Readers Take Congress to Task and Offer Their Own Health Policy Fixes
51视频 Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Health Care Costs Jump to the Fore as Candidates Jockey To Be California Governor
During a California gubernatorial debate, candidates promised to protect people鈥檚 access to health care and fight back against Trump administration cuts. With the contest a year away, polling shows voters want the next governor to minimize out-of-pocket health care costs, increase mental health care, and expand caregiving services.
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Shutdown Has Highlighted Washington鈥檚 Retreat From Big Ideas on Health Care
As voters feel financial pressure from runaway health care costs and crave innovations that would provide relief, the standoff in Congress has been firmly rooted in the status quo 鈥 keeping an existing provision of the Affordable Care Act alive.
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Journalists Shed Light on Opioid Settlement Cash, New Medicaid Work Requirements
51视频 Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
The State of the Affordable Care Act
Episode 421Nov. 1 marked the start of open enrollment for 2026 health plans bought from Affordable Care Act marketplaces in most states. But this sign-up season is like no other in the health law鈥檚 15-year history. It remains unclear, even at this late date, whether expanded tax credits launched during the pandemic in 2021 will be continued or allowed to expire, exposing millions of Americans to much higher out-of-pocket costs. In this special episode of 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 from 51视频 Health News and WAMU, host Julie Rovner interviews 51视频 vice president Cynthia Cox about the past, present, and possible future of the health law and how those who purchase ACA coverage should proceed during this time of uncertainty.
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Farmers, Barbers, and GOP Lawmakers Grapple With the Fate of ACA Tax Credits
Small-business owners and their employees, who make up nearly half of the Obamacare marketplace, are worried about their health care and their livelihoods as insurance prices surge. Republicans, who have long opposed Obamacare, are at odds over how to respond to upset from one of their party鈥檚 most loyal constituencies.
By Amanda Seitz This Health Economist Wants Your Medical Bills
Season 14, Episode 3A longtime health economist sets her sights on lowering Americans鈥 insurance premiums.
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Congressional Stalemate Creates Chaos for Obamacare Shoppers
This year, Affordable Care Act marketplace consumers will need to be more informed than ever to navigate their health coverage choices.
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Deal or No Deal? States Prepare for Congress To Act at the Last Minute on Obamacare
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
By Amanda Seitz Happy Open Enrollment Eve!
Episode 420A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are demanding Republicans agree to extend ACA tax credits, but there has been little negotiating 鈥 even as customers are learning what they鈥檒l pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can鈥檛 pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers鈥 credit reports. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
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A Ticking Clock: How States Are Preparing for a Last-Minute Obamacare Deal
Even if Congress strikes a deal soon to extend more generous Affordable Care Act subsidies, the prices and types of ACA plans available could change dramatically. Unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval could cloud this year鈥檚 open enrollment season, which begins in most states on Saturday.
By Amanda Seitz and Julie Appleby -
Reporters Cover the Shutdown and the Use of AI in Health Care
51视频 Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
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Listen: Amid Shutdown Stalemate, Families Brace for SNAP Cuts and Paycheck Limbo
51视频 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU鈥檚 鈥淗ealth Hub鈥 to discuss how the government shutdown is affecting food benefits and the help many Americans get to offset their health insurance premiums.
By Julie Rovner -
GOP Talking Point Holds ACA Is Haunted by 鈥楶hantom鈥 Enrollees, but the Devil鈥檚 in the Data
Enhanced Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies have emerged as a flash point in the congressional standoff over the federal government shutdown. Republicans point to what they characterize as increasing amounts of fraud as a reason to hold up the subsidies. But there are two sides to the story.
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Officials Show Little Proof That New Tech Will Help Medicaid Enrollees Meet Work Rules
The Trump administration says it鈥檚 developing a digital tool to help people prove they鈥檙e meeting new Medicaid work requirements. 51视频 Health News talked to officials from the two states running pilot programs and found little evidence of new 鈥 or effective 鈥 technology.
By Rae Ellen Bichell and Sam Whitehead -
A New Car vs. Health Insurance? Average Family Job-Based Coverage Hits $27K
51视频 data shows that 2025 marked the first time in two decades that the annual cost of covering a family of four rose by 6% or more for three consecutive years.
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Private Medicare, Medicaid Plans Exaggerate In-Network Mental Health Options, Watchdogs Say
A federal probe of Medicare and Medicaid plans run by private insurance companies found that the plan operators often overstated how many mental health providers were available in their networks. In some cases, investigators found providers had never had contracts with plans they were listed on.
By Tony Leys -
States Jostle Over $50B Rural Health Fund as Trump鈥檚 Medicaid Cuts Trigger Scramble
States are battling for their piece of $50 billion in federal rural health funding, but it鈥檚 not just hospitals vying for the money. Tech startups and policy demands are raising the stakes as Medicaid cuts loom.
Schr枚dinger鈥檚 Government Shutdown
Episode 418Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to lay off workers from programs supported mostly by Democrats. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris about Medicare open enrollment.
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In Mississippi, Medicaid Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs Fails To Catch On
In Mississippi, a state with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, Medicaid covers weight loss drugs, but few enrollees have signed up for the benefit.