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States, counties, and cities are receiving millions in opioid settlement money to address the addiction crisis. The ways they spent the dollars in 2024 sometimes drew criticism from advocates and at least one state official, who alleged misuse.
Community health centers are key to delivering care in underserved communities around the country, but their services could be disrupted or scaled back after governments did not renew their funding.
Even if people qualify for financial help with their hospital bills, the care they receive may not be covered.
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
The decisions by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices matter, because insurers and federal programs rely on them, but they are not binding. States can follow the recommendations, or not.
For-profit hospitals provide most inpatient physical therapy but tend to have worse readmission rates to general hospitals. Medicare doesn鈥檛 tell consumers about troubling inspections.
Billions in opioid settlement money was meant to be spent on treating and preventing addiction 鈥 but what happens if it鈥檚 misspent? Some advocates say attorneys general need to pay closer attention. If they don鈥檛, a new tool might empower the public.
Efforts to decrease alarmingly high rates of suicide among construction workers and prevent burnout in health care workers are in jeopardy after the firing of hundreds of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
Breakups between health providers and Advantage plans are increasingly common. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has allowed whole groups of patients to leave their plans.
Roughly 20 states now have laws permitting families to place cameras in the rooms of loved ones. Facility operators are often opposed.
Undue Medical Debt is retiring unpaid medical bills for 20 million people. The debt trading company that owned them is leaving the market.
吃瓜不打烊 journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Nevada鈥檚 budget debate highlights how uncertainty over funding for federal safety net programs may lead some officials to turn to opioid settlement dollars to make up the difference.
Republicans in Congress have suggested big cuts to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The complex, multifaceted program touches millions of Americans and has become deeply woven into state budgets and the U.S. health care system.
A state lawmaker wants health insurers to disclose denial rates and explain those denials as anger grows over rising costs and uncovered medical care. If the bill is signed into law, health experts say, it could be one of the boldest attempts in the nation to rein in denials.
Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia 鈥 states with some of the worst health outcomes 鈥 also have some of the highest childhood vaccination rates. But doctors and health officials worry a rising tide of vaccine skepticism is causing those public health bright spots to dim.
As criticism of pharmacy benefit managers heats up, fear of lawsuits is driving some big employers to drop the 鈥淏ig Three鈥 PBMs 鈥 or force them to change.
Patient and consumer advocates fear a new Trump administration will scale back federal efforts to expand financial protections for patients and shield them from debt.
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