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Major health insurers and even Medicare are using artificial intelligence to make coverage decisions. But class action lawsuits have accused insurers of using AI to wrongfully withhold treatment, and new research illuminates the risks.
This week, the Trump administration won a court battle to delay a ruling on access to the abortion pill mifepristone, angering its own anti-abortion allies. Meanwhile, the president鈥檚 budget arrived on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are unlikely to agree to its proposed cuts to Health and Human Services programs. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Maya Goldman of Axios join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Some states already don鈥檛 have enough staff to quickly process Medicaid applications and answer enrollees鈥 phone calls. Researchers say they may not be prepared to handle new Medicaid work rules, predicting people will lose coverage as a result.
Rosa Mar铆a Carranza has worked and paid taxes for more than two decades, but a provision in the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will make her and an estimated 100,000 other lawfully present immigrant seniors ineligible for Medicare. Now Carranza鈥檚 once secure retirement is in question.
Despite public opposition to the cuts they made to federal health programs in 2025, Republicans reportedly are considering more cuts to help pay for the war in Iran. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot ban 鈥渃onversion therapy鈥 for LGBTQ+ minors. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51视频 Health News鈥 Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the last two 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 stories.
The Trump administration faces the challenge of naming a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who can both satisfy the Make America Healthy Again movement and get confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, a new Senate bill to rescind the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is again elevating the abortion debate, which some Republicans would prefer to stay on the back burner until after the midterms. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss the news. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown University Law Center鈥檚 Katie Keith about the state of the Affordable Care Act on its 16th anniversary.
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
On 鈥淲hat the Health? From 51视频 Health News,鈥 distributed by WAMU, chief Washington correspondent and host Julie Rovner sat down with Drew Altman, president and CEO of 51视频, to talk about the likelihood of a national health care debate.
Trump administration officials say the state allows rampant fraud and have promised to investigate, blaming the 鈥淩ussian, Armenian mafia鈥 in the hospice and home health care industry. But data shows hotbeds of health care fraud throughout the country, with California outperforming most other states in recovering fraud dollars.
Open enrollment season lasts until March 31 for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage who want to switch to original Medicare, but there鈥檚 a potential hitch.
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Medicare Advantage insurers say a proposal by the Trump administration to keep their payments nearly flat next year may lead to service cuts that harm seniors struggling to afford health care. A decision is due by early next month.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having rotator cuff surgery, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering, the controversial head of the FDA's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less than they do former Biden official Anthony Fauci. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
This month is 40 years since host Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for 51视频 Health News, began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner is joined by two longtime sources to discuss what has 鈥 and has not 鈥 changed since 1986.
Health care prices are on the rise, and patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren鈥檛 doing more to control costs.
Chaz and Jean Franklin were facing a sevenfold increase in their health premium payments with the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans at the end of 2025. Then Jean received a crushing diagnosis that will claim her life but save the couple money.
Questions of fairness came up in last year鈥檚 congressional debate about extending Obamacare鈥檚 enhanced subsidies. Critics wondered why the federal government should underwrite coverage costs for people with ACA coverage. In truth, though, almost all health insurance in the U.S. comes with some federal help.
Politicians have pushed for price transparency in health care. But instead of patients shopping for services, it鈥檚 mostly health systems and insurers that are using the information, as fodder for negotiations over pay.
Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.
A Wisconsin retiree with glaucoma needed her eyes examined. Her Medicare Advantage plan from UnitedHealthcare listed her optometrist鈥檚 clinic as in-network, but she learned the hard way that a clinic can be in-network and out-of-network at the same time.
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