The Economist reports that many life science companies are betting big on AI to help with drug development. Why? If AI can increase their likelihood new molecules become successful drugs, the cost of drug development will fall. AI-designed molecules show an 80-90% success rate in early-stage safety trials, compared with a historical average of just…
The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social 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…
In the largest Medicare Advantage fraud settlement to date, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $556 million to settle Justice Department allegations that it billed the government for medical conditions patients didn’t have. The settlement, announced Jan. 14, resolves whistleblower lawsuits that accused the giant health insurer of mounting a years-long scheme in which it…
Cuando la directora del plan público de salud más grande del país expresa su preocupación por los inminentes recortes federales a Medicaid, no lo hace solo porque se trata de su trabajo. Es algo personal. Martha Santana-Chin, hija de inmigrantes mexicanos, creció con Medi-Cal, la versión californiana de Medicaid, el programa de atención médica administrado…
By KIM BELLARD Even though most ACA enrollees/would-be enrollees have made their 2026 enrollment decisions assuming the expanded premium subsidies are not going to be renewed, the renewal of those subsidies is not entirely dead. Last week the House narrowly passed an extension, relying on a discharge petition and 17 Republican Congressmen willing to go…
Just hours after Rhonda Swaney left a prenatal appointment for her first pregnancy, she felt severe pain in her stomach and started vomiting. Then 25 years old and six months pregnant, she drove herself to the emergency room in Ronan, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation, where an ambulance transferred her to a larger hospital…
When the head of the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan worries about the looming federal cuts to Medicaid, it’s not just her job. It’s personal. Martha Santana-Chin, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, grew up on Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, the government-run health care program for people with low incomes and disabilities. Today, she…
Seamos claros. La razón principal para vacunarse contra la culebrilla (shingles, la infección que genera el virus herpes zóster) es que dos dosis brindan una protección del 90% contra una enfermedad dolorosa, que produce ampollas y puede causar dolor nervioso persistente y otras complicaciones graves a largo plazo. Y que afectará a un tercio de…
Let’s be clear: The primary reason to be vaccinated against shingles is that two shots provide at least 90% protection against a painful, blistering disease that a third of Americans will suffer in their lifetimes, one that can cause lingering nerve pain and other nasty long-term consequences. The most important reason for older adults to…
Imagine starting the new year with the promise of at least a $147 million payout from the federal government. But there are strings attached. In late December, President Donald Trump’s administration announced how much all 50 states would get under its new Rural Health Transformation Program, assigning them to use the money to fix systemic…