Category: Health Insurance
When you lose your health insurance, you may also lose your primary doctor – and that hurts your health
The connection to your primary care provider, usually a doctor, gets severed. You stop getting routine checkups. Warning signs get missed. Medical problems that could have been caught early become emergencies. And because emergencies are both dangerous and expensive, your health gets worse while your medical bills climb.
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‘Expensive and complicated’: Most rural hospitals no longer deliver babies
Nationwide, most rural hospitals no longer offer obstetric services. Since the end of 2020, more than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies. Fewer than 1,000 rural hospitals nationwide still have labor and delivery services.
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‘Big Beautiful Bill’ dings states that offer health care to some immigrants here legally
The Republican budget bill the U.S. House approved last month includes a surprise for the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid: penalties for providing health care to some immigrants who are here legally.
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Why do cuts to Medicaid matter for Americans over 65? Two experts on aging explain why lives are at stakeWhy do cuts to Medicaid matter for Americans over 65?
People who lost their Medicaid coverage had more chronic conditions and could perform fewer activities of daily living, such as bathing and getting dressed, without any assistance as compared with those who still had Medicaid coverage. In addition, they were twice as likely to experience depression and be in fair or poor health. As people’s health worsened, they also went to the hospital more often and stayed there longer. They also used outpatient surgery services more frequently.
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Children’s health services could see trims even under scaled-back Medicaid cuts
Even as Republicans in Congress walk back their most aggressive proposal to slash federal Medicaid spending, they are weighing other options that could force states to cut services for children and other vulnerable populations.
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Biden wanted Medicaid to pay for weight-loss drugs. Trump just said it doesn’t have to.
While doctors and patient advocates say these drugs are critical to helping patients struggling with obesity and can save money in the long run by reducing comorbidities such as heart disease, others say the medications are just too expensive for most states to afford.
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Commentary: Rural Americans Need the Trump Administration to Provide an Additional Path to Fight Obesity
The prevalence of obesity among rural Americans is six times higher.
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A fifth of Americans are on Medicaid. Some of them have no idea.
Many states have rebranded their programs with consumer-friendly names such as SoonerCare in Oklahoma, Apple Health in Washington, Medi-Cal in California or TennCare in Tennessee.
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Republicans in Congress are eyeing cuts to Medicaid. But what does Medicaid actually do?
Medicaid is the single largest health payer in the nation, and is particularly important for people in poverty. Almost a fifth of people living in the United States are covered through Medicaid.
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More than 5M could lose Medicaid coverage if feds impose work requirements
Under an emerging Republican plan to require some Medicaid recipients to work, between 4.6 million and 5.2 million adults ages 19 to 55 could lose their health care coverage, according to a new analysis.
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GOP Takes Aim at Medicaid, Putting Enrollees and Providers at Risk
At stake is coverage for roughly 79 million people enrolled in Medicaid and its related Children’s Health Insurance Program. So, too, is the financial health of thousands of hospitals and community health centers — and a huge revenue source to all states.
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Reading the Tea Leaves for Trump-Era Health Policy
A host of experts weigh in on how Trump’s early directives will translate into health policy and legislation. His early health moves signal intent to erase Biden’s legacy. What’s next is unclear.
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Economists: Rural Uninsured Rates Likely to Rise if ACA Premium Tax Credits Expire
For residents in rural communities across the country, those rising prices could mean not having access to health insurance anymore.
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5 of the most frustrating health insurer tactics and why they exist
Research shows that 1 in 3 Americans seeking care report delaying or forgoing treatment because of the “administrative burdens” of dealing with health insurance and the health care system, creating additional barriers beyond costs.
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Response to CEO killing reveals antipathy toward health insurers − but entire patchwork system is to blame for ill feeling
As the public reaction to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has made clear, many Americans are perhaps most unhappy with their health insurers. Indeed, just 31% of Americans have a favorable view of the health insurance industry, according to a 2024 survey.
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