The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to…
In the wooded highlands of northern Arkansas, where small towns have few dentists, water officials who serve more than 20,000 people have for more than a decade openly defied state law by refusing to add fluoride to the drinking water. For its refusal, the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority has received hundreds of state…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — President Donald Trump is vowing a new approach to getting homeless people off the streets by forcibly moving those living outside into large camps while mandating mental health and addiction treatment — an aggressive departure from the nation’s leading homelessness policy, which for decades has prioritized housing as the most effective way…
Kent Dicks, CEO, and Kendall Paulsen, Telehealth Solutions lead, at Life 365 showed me their comprehensive set of tools and services for remote patient monitoring, or what I call the “continuous clinic”. Kent did this with MedApps, later acquired by Alere. But at Life 365 he’s building a new approach to getting the tools and…
HELENA, Mont. — Mark Nay’s first client had lost the van she was living in and was struggling with substance use and medical conditions that had led to multiple emergency room visits. Nay helped her apply for Medicaid and food assistance and obtain copies of her birth certificate and other identification documents needed to apply…
The National Institutes of Health employee said she knew things would be difficult for federal workers after Donald Trump was elected. But she never imagined it would be like this. Focused on Alzheimer’s and other dementia research, the worker is among thousands who abruptly lost their jobs in the Trump administration’s federal workforce purge. The…
By MATT McCORD American manufacturing is making a comeback. Driven by tariffs, supply chain instability, and shifting economic priorities, companies are reshoring production—reinvesting in U.S. labor and operations. But there’s one major obstacle still standing in the way: the crushing cost of American healthcare. For decades, U.S. employers have overpaid for healthcare without improving outcomes….
PLEASANTVILLE, Iowa — Zach Mecham has heard politicians demand that Medicaid recipients work or lose their benefits. He also has run into a jumble of Medicaid rules that effectively prevent many people with disabilities from holding full-time jobs. “Which is it? Do you want us to work or not?” he said. Mecham, 31, relies on…
“On Feb. 25, I voted yes on a budget resolution that protects Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid while cutting some spending elsewhere.” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), in a YouTube video posted March 4, 2025 On Feb. 25, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) voted in favor of a House budget resolution that calls for sharp cuts in…
By KIM BELLARD News flash: America is not a very happy place these days. No, I’m not talking about the current political divide (which is probably more accurately described as a chasm), at least not directly. I’m referring to the latest results from the World Happiness Report, which found that the U.S. has slid to…