The Rubber is About to Hit the Road on Medicaid Cuts April 10, 2025 Quick Take Once Republicans in Congress get specific about Medicaid cuts, it will become more tangible and clearer who will be affected. Changes to the status quo in health care rarely get more popular when the details get filled in.
Most People in the Most Rural Counties Get Medicare Coverage from Traditional Medicare April 10, 2025 Issue Brief While enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, has grown steadily over the past decade, traditional Medicare remains the most common source of coverage for people who live in rural areas.
Health Spending Issues to Watch This Year April 10, 2025 Issue Brief KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare examine market trends contributing to rising health costs and identify several potential federal and state policy issues to watch throughout 2025, including high-cost drugs, federal funding cuts, and workforce shortages.
Fluoride Bans and Food Safety Doubts — The Monitor April 10, 2025 Page This Monitor covers how fears about fluoride as a neurotoxin are impacting public health and how trust in food safety is eroding following the USDA’s disbandment of two food safety panels. It also discusses approaches to addressing false information and the accuracy of AI chatbots compared to search engines.
Final Budget Resolution Codifies Unreconciled Differences on Medicaid Cuts in House and Senate Reconciliation April 9, 2025 Quick Take The budget resolution is unusual because it establishes different tracks for reconciliation in each chamber: House committees are instructed to increase deficits by $2.3 trillion, with major cuts to Medicaid; and Senate committees are instructed to increase deficits by what amounts to $5.8 trillion, without clear implications for Medicaid cuts.
Medicare Advantage Payments to Increase Again April 9, 2025 Quick Take The increase translates into an additional $35 billion to Medicare Advantage plans in 2026 compared to this year….The increase in payments is larger than for 2025 (3.7%) or 2024 (3.3%), but below the increase for 2023 (8.5%), and comes at a time of increasing scrutiny over Medicare Advantage payments.
Medicaid Watch April 9, 2025 Topic Landing Page KFF policy research, polling, and news about the Medicaid financing debate.
Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Funding Tracker April 8, 2025 Issue Brief This tracker provides up-to-date data on federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) funding, including an overview of funding mechanisms by year, agency, grant mechanism, and jurisdiction. It will be updated over time.
What Do Federal Staffing Cuts and HHS Restructuring Mean for the Nation’s HIV Response? April 8, 2025 Blog This policy watch examines the impact of federal staff cuts and HHS restructuring on the nation’s HIV response.
