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Loss of automatic reenrollment leads to drop in health insurance coverage

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, University of South Carolina and Emory University have published findings in JAMA Health Forum from a recent study on coverage retention and plan switching among Americans who obtain their health insurance through HealthCare.gov.

23 May 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Bill with billions in health program cuts passes House

With only a single vote to spare, the House passed a controversial budget bill that includes billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy, along with billions of dollars of cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the food stamp program — most of which will affect those at the lower end of the income scale.

23 May 2025

Republicans aim to punish states that insure unauthorized immigrants

President Donald Trump's signature budget legislation would punish 14 states that offer health coverage to people in the U.S. without authorization.

23 May 2025

Vitamin D supplements help preserve telomere length in aging adults

Results from the VITAL randomized controlled trial reveal that vitamin D supplementation helps maintain telomeres, protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten during aging and are linked to the development of certain diseases.

21 May 2025

Trump won’t force Medicaid to cover GLP-1S for obesity. A few states are doing it anyway.

When Page Campbell's doctor recommended she try an injectable prescription drug called Wegovy to lose weight before scheduling bariatric surgery, she readily agreed.

21 May 2025

New blood test detects HPV-linked head and neck cancer with unmatched accuracy

A new liquid biopsy blood test could help detect cases of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancers with significantly higher accuracy than currently used methods, including before patients develop symptoms, according to new Mass General Brigham research.

20 May 2025

How the Trump administration aims to slash health care spending

Health care has proved a vulnerable target for the firehose of cuts and policy changes President Donald Trump ordered in the name of reducing waste and improving efficiency.

20 May 2025

Higher McCance Brain Care Score linked to lower stroke risk in women

Women with a higher McCance Brain Care Score (BCS) – a score that measures physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional factors – have a lower risk of experiencing a stroke or other cerebrovascular event reducing blood flow to the brain, according to a new study conducted by experts from Mass General Brigham.

19 May 2025

Housing, nutrition in peril as Trump pulls back Medicaid social services

During his first administration, President Donald Trump's top health officials gave North Carolina permission to use Medicaid money for social services not traditionally covered by health insurance.

19 May 2025

Lung function decline in COPD patients accelerated by mucus plug persistence

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, most often caused by cigarette smoking or long-term exposure to air pollutants.

14 May 2025

Scientists map optimal brain site for treating essential tremor

For millions of people around the world with essential tremor, everyday activities from eating and drinking to dressing and doing basic tasks can become impossible.

14 May 2025

The GOP’s trying again to cut Medicaid. It’s only gotten harder since 2017.

It has been nearly eight years since Sen. John McCain's middle-of-the-night thumbs-down vote torpedoed Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make drastic cuts to Medicaid.

14 May 2025

Research highlights extended duration of ADHD medication for Finnish children

A recent study by the University of Turku and the University of Helsinki in Finland and the Finnish Social Insurance Institution Kela reveals that the average duration of ADHD medication for children and adolescents is more than three years.

14 May 2025

After promising universal health care, California governor must reconsider immigrant coverage

Gov. Gavin Newsom didn't expect to be reckoning with another health care crisis.

13 May 2025

Millions of women may be unaware of their risk for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease

Millions of women may be unknowingly living with risk factors for heart, kidney and metabolic disease – interconnected conditions that together drive risk for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among women, according to experts with the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all.

12 May 2025

An Arm and a Leg: A health policy veteran puts 2025 in perspective

News has been coming out of Washington, D.C., since the start of the second Donald Trump administration like water out of a fire hose. It can feel impossible to stay on top of all the changes.

12 May 2025

Redlining continues to impact breast cancer survival in America

In neighborhoods across America, women face a daunting threat from a federal practice that, although it was outlawed decades ago, continues to negatively impact their health today.

10 May 2025

Machine learning model guides smarter gene selection in newborn screening

More than a decade ago, researchers launched the BabySeq Project, a pilot program to return newborn genomic sequencing results to parents and measure the effects on newborn care.

10 May 2025

Trump team faces key legal decision that could put mental health parity in peril

The Trump administration must soon make a decision that will affect millions of Americans' ability to access and afford mental health and addiction care.

9 May 2025

AI tool uses facial images to predict biological age and cancer survival

Eyes may be the window to the soul, but a person's biological age could be reflected in their facial characteristics. Investigators from Mass General Brigham developed a deep learning algorithm called FaceAge that uses a photo of a person's face to predict biological age and survival outcomes for patients with cancer.

8 May 2025