Medicare Advantage 2026 Spotlight: A First Look at Plan Premiums and Benefits
This brief provides an overview of premiums and benefits in Medicare Advantage plans that are available for 2026 and key trends over time.
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KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: A Killing Touches Off Backlash Against Health Insurers
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…
When I Go, I’m Going Green
Our annual family vacation on Cape Cod included all the familiar summer pleasures: climbing dunes, walking beaches, spotting seals, eating oysters, reading books we had intended to get to all year. And a little shopping. My grandkid wanted a few small toys. My daughter stocked up on thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles at the game store in…
Rising Costs & Medicare Advantage Flaws to Drive Healthcare Reform Talks in 2026
Rising healthcare costs and flaws in the Medicare Advantage program are likely to dominate healthcare reform discussions in 2026, according to one PitchBook analyst. Potential policy changes could focus on improving affordability in the ACA market and fixing distorted incentives in Medicare Advantage. The post Rising Costs & Medicare Advantage Flaws to Drive Healthcare Reform…
Bayer Reveals Data That Could Make Stroke Prevention Drug Its Next Blockbuster Product
Bayer’s asundexian, a Factor XIa inhibitor, reduced the risk of secondary stroke by 26% without increasing bleeding risk in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The once-daily pill is at the front of an emerging class of medicines that includes drug candidates from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and partners Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. The post…
Dems See Opportunities in Republican Embrace of MAHA Movement
There’s a lot going on in Washington right now. While President Donald Trump has been grabbing for Greenland, he’s also talked in the White House about health policy — whether it’s the Rural Health Transformation Program, ways to address the nation’s spiraling health costs, or an effort to promote whole milk in schools. At the same time, congressional Republicans are eyeing health issues from the “Make America Healthy Again” perspective, hoping it will provide a boost in the midterm elections. Here’s why. …
Echoing 2020, Police Use Rubber Bullets Against Protesters in Los Angeles
Weapons dubbed “less lethal” are once again being used in Los Angeles, this time against people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids. During the 2020 protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, KFF Health News and USA Today documented the harm that rubber bullets and other “less lethal” projectiles can cause. Here’s what…
‘MAHA Report’ Calls for Fighting Chronic Disease, but Trump and Kennedy Have Yanked Funding
The Trump administration has declared that it will aggressively combat chronic disease in America. Yet in its feverish purge of federal health programs, it has proposed eliminating the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and its annual funding of $1.4 billion. That’s one of many disconnects between what the administration says about…
The Healthcare Industry Requires a New Kind of Leader
Today’s challenges — such as rapid technological innovations, shifting patient demographics, and mounting financial pressures — call not for just any leader but for a particular type of leader. They must be able to assess like clinicians and lead like CEOs. The post The Healthcare Industry Requires a New Kind of Leader appeared first on…
The Elasticity of Pharmaceutical Innovation
That is the title of a new USC white paper by Darren Filson, Karen Van Nuys, Darius Lakdawalla and Dana Goldman with the subtitle “How Much Does Revenue Drive New Drug Development?” What is the elasticity of innovation? It measures the percentage change in innovation—using the flow of new drugs approvals, or Phase 1, 2,…