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A new poll finds that most adults oppose the GOP bill that would extend many of President Donald Trump鈥檚 tax cuts while reducing spending on domestic programs including Medicaid. Most Trump backers support the plan until they learn that millions would lose health coverage and local hospitals would lose funding.
An estimated 4 million Americans will lose health insurance over the next decade if Congress doesn鈥檛 extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, which expire at the end of the year. Florida and Texas would see the biggest losses, in part because they have not expanded Medicaid eligibility.
Health insurers issue millions of prior authorization denials every year, leaving many patients stuck in a convoluted appeals process, with little hope of meaningful policy change ahead. For doctors, these denials are frustrating and time-consuming. For patients, they can be devastating.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency鈥檚 director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that 鈥渦ndermine the NIH mission.鈥 Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Rural hospitals would take an outsize hit from Republicans鈥 proposed cuts to Medicaid and other federal health programs. Researchers say the financial erosion would trigger hospital closures and service cuts, especially in communities where large shares of patients are enrolled in Medicaid.
The vast majority of improper payments stem from documentation mistakes and do not fit the definition of waste, fraud, or abuse. They also typically stem from health care providers鈥 actions, not beneficiaries鈥 abuse.
The combination of the House-passed spending and tax bill and the Trump administration鈥檚 regulatory action could change Affordable Care Act enrollment and the cost of insurance. The result, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is that millions of people may become uninsured.
The House鈥檚 gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office鈥檚 estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade won鈥檛 make it an easy sell. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Arielle Zionts, who reported and wrote the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a Medicaid patient who had an out-of-state emergency.
The domestic policy legislation the House advanced in May includes the most substantial rollback of the Affordable Care Act since President Donald Trump and his Republican allies tried to pass legislation in 2017 that would have largely repealed President Barack Obama鈥檚 signature domestic accomplishment.
As state officials anticipate Medicaid funding cuts that could strip resources for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions, an army of unpaid caregivers waits in the wings: children. At least 5.4 million kids are estimated to be caring for family members at home, a number likely to rise if Medicaid cuts hit professional home-based services.
Federal law says Medicaid must cover out-of-state emergency care. But a Florida man got a five-figure bill after a South Dakota hospital declined to charge his state鈥檚 Medicaid program.
Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican proposals to cut perceived waste in the program.
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The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of 吃瓜不打烊, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
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.
Late last year, South Carolina Medicaid approved a class of medications known as GLP-1s to treat obesity, placing it among the few state programs covering these effective but expensive drugs. But access remains limited, even for patients covered by Medicaid, because of stringent prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting the drug.
One thing experts agree on: The damage from the funding cuts will be varied and immense.
The Department of Justice alleges that several major health insurers paid brokerages 鈥渉undreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks鈥 to get agents to steer consumers into their Medicare Advantage plans, allegations the insurers strongly dispute.
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill鈥 this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade 鈥 mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn鈥檛 take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of 吃瓜不打烊, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he鈥檚 proud his state expanded health care to all low-income residents regardless of immigration status but that tough budget times call for some adjustments. The Democrat鈥檚 new budget proposes scaling back benefits to adults living in the country illegally, as well as charging them a $100 monthly premium.
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