Steep Health Care Costs Steer Americans to Tough Decisions
Two Americans explain how the skyrocketing cost of health insurance influenced their decision to buy — or skip — health insurance in 2026.
Obamacare Plans
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Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
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In the Affordability Alphabet Soup of the ACA and EHBs, a Link to Higher Premiums Isn’t Clear-Cut
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RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Schedule Changes Blocked — For Now
Episode 438A federal judge in Massachusetts this week sided with public health groups to block changes to the federally recommended schedule of childhood vaccines, dealing at least a temporary setback to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remake the schedule. Meanwhile, Congress has put its debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act on the back burner, but the issue of rising health care costs is still front and center for the voting public. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join Թϲ’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman to kick off a new series looking at health care solutions, called “How Would You Fix It?”
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Many ACA Customers Are Paying Higher Premiums. Most Blame Trump and Republicans, Poll Finds.
A KFF poll offers insights into people’s insurance coverage decisions and how those choices could play into their vote in November’s midterm elections.
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Evidence Shows ACA’s Mandated Benefits Alone Don’t Drive Up Costs. The Debate Continues.
The Affordable Care Act put in place a package of benefits that health insurance plans must cover. Critics contend this mandate has jacked up premiums. Evidence supporting that claim is mixed.
By Julie Appleby and Sarah Boden -
Journalists Explain a Spat Over Sugary Coffee and How Measles Fools Doctors
Թϲ journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
40 Years of Health Policy
Episode 436This month is 40 years since host Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Թϲ, began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner is joined by two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986.
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‘Kind of Morbid’: Health Premiums Threaten Their Nest Egg. A Terminal Diagnosis May Spare It.
Chaz and Jean Franklin were facing a sevenfold increase in their health premium payments with the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans at the end of 2025. Then Jean received a crushing diagnosis that will claim her life but save the couple money.
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When It Comes to Health Insurance, Federal Dollars Support More Than ACA Plans
Questions of fairness came up in last year’s congressional debate about extending Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies. Critics wondered why the federal government should underwrite coverage costs for people with ACA coverage. In truth, though, almost all health insurance in the U.S. comes with some federal help.
Turnarounds and Shake-Ups
Episode 434The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the FDA will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs. Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join Թϲ’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more.
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ACA Subsidies Expired. Open Enrollment Ended. But It Will Still Take Awhile To Register the Results.
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Trump Team’s Planned ACA Rule Offers Its Answer to Rising Premium Costs: Catastrophic Coverage
Sweeping changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year have been proposed by the Trump administration that focus on making more insurance plans available with higher annual out-of-pocket costs but lower premiums.
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End of Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies Puts Tribal Health Lifeline at Risk
Tribal insurance programs give Native Americans access to affordable health care when the Indian Health Service falls short. Those plans are threatened by the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
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Obamacare Sign-Ups Drop, but the Extent Won’t Be Clear for Months
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won’t be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or haven't paid — their new, often much higher, premiums.
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Journalists Describe Drivers of High Health Costs and Spell Out the Science of Protein
Թϲ journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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It’s 2026 and You’re Uninsured. Now What?
Many Americans are expected to lose ACA or Medicaid coverage in coming months and years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the expiration of enhanced pandemic-era subsidies that helped people afford Obamacare plans. Doctors and researchers say there are still ways to find affordable care.
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When Health Insurance Costs More Than the Mortgage
As health care costs skyrocket and federal lawmakers pull back help on insurance premiums, more middle-income families are facing tough choices on health care.
The Hazards of ICE for Public Health
Episode 431The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join Թϲ’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
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Journalists Mine News for Insights on Tylenol, Obamacare Credits, and Rural Health Funding
Թϲ journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.