My latest for NPR. Send us your health care headaches and we'll send our sleuths out to puzzle through it so you don't have to: www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g...

Ready for Halloween!

There are two different KFF numbers about the ACA out there. Both are accurate, but mean different things. 114%: The average increase in out-of-pocket premiums if enhanced tax credits expire. 26%: The average increase in what insurers are charging for benchmark ACA plans.

We estimate the average ACA enrollee will see their out-of-pocket premium increase by 114%. But, it will vary a lot based on age, income, family size, and zip code. I'd be interested in what you're seeing if you're an ACA enrollee and log on to the marketplace. Please reply here.

When is the point of no return for extending ACA tax credits? They expire 12/31, so that’s a drop dead date. Open enrollment starts November 1. If they’re not extended by then, enrollees may start dropping out. Even if open enrollment is extended, people could be hard to reach.

Who are MAHA parents? The breakdown from our poll with the @washingtonpost.com: on.kff.org/477Oo5L

KFF analysis finds 27% of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers got health insurance through the individual market in 2023, which is mostly (over 90%) made up of the ACA Marketplaces. 🔗: https://on.kff.org/46A1Crt

"We are hurting ourselves in North Carolina way ahead of the game, way before we need to do this," NC's former Chief Medical Officer told me. Reporting w/ @realbrambo.bsky.social for @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

🚨 "Sick to my stomach." That's how the researcher who found a link between Tylenol and autism felt when she realized MAHA would link her analysis to vaccines. My latest exclusive @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

NEW: Trump's signature legislation is cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid. But even before those cuts hits, states are slashing their programs. It's already making it harder for one North Carolina mom to find care for her disabled son w/ @sjtribble-reports.bsky.social

We previously reported that the number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center - known as America's research hospital - declined from February-April. Since then, I obtained newer data through mid-August. And it's gotten worse. youtube.com/shorts/yT5Vc...

The Trump administration announces it is making "affordable" ACA plans available to certain groups of people, including those who lose eligibility for tax credits slated to expire at the end of the year. These plans have lower premiums, but deductibles of over $10,000. www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...

NEW: Feel like you're reading more about hospitals fighting with insurers and even stranding patients out of network? It's not your imagination. Almost 1 in 5 hospitals had a brawl with an insurer in the past 4 years. Trump admin cuts mean we're likely to see even more...

Just heard a guy on the beach say “Microsoft Teams.” This is unacceptable.

"It's a crap show" "People will die" The Trump administration’s broadsides against scientific research are causing unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, which has spearheaded advances against the disease for decades. Me + @arthurallen202.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/h...

Wisconsin passed a budget in the middle of the night that, among other things, increased provider taxes to the maximum permitted value, so they would be grandfathered before the House votes on reconciliation www.wpr.org/news/tony-ev...

NEW: Under GOP budget bill, 18.5 million Americans would need to prove they work to keep their Medicaid coverage. One of them is likely a Kansas City woman who already had to make an excruciating choice due to Medicaid rules: give up guardianship of her disabled son to work as his caregiver.

In the wake of today's Supreme Court ruling in Skrmetti, looking for trans teens and parents of trans youth based in Illinois willing to talk about their experiences with gender-affirming care. Hoping to have a conversation about this in the coming weeks on @21st.show. My DMs are open.

When the House budget resolution first came out, moderate Republicans raised concerns about Medicaid. But, the House-passed bill cut Medicaid by $793 billion. There was an expectation the Senate might moderate cuts. Now, they're looking at even bigger Medicaid cuts.

To be clear, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally-funded benefits, including Medicaid.

In the middle of this wild week of other news, the amazing Jackie Fortiér and I were running down this story that published today on @npr.org and @kffhealthnews.org Here's what happened, and why I think it's worth paying attention even with all of....this....going on 👇

NEWS this morning: Hundreds of NIH workers sent a sharply worded letter to Trump officials this morning protesting their actions regarding the agency, saying they are causing a "dramatic reduction in life-saving research.” kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

NEW: Violent crime was already trending down when Trump campaigned on addressing unbridled crime in America. Now his administration has cut about $500 million for crime prevention. My latest for @cnn.com and @kffhealthnews.org www.cnn.com/2025/06/03/h...

Three mothers whose children were shot during the Chiefs' Super Bowl rally in 2024 are suing a host of entities, saying the mass shooting shows systemic failure and could have been prevented. www.kcur.org/news/2025-06...

A Kennett, Missouri, woman went to St. Louis last month for what she thought was a routine meeting with immigration officials to renew her immigration documents. Instead, they shackled her and are now trying to deport her to Hong Kong.

Kevin Hines has been living in a house without a roof in the days since a tornado devastated his community. He has seen some of his neighbors sleeping in their cars. The twister caused more than $1.6 billion in estimated property damage. But the community is still waiting for federal aid.

What happens when rural birthing units close? ➡️Sophie doesn't want an induction but is worried if she can't make it to the hospital (1.5-hours away) on time + has to deliver in the car ➡️A winter storm made it too dangerous to drive to a birthing hospital so Nanette delivered in an ER w/o an epidural

The wreckage from the tornado in St. Louis on Friday was unbelievable and I've been surprised how little attention and coverage it's received nationally.

Some context here: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally-funded Medicaid coverage, though some states use their own money to cover them. CBO estimates 1.4 million immigrants would become uninsured and lose STATE-FUNDED coverage as a result of the bill.

New piece by @kff.org discusses key provisions in the draft House budget reconciliation bill that would limit or eliminate access to health coverage for immigrant families and potentially lead to negative impacts on the nation's workforce and economy www.kff.org/policy-watch...

Here's my statement on the Medicaid provisions that the House GOP dropped last night on Mother's Day which are being rushed to markup at 2p tomorrow, Tuesday. ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/05/12/h...

One out of every 25 Americans would lose their insurance…

One year after a federal judge ruled Missourians were being illegally denied food aid by the state, the Department of Social Services has made “no progress” in addressing the problem, the judge wrote in a scathing order this week. #moleg #mogov via @clarabates.bsky.social

Urgent: New Pope raised by a Cardinals fan, and was "never ever" a Cubs fan wgntv.com/news/pope-le...

Thank G-d

new pope, who dis?

One of the 100K+ people who lost their health insurance when Missouri slashed Medicaid in 2005 was a woman working a $6.70/hour McDonald’s job. Her ~$300/week pay put her over the stricter income limits despite supporting 3 kids. Now, congressional GOP are considering cuts that could be bigger...

Truly humbled

🧵My latest: HIV testing & outreach falters in the South because of Trump’s funding cuts and DEI restrictions. “I don’t understand how someone, with the stroke of a pen, could just haphazardly write off the health off millions.” @kffhealthnews.org / @cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-e...

ICYMI: Nearly all in-home services provided by Medicaid are optional. So while Republicans in Congress look to cut $880 billion to the program, Sandra Smith worries her disabled daughter's care will be axed. "I really and truly don’t know what I would do." missouriindependent.com/2025/05/05/a...

A Missouri woman worries her daughter’s in-home care could be in jeopardy if congressional Republicans cut Medicaid. “It is not sustainable for anyone to do infinite, 24-hour care,” she told @kffhealthnews.org #moleg #mogov

My latest, for @kffhealthnews.org and @cbsnews.com: Social Security is cracking. It's declaring people wrongly dead. Beneficiaries and lawyers say records are getting misplaced. Checks are getting sent to the wrong address. The agency is getting worse, they think, at sending money to people:

NEW: The last time Missouri's Medicaid program was strapped for cash: - 100,000 people lost their health insurance, - credit card debt went up, - debt in collections increased. Now, Republicans in Congress are considering cuts that would big even bigger and hit every state. My latest 👇

The White House budget proposal cuts $3.6b from CDC, $18b from NIH, $1.7b from HRSA. It eliminates the Nat Institute on Minority & Health Disparities & for IRA's equity programs. It asks for $44 billion more for Homeland Security, including for The Wall. www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

He's a faith-driven, 44-year-old health tech entrepreneur from Idaho who just got put in charge of Medicare. Read about his ambitions to reform the ~$1 trillion program in this deeply-reported profile by @mariojoze.bsky.social, via @statnews.com: www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/m... via @statnews.com

Missouri health department announces first measles case of 2025 #moleg #mogov via @clarabates.bsky.social

A fifth of Americans are on Medicaid. Some of them have no idea #moleg #mogov

The VA says it's about to shut down the only low-interest, affordable loan modification option for thousands of vets who are behind on their mortgages. We want to hear your story.

Missouri Senate Democrats are 2+ hours into a filibuster of legislation that would gut the voter-approved paid sick leave law. Live audio: chamber.senate.mo.gov/chamber Background on the bill: missouriindependent.com/2025/03/26/m... @missouriindependent.com