Have you started on a GLP-1 for weight loss? Here’s what you need to know and do to be successful. ⤵️ kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

President Trump will soon nominate a permanent director for the CDC, acting chief Jay Bhattacharya told agency employees at a Wednesday staff meeting. @celinegounder.com reports⤵️

"It’s useless really, unless I get into a car accident and I have $10,000 worth of bills," a Kentucky skateboard shop owner said of his bronze marketplace plan. Recently, his left shoulder started bothering him. His plan — with its $8400 deductible — means he can’t afford to get it checked out.

One year on, Atlanta marks losses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with roughly a quarter of its workforce gone and the painful aftermath of last summer’s shooting still felt at the agency’s main campus. “It will cause generational harm."

Today’s new KFF poll. Lots of people are using AI for health information. That’s probably not surprising. What is: many are doing it because they can’t afford medical care.

“They used my children to grab me.” A Venezuelan father was arrested by immigration officials after trying to reunite with his teenage son and daughter, who were detained at the U.S. border. His kids have been in federal custody for over a year.

Dental insurance does not necessarily protect against large bills. About 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. with dental insurance reported costs as a barrier to care. More on how these plans work and tips for keeping bills low ⤵️

Middle-aged adults faced some of the steepest increases in Obamacare premium payments this year. Some are skipping care until they’re old enough for Medicare. “Medicare is going to have to spend a whole heck of a lot of money covering and dealing with their treatment,” said one expert.

Thousands of National Institutes of Health scientists have left during President Donald Trump’s second term. @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social discusses what it could mean for the nation’s health on @wamu.org🎧 ⤵️

“The NIH has just been giving out this money in a very weird way,” explains @sangerkatz.bsky.social, of The New York Times. It's resulting in the agency “funding a lot less research.” Listen for more analysis of the latest health care news 🎧 ⤵️

The number doctors use to demarcate hypertension keeps going down. Many experts applaud the trend, as studies link high blood pressure and dementia. “What’s good for the heart is good for the brain,” said one geriatrician.

The Trump administration’s attempt to withhold $2 billion from Minnesota’s Medicaid program over fraud claims has been called “the nuclear option.” Punishing states has “never been an effective way to address fraud,” one longtime Medicaid observer said. realbrambo.bsky.social reports ⤵️

About one in ten people who got coverage through the Affordable Care Act last year said they had to forgo insurance this year. And most returning ACA enrollees say they will have to pare back on other household expenses to cover health care costs. More takeaways from a KFF poll released today ⤵️

Legislation introduced in Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma to protect crisis pregnancy centers was drafted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal advocacy group that crafted the 15-week abortion ban that led to the Dobbs Supreme Court case. jazmin1orozco.bsky.social reports ⤵️

Trump administration officials say California allows billions in health care fraud and have promised an investigation, blaming the “Russian, Armenian mafia.” But data shows California leads most other states in recovering fraud dollars.

A $5,500 device aims to treat opioid addiction with electrical pulses to the brain. But the FDA hasn't approved the device to treat addiction. And some researchers and recovery advocates say the company’s rapid consumption of opioid settlement dollars raises red flags.

The Affordable Care Act forced individual health insurance policies to look more like employer plans. President Trump says the law drove up health care costs. Some analysts say comparing costs before and after the law is like comparing apples to oranges.

Psychiatrists have historically relied on symptoms alone to diagnose mental illness, but that could change. An influential psychiatric organization plans to incorporate biological indicators of mental illness in future diagnostic criteria. It's "a very big deal" says one researcher.

There's no clear, nationally binding way to opt out of the U.S. organ donation system — or to ensure a later “no” overrides an earlier “yes” in a different state. The gap has become a point of bipartisan congressional concern, reports @celinegounder.com ⤵️

At President Donald Trump and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s inaugural women’s health conference, it was skeptics of birth control pills in the limelight. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Nearly 10% of Medicare Advantage enrollees will be forced to disenroll this year because their plan will leave the local market. For those switching to original Medicare, getting a supplemental Medigap plan to cover some out-of-pocket costs can be tricky.

Health providers across the country are eyeing tax increases to offset more than $900 billion lost in Medicaid dollars as a result of the GOP budget law. In L.A. County, community clinics have banded together in support of a half-cent sales tax.

More Americans are eligible to open an health savings account — a kind of tax-free investment account that lets them sock away money for medical expenses — after changes that were part of new legislation last year. More on how HSAs work and when they’re worth it ⤵️

Health insurers have promised change, but patients still face denials. “I just thought I was going to die,” one said. “I was fighting to survive, and then I was fighting to convince someone that I deserved to survive.”

Years after a person has recovered from measles, they can start to experience neurologic symptoms from a rare and usually deadly complication. Doctors expect to soon see more cases in the U.S., @raelnb.bsky.social reports ⤵️

A Medicare Advantage “dark money” group flooded a federal website with thousands of form letters urging more dollars for health plans. The move comes as a proposal by the Trump administration would keep insurance payments nearly flat next year.

It’s been a tough week for HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In addition to surgery on a torn rotator cuff, the nomination of Kennedy's ally to become surgeon general is teetering, a controversial FDA leader was forced to resign, and a survey finds trust in HHS leaders is falling. Listen for more ⤵️

“The NIH has been this sort of bipartisan jewel that everybody has supported,” said KFF Health News’ @julierovner.bsky.social. “Now, it’s basically being dismantled in front of our eyes.” Listen for more analysis of the latest health care news 🎧 ⤵️

Engineered quartz countertops have surged in popularity. That's triggered an increase in silicosis, an irreversible disease that was once associated with older miners. It’s now prevalent among workers in the industry, often men in their 30s and 40s. @celinegounder.com reports ⤵️

Anxieties among suburbanites, women, and independents over HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s policies risk splintering the MAHA coalition that helped win the White House for Donald Trump. @stephaniearmour.bsky.social and Amanda Seitz report ⤵️

A national plastic surgeons group is warning patients to “do their homework” before getting liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift, or other cosmetic procedures. That's after an investigation by KFF Health News and NBC News examined allegations of disfiguring injuries and deaths tied to the surgeries.

Many independent primary care practices are in financial trouble. Some are banding together to increase their market power when negotiating with insurance companies. Some insurers say it let's them offer an alternative to the fee-for-service payment model.

Older Americans are losing billions of dollars each year to financial exploitation. Hundreds of banks and investment firms are training employees to spot red flags and stop the transactions.

Across the nation, children's visits to the ER for preventable tooth problems has risen sharply since the pandemic, more the doubling in some communities. Policy changes under the Trump administration are poised to worsen the trend, report @farrellbrenner.bsky.social & @zhangela.bsky.social ⤵️

Although other Democratic leaders and public health leaders have openly criticized the federal government, few have been as outspoken as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for president in 2028.

Many states must adopt Medicaid work requirements by January under Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. That's not required in Florida, but lawmakers there are proposing the work requirements anyway. The move baffles health care advocates. Some doubt it’s even legal.

This month is 40 years since @julierovner.bsky.social began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner speaks with two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986.

“There’s been a fundamental destruction.” Scientists are leaving the National Institutes of Health in droves under President Donald Trump. @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & @k-hought.bsky.social report on what's left behind ⤵️

The ambitious liver doctor would go just about anywhere in his home state to give people the hepatitis B vaccine. Now, after Sen. Bill Cassidy tried to simultaneously back vaccines and RFK Jr., he's fighting for his political life.

Can’t afford health insurance this year? ➡️ Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about $$ and the cost of care ➡️ Search for providers that specifically work with uninsured patients ➡️ Call your local health department ➡️ Research generic drug options & shop around Listen for more tips 🎧

Patient advocates say state administrators in Iowa appears to be reining in Medicaid spending by cutting home care services for people with disabilities that help them live outside institutions. National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.

Thousands of Minnesotans are still too scared to leave home, even for desperately needed medical care. So doctors and nurses have quietly operated informal, underground medical networks to bring that care to them.

Some state lawmakers and health associations say the political rhetoric around a federal program initially pitched to keep rural hospitals afloat doesn’t match reality. “[It] will not save a single hospital in our state,” said the head of the Nebraska Rural Health Association.

Many cities send teams of mental health professionals to respond to calls for people experiencing delusions or hallucinations instead of police. But without consistent sources of funding, some mobile crisis teams are shutting down despite their successes. Can states step in?

Health care prices are on the rise, with bills for many brief, routine procedures reaching tens of thousands of dollars. Patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren’t doing more to control costs.

For years, many cash-strapped cities haven’t prioritized lead cleanups. Lessons from several cities and one state may provide a road map for dealing with lead in pipes, soil and paint. @halleparker.bsky.social reports ⤵️

Several states have expanded dental services for Medicaid patients in recent years. But with federal funding cuts looming from the Big Beautiful Bill, many states could roll back coverage. “We will lose all the gains we have made,” one dental policy researcher said.

NEW: Most of the Medicaid cuts passed by congressional Republicans last year don't take effect until after the midterms, but the Trump's signature law is already squeezing state Medicaid programs. In Idaho, one service on the possible chopping block is home care for people with disabilities.

In the wake of the federal Big Beautiful Bill, state lawmakers in Idaho and elsewhere are mulling cuts to Medicaid services that help disabled people live at home or in their communities. “We just hold our breath every legislative session,” says one mother. @realbrambo.bsky.social reports ⤵️

A Mass. woman knew the drug her doctor prescribed required preauthorization, but she didn’t realize the approval had an expiration date. It took weeks of calls and paperwork to get her prescription refilled. Tips for navigating the process ⤵️