Commonwealth Fund News and Research

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Millions face health coverage loss under new Medicaid work rules

A new study found that nearly 20 percent of eligible adults in Medicaid expansion states are in danger of not meeting the minimum work hours that will be required nationwide beginning January 1.

28 Aug 2026

Expert questions benefits of new UK drug approval pathway

A new UK drug approval pathway, designed to speed up the availability of new medicines, benefits industry over patients and the NHS, argues an expert in The BMJ today.

13 May 2026

Trump’s one big beautiful bill act darkens outlook for government-backed clinics

Bluestem Health, a clinic that serves low-income and uninsured patients in Lincoln, Nebraska, has lost money for the last two years.

1 Apr 2026

Give and take: Federal rural health funding could trigger service cuts

The emergency department at Big Sandy Medical Center is one room with a single curtain between two beds.

27 Mar 2026

Extra copies of chromosome 1q may play key role in the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Ludwig Center uncovered new evidence that extra copies of a specific chromosome segment - chromosome 1q - may play a key role in the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer development.

26 Feb 2026

State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt

Lawmakers in at least eight states this year are aiming to reel in wage garnishment for unpaid medical bills.

22 Feb 2026

Precision immunotherapy for TRBC2-positive T-cell malignancies

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Ludwig Center developed a new treatment that selectively targets TRBC2-positive T-cell cancers, expanding a precision approach they established in 2024 for TRBC1-positive tumors.

22 Dec 2025

Worried about health insurance costs? There may be cheaper options — but with trade-offs

For the millions of Americans who buy Affordable Care Act insurance, there's still time left to enroll for 2026. But premium increases and the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies have led to larger-than-expected costs.

18 Dec 2025

Feds promised ‘radical transparency’ but are withholding rural health fund applications

Medication-delivering drones and telehealth at local libraries are among the ideas state leaders revealed in November for spending their share of a $50 billion federal rural health program.

2 Dec 2025

Health care’s employment growth clouded by immigration crackdown, Medicaid cuts

The health care sector is a bright spot in the economy this year, driving nearly half of the nation's employment gains, but economists and experts say immigration crackdowns and looming Medicaid cuts pose a threat to future job growth.

30 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

Multi-analyte test accurately identifies brain cancers using cerebrospinal fluid

A novel, multi-analyte test developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, its Ludwig Center and the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery can accurately identify brain cancers using small samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), offering a promising new tool to guide clinical decision-making.

27 Aug 2025

Native Americans want to avoid past Medicaid enrollment snafus as work requirements loom

Jonnell Wieder earned too much money at her job to keep her Medicaid coverage when the covid-19 public health emergency ended in 2023 and states resumed checking whether people were eligible for the program.

22 Aug 2025

Johns Hopkins team develops a more reliable AI for early cancer detection

Two studies led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Ludwig Center, and Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering researchers report on a powerful new method that significantly improves the reliability and accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) for many applications. As an example, they apply the new method to early cancer detection from blood samples, known as liquid biopsy.

19 Aug 2025

Deep staff cuts at a little-known federal agency pose trouble for droves of local health programs

A little-known federal agency that sends more than $12 billion annually to support community health centers, addiction treatment services, and workforce initiatives for America's neediest people has been hobbled by the Trump administration's staffing purges.

1 Aug 2025

In rush to satisfy Trump, GOP delivers blow to health industry

Doctors, hospitals, and health insurers for weeks issued dire warnings to Republican lawmakers that millions of people would lose health coverage and hospitals would close if they cut Medicaid funding to help pay for President Donald Trump's big tax and spending bill.

14 Jul 2025

Thune says health care often ‘comes with a job.’ The reality’s not simple or straightforward.

Millions of people are expected to lose access to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans if federal lawmakers approve the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Donald Trump's domestic policy package, which is now moving through the Senate.

27 Jun 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Live from AHCJ: Shock and awe in federal health policy

Cuts to health programs made by the second Trump administration in its first 100 days are already having an impact at the state and local level.

2 Jun 2025

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

Deportation fears add to mental health problems confronting Colorado resort town workers

When Adolfo Román García-Ramírez walks home in the evening from his shift at a grocery store in this central Colorado mountain town, sometimes he thinks back on his childhood in Nicaragua.

15 Apr 2025