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What The Health? From KFF Health News: The government is open

The longest federal government shutdown in history is over, after a handful of House and Senate Democrats joined most Republicans in approving legislation that funds the government through January. Despite Democrats' demands, the package did not include an extension of the expanded tax credits that help most Affordable Care Act enrollees afford their plans — meaning most people with ACA plans are slated to pay much more toward their premiums next year.

13 Nov 2025

Study reveals challenges in accessing wheelchairs through Medicare-listed suppliers

Published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a University of Minnesota Medical School research team found that access to wheelchairs through Medicare-listed suppliers is inconsistent and often challenging.

12 Nov 2025

What the air you breathe may be doing to your brain

For years, the two patients had come to the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors and researchers follow people with cognitive impairment as they age, as well as a group with normal cognition.

12 Nov 2025

AI repurposes routine CT scans to detect hidden bone loss

Computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest, abdomen, and spine, taken originally to detect problems such as kidney stones or growths on the lungs, can be repurposed through artificial intelligence (AI) to catch signs of bone loss, a new study shows.

11 Nov 2025

Health care costs jump to the fore as candidates jockey to be California governor

California's gubernatorial election is a year away, and the field of primary candidates is still taking shape. But one persistent issue has already emerged as a leading concern: the cost of health care.

10 Nov 2025

Diabetes drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide show real-world heart benefits

In a large real-world analysis across three U.S. healthcare databases, semaglutide and tirzepatide showed cardiovascular benefits consistent with randomized trials. Semaglutide lowered heart attack and stroke risk versus sitagliptin, while tirzepatide performed comparably to dulaglutide and semaglutide over one year.

10 Nov 2025

Texas' transitional dialysis program led to significant decline in utilization of emergency dialysis

The cost of emergency dialysis is estimated to be 8-times that of in-center dialysis. A new study reveals that a transitional dialysis program piloted in Travis County (Austin, TX) resulted in a significant decrease in emergency department visits and hospital admissions for emergency dialysis by providing a pathway for outpatient dialysis in uninsured patients.

10 Nov 2025

Rising premature deaths prevent many Americans from reaching the age of Medicare eligibility

For 60 years, Medicare has served as a social safety net. Workers pay into the system over their lifetimes with the expectation that they will be able to access affordable health care when they turn 65.

7 Nov 2025

Over one-third of men would rather endure stressful situations than discuss prostate health

A new survey from Orlando Health reveals that over one-third of men (38%) would rather endure stressful situations, such as watching their team lose a big game or being stuck in traffic, than discuss their prostate health.

4 Nov 2025

States make progress in removing barriers to opioid use disorder medications

A new study from Tulane University found that, over the past decade, more states have moved to make it easier for people with opioid use disorder to get potentially life-saving medication.

3 Nov 2025

Trump’s HHS orders state Medicaid programs to help find undocumented immigrants

The Trump administration has ordered states to investigate certain individuals enrolled in Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they've together received more than 170,000 names — an “unprecedented” step by the federal government that ensnares the state-federal health program in the president's immigration crackdown.

3 Nov 2025

Doctor tripped up by $64K bill for ankle surgery and hospital stay

Physician Lauren Hughes was heading to see patients at a clinic about 20 miles from her Denver home in February when another driver T-boned her Subaru, totaling it. She was taken by ambulance to the closest hospital, Platte Valley Hospital.

29 Oct 2025

A ticking clock: How states are preparing for a last-minute Obamacare deal

One family in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just found out their health plan's deductible will jump from $800 to $20,000 next year.

28 Oct 2025

GOP talking point holds ACA is haunted by ‘phantom’ enrollees, but the devil’s in the data

The idea that Affordable Care Act marketplaces are riddled with fraud has become a major talking point among Republicans, as lawmakers in Congress argue about whether to extend the enhanced tax credits that are helping offset the cost of health care marketplace coverage for low- and middle-income people.

24 Oct 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nutrition programs face their own shutdown

Health programs are feeling the pinch of the ongoing government shutdown. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the food program for women, infants, and children, WIC, is likely to run out in November, and cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are keeping the agency from carrying out some of its primary public health functions.

23 Oct 2025

Biodesix announces expanded Bio-Rad Laboratories partnership agreement to develop Droplet Digital™ PCR high complexity assays

Biodesix, Inc., a leading diagnostics solutions company, today announced the signing of an expanded partnership agreement under which Biodesix will conduct the development, clinical validation, and regulatory submissions of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) assays to enable highly sensitive detection of multiple genomic markers focused on oncology applications, utilizing Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital™ PCR (ddPCR™) technology on Bio-Rad's QX600 platform.

23 Oct 2025

When a hearing aid isn’t enough

Kitty Grutzmacher had contended with poor hearing for a decade, but the problem had worsened over the past year. Even with her hearing aids, "there was little or no sound," she said.

23 Oct 2025

Officials show little proof that new tech will help Medicaid enrollees meet work rules

This summer, the state of Louisiana texted just over 13,000 people enrolled in its Medicaid program with a link to a website where they could confirm their incomes.

23 Oct 2025

Report maps vaccination's comprehensive benefits for health and economy

A new Gerontological Society of America report, "Concentric Value of Vaccination: Intersecting Health, Economic, and Societal Benefits," provides evidence on the advantages of immunization for individual and population health, economic outcomes, and societal well-being.

22 Oct 2025

Private Medicare, Medicaid plans exaggerate in-network mental health options, watchdogs say

Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans' members, a new federal watchdog report says.

20 Oct 2025

Medicare News and Research

What The Health? From KFF Health News: The government is open

Study reveals challenges in accessing wheelchairs through Medicare-listed suppliers

What the air you breathe may be doing to your brain

AI repurposes routine CT scans to detect hidden bone loss

Health care costs jump to the fore as candidates jockey to be California governor

Diabetes drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide show real-world heart benefits

Texas' transitional dialysis program led to significant decline in utilization of emergency dialysis

Rising premature deaths prevent many Americans from reaching the age of Medicare eligibility

Over one-third of men would rather endure stressful situations than discuss prostate health

States make progress in removing barriers to opioid use disorder medications

Trump’s HHS orders state Medicaid programs to help find undocumented immigrants

Doctor tripped up by $64K bill for ankle surgery and hospital stay

A ticking clock: How states are preparing for a last-minute Obamacare deal

GOP talking point holds ACA is haunted by ‘phantom’ enrollees, but the devil’s in the data

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nutrition programs face their own shutdown

Biodesix announces expanded Bio-Rad Laboratories partnership agreement to develop Droplet Digital™ PCR high complexity assays

When a hearing aid isn’t enough

Officials show little proof that new tech will help Medicaid enrollees meet work rules

Report maps vaccination's comprehensive benefits for health and economy

Private Medicare, Medicaid plans exaggerate in-network mental health options, watchdogs say

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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