How is AI applied to clinical care and hospital operations across a real health system at full scale? Chip Kahn talks to Dr. Michael Schlosser, Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at HCA Healthcare, about how AI is developed for everyday use, starting with careful testing and customization, with clinicians and nurses engaged from…
This policy watch looks at the major new Ebola outbreak in DRC, discusses how the U.S. government has responded so far, and describes how the current situation compares to prior U.S. Ebola responses.
This analysis explores recent actions the Trump administration has taken to limit youth access to gender-affirming care. Each has a connection to the Justice Department and to the state of Texas. These measures are widely seen as an escalation in this policy area and could add to the chilling effect already characterizing the provision of…
This brief explains current Medicaid cost sharing rules and changes made to cost sharing rules by the 2025 reconciliation law, reports on cost sharing amounts states currently impose on ACA expansion adults, and highlights literature on the impact of cost sharing.
This analysis updates prior work that assessed the association between PEPFAR investments and economic and educational outcomes. It finds that PEPFAR continues to be associated with significant improvement in these broader areas, suggesting a spillover effect beyond the program’s HIV and health focus.
This analysis updates prior work that assessed the association between PEPFAR investments and several health indicators, beyond HIV. It finds that PEPFAR continues to be associated with significant improvement in these broader health gains, suggesting a spillover effect beyond the program’s HIV focus.
The average Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace deductible experienced the steepest increase in history—growing by 37% or over $1,000, from $2,759 in 2025 to $3,786 in 2026 as enhanced premium tax credits expired, according to a new KFF analysis. After the enhanced tax credits ended, many Marketplace shoppers shifted toward lower-premium, higher-deductible plans.
This analysis examines early indicators of how the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits has affected effectuated enrollment levels (i.e., enrollment among people who have paid their premiums), plan selections, and out-of-pocket costs in 2026, drawing on plan selection and effectuated enrollment data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and state-based Marketplace…
What does AI mean for patients in bed and doctors at the bedside? Host Chip Kahn and guest Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, discuss whether AI will produce a different kind of doctor in the future — a “clinician curator rather than a clinician-diagnostician.”…
This brief compares the prices paid by private insurers for hospital care to increases in Medicare payment using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index (PPI), finding that hospital prices have risen much faster for private insurance than Medicare since 2019.