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New issue brief documents what’s at stake if Medicaid HCBS is cut
A new KFF issue brief lays out how extensively states now rely on Medicaid to pay and assist family members who provide care, and how vulnerable those services may be in the decade ahead. Medicaid HCBS, or home and community based services, are a critical support for millions of older adults who want to age…
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Deep federal cuts will make health care financially toxic, driving up medical debt
Early in 2020, Ella Nelson was 2 years old when her grandmother noticed a small lump on the right side of her abdomen. Finding that lump was the start of a difficult years-long odyssey for Ella, her mother, Megan, and her father, Marcus. Three weeks earlier, Megan Nelson had just given birth to Ella’s brother,…
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Is ICE undermining patient privacy by using Medicaid data?
ICE agents and bystanders in Minneapolis after the Jan. 7, 2026, fatal shooting of Renée Macklin Good. Photo by Chad Davis (CC BY 4.0) In December, a court decision allowed federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to use states’ Medicaid data to identify where people — including immigrants — live as part of enforcement…
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New Medicaid work rules will challenge enrollees and states
Medicaid officials in 42 states have until Jan. 1, 2027, to put new work rules in place so that millions of Americans can enroll or remain enrolled in Medicaid, as KFF reported in August. Many, if not all, of those states, including the District of Columbia, Georgia and Wisconsin, will struggle to meet that deadline…
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Aging advocates brace for uncertain future
The message from Washington D.C. to a group of aging advocates was blunt: survive 2025, then regroup for the fight ahead. The political dynamics will change in 2026 with the critical midterm election according to Bob Blancato, a leading national expert on aging policy. He delivered a sobering overview of the future of aging programs…
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Medicaid cuts could further strain ERs treating gunshot wounds, study says
The strain on urban trauma centers to treat gunshot wounds could be made worse by Medicaid funding cuts, a new study warns. Researchers at Northwestern Medicine and the University of Michigan analyzed emergency department and inpatient visits for firearm injuries between 2016 and 2021. The average annual costs held steady at around $1.2 billion through…
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Medicaid cuts will cost hospitals billions in lost revenue annually, reports show
The budget reconciliation bill President Trump signed into law on July 4 will devastate the finances of hospitals nationwide, particularly those in rural areas, according to a July 8 Third Way report. Over 10 years, that law will eliminate more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, costing U.S. hospitals at least $24 billion in lost revenue…
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