipped van visits senior centers, a nursing home, a church, and other sites, learning to conduct comprehensive, hourlong geriatric assessments.

8 Oct 2025

Why Democrats are casting the government shutdown as a health care showdown

Hours into the federal government shutdown, Julio Fuentes stood steps from the U.S. Capitol to deliver an urgent message about the Hispanic voting bloc that helped the GOP sweep into power last year.

6 Oct 2025

GOP falsely ties shutdown to Democrats’ alleged drive to give all immigrants health care

As the U.S. headed for a government shutdown, Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of forcing the closure because they want to give health care access to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

6 Oct 2025

Depression can affect surgical outcomes and postoperative costs

Depression is known to be associated with physical health challenges, in everything from disrupting sleep to an increased cancer risk.

3 Oct 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats make this shutdown about the ACA

As long predicted, much of the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, after Congress failed to agree on spending bills that keep most programs running.

2 Oct 2025

Long-term exposure to industrial solvent associated with elevated Parkinson's disease risk

Long-term exposure to the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) outdoors may be linked to an increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a large nationwide study published in the October 1, 2025, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Oct 2025

Medicaid unwinding linked to drop in opioid use disorder treatment

The end of pandemic-era enrollment enhancements for Medicaid was associated with a rise in the number of people ending medication treatment for opioid use disorder, as well as a decrease in the number of people beginning such treatment, according to a new RAND study.

29 Sep 2025

Firearm injuries cost U.S. hospitals billions and strain safety-net centers

The initial hospital treatment of firearm injuries cost the U.S. health care system an estimated $7.7 billion between 2016 and 2021, with the largest share falling on urban trauma center hospitals that serve the highest proportion of Medicaid patients, reports a new study led by Northwestern Medicine.

26 Sep 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public health further politicized under the threat of more firings

In a highly unusual White House news conference this week, President Donald Trump — without evidence — boldly blamed the painkiller Tylenol and a string of childhood vaccines for causing a recent rise in autism.

25 Sep 2025

AI will soon have a say in approving or denying Medicare treatments

Taking a page from the private insurance industry's playbook, the Trump administration will launch a program next year to find out how much money an artificial intelligence algorithm could save the federal government by denying care to Medicare patients.

25 Sep 2025

Three in five U.S. children enroll in Medicaid and many experience uninsurance by age 18

By age 18, three in five U.S. children have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and two in five have experienced a period of being uninsured, according to a microsimulation model developed by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

24 Sep 2025

She had a broken arm, no insurance — and a $97,000 bill

As soon as she fell, Deborah Buttgereit knew she couldn't avoid going to the hospital.

24 Sep 2025

Medicare News and Research

In Mississippi, Medicaid coverage of weight loss drugs fails to catch on

Common hospice medications may carry major unintended risks for people with dementia

Why brittle bones aren’t just a woman’s problem

Senators press Deloitte, other contractors on errors in Medicaid eligibility systems

Common painkiller and antidepressant combo may increase seizure risk in older adults

Housing support programs tied to improved cancer detection among seniors

Inappropriate triage prolongs time to pain medication in vaso-occlusive crisis

California’s nursing shortage is getting worse. Front-line workers blame management.

This geriatrics training program escaped the Ax. for now.

Why Democrats are casting the government shutdown as a health care showdown

GOP falsely ties shutdown to Democrats’ alleged drive to give all immigrants health care

Depression can affect surgical outcomes and postoperative costs

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats make this shutdown about the ACA

Long-term exposure to industrial solvent associated with elevated Parkinson's disease risk

Medicaid unwinding linked to drop in opioid use disorder treatment

Firearm injuries cost U.S. hospitals billions and strain safety-net centers

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public health further politicized under the threat of more firings

AI will soon have a say in approving or denying Medicare treatments

Three in five U.S. children enroll in Medicaid and many experience uninsurance by age 18

She had a broken arm, no insurance — and a $97,000 bill

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