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Wildfire smoke exposure linked to increased heart failure risk

Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke may increase the risk of heart failure (HF), especially in older adults, women and vulnerable populations, according to a study published today in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology.

23 Jun 2025

Federal proposals threaten provider taxes, key source of Medicaid funding for states

Republican efforts to restrict taxes on hospitals, health plans, and other providers that states use to help fund their Medicaid programs could strip them of tens of billions of dollars.

23 Jun 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Supreme Court upholds bans on gender-affirming care

The Supreme Court this week ruled in favor of Tennessee's law banning most gender-affirming care for minors — a law similar to those in two dozen other states.

20 Jun 2025

Nurse practitioners critical in treating older adults as ranks of geriatricians shrink

On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight in all.

18 Jun 2025

Have job-based health coverage at 65? You may still want to sign up for Medicare

When Alyne Diamond fell off a horse in August 2023 and broke her back, her employer-based health plan through UnitedHealthcare covered her emergency care in Aspen, Colorado.

18 Jun 2025

What matters more for diabetes risk: lifestyle or body weight?

A large, multi-ethnic US cohort study found that combining healthy lifestyle factors—non-smoking, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and moderate alcohol consumption into a Lifestyle Risk Factor Index (LSRI) was linked to a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes. However, BMI was a stronger predictor of diabetes risk, and the impact of lifestyle varied across ethnic groups.

18 Jun 2025

‘Not accountable to anyone’: As insurers issue denials, some patients run out of options

By the time Eric Tennant was diagnosed in 2023 with a rare cancer of the bile ducts, the disease had spread to his bones. He weighed 97 pounds and wasn't expected to survive a year with stage 4 cancer.

16 Jun 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': RFK Jr. upends vaccine policy, after promising he wouldn’t

After explicitly promising senators during his confirmation hearing that he would not interfere in scientific policy over which Americans should receive which vaccines, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week fired every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the group of experts who help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention make those evidence-based judgments.

12 Jun 2025

‘One big beautiful bill’ would batter rural hospital finances, researchers say

Cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs proposed in President Donald Trump's budget plan would rapidly push more than 300 financially struggling rural hospitals toward a fiscal cliff, according to researchers who track the facilities' finances.

12 Jun 2025

What are ‘improper’ Medicaid payments, and are they as high as a Trump official said?

Responding to charges that President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill would cut Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans, Trump administration officials misleadingly counter that it targets only waste, fraud, and abuse.

11 Jun 2025

Four ways Trump’s ‘one big beautiful bill’ would undermine access to Obamacare

Major changes could be in store for the more than 24 million people with health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, including how and when they can enroll, the paperwork required, and, crucially, the premiums they pay.

11 Jun 2025

AMA endorses resolution to expand access to anti-obesity medications

The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates today passed the Endocrine Society's resolution to improve access to anti-obesity medications.

11 Jun 2025

CT colonography outperforms stool DNA testing in cost and effectiveness

Compared to stool DNA testing, researchers found that CT colonography is a cost-saving and clinically effective method for colorectal cancer screening, according to a study was published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America.

10 Jun 2025

Bipartisan obesity bill gains support from Endocrine Society

The Endocrine Society today endorsed the introduction of the bipartisan Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) in the Senate.

5 Jun 2025

Study shows survival benefit of surgical ablation during CABG in patients with atrial fibrillation

A new study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a journal from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, finds that Medicare patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who undergo surgical ablation during isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) live longer than those who do not, offering compelling support for clinical guidelines that recommend this procedure but are too often not followed in practice.

4 Jun 2025

Newsom’s push to block law could save California nursing homes over $1 billion

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a California law from taking effect next year that will require nursing homes to have a 96-hour backup power supply, potentially giving the industry a reprieve from having to spend over $1 billion in capital investments.

4 Jun 2025

Understanding why older Americans switch Medicare Advantage plans

More than half of older Americans now get their Medicare coverage through an insurance company's Medicare Advantage plan.

3 Jun 2025

Older adults accurately gauge their financial skills until dementia sets in

Older adults are quite aware of their financial abilities – and these abilities actually improve with age – that is, until dementia sets in, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

2 Jun 2025

Role reversal: Millions of kids are caregivers for elders. Why their numbers might grow.

High school senior Joshua Yang understands sacrifice. When he was midway through 10th grade, his mom survived a terrible car crash.

2 Jun 2025

Telehealth in home healthcare faces setbacks amid lack of federal reimbursements

Many home healthcare agencies adopted telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the absence of federal reimbursements for these services has led to an increasing number of providers discontinuing these options, a national survey conducted by the University of California, Irvine, and other institutions reveals. Results are published in Health Services Research.

28 May 2025

Medicare News and Research

Wildfire smoke exposure linked to increased heart failure risk

Federal proposals threaten provider taxes, key source of Medicaid funding for states

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Supreme Court upholds bans on gender-affirming care

Nurse practitioners critical in treating older adults as ranks of geriatricians shrink

Have job-based health coverage at 65? You may still want to sign up for Medicare

What matters more for diabetes risk: lifestyle or body weight?

‘Not accountable to anyone’: As insurers issue denials, some patients run out of options

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': RFK Jr. upends vaccine policy, after promising he wouldn’t

‘One big beautiful bill’ would batter rural hospital finances, researchers say

What are ‘improper’ Medicaid payments, and are they as high as a Trump official said?

Four ways Trump’s ‘one big beautiful bill’ would undermine access to Obamacare

AMA endorses resolution to expand access to anti-obesity medications

CT colonography outperforms stool DNA testing in cost and effectiveness

Bipartisan obesity bill gains support from Endocrine Society

Study shows survival benefit of surgical ablation during CABG in patients with atrial fibrillation

Newsom’s push to block law could save California nursing homes over $1 billion

Understanding why older Americans switch Medicare Advantage plans

Older adults accurately gauge their financial skills until dementia sets in

Role reversal: Millions of kids are caregivers for elders. Why their numbers might grow.

Telehealth in home healthcare faces setbacks amid lack of federal reimbursements

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