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How can AI determine who gets matched to new therapies, who is identified for clinical trials, and how patient tracking is scaled across large populations? Chip is joined by Dr. A.J. Blood, a practicing cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AIwithCare, a startup company that delivers AI-enabled solutions for research, clinical operations, and patient care. They discuss the role of AI in identifying patients for clinical trials and new therapies—which is typically a critical bottleneck in drug development—as well as how to ensure clinical trials are representative. Also, Dr. Blood shares insights…
Workers erect an Ebola isolation tent on the grounds of a hospital in Ituri, DRC. Despite claims by the United States that it has made “more than $270 million in direct Ebola response funding”, countries and groups dealing with the outbreak centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are unclear where the money is. Meanwhile, US health experts are unable to participate fully in the response as they are under instructions from Washington not to deal with the World Health Organization (WHO), sources told Health Policy Watch. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO are…
Forty states and DC currently receive $93 billion in annual federal Medicaid spending through state directed payments (SDPs) and may be at risk due to forthcoming limits on these payments, according to new KFF estimates. Annual federal spending on SDPs is highest in California (an estimated $10.6 billion)—followed by Texas ($6.3 billion), North Carolina ($5.2 billion), and Illinois ($5.1 billion). The vast majority of federal SDP spending (84%) covers hospital services, totaling an estimated $78 billion annually. Professional services at academic medical centers ($3.2 billion) and nursing facility services ($2.1 billion) account for the next-largest shares of federal SDP spending…
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wearing green to encourage consensus during the last round of PABS talks. World leaders need to finalise the Pandemic Agreement by applying political will at the “highest level”, a spirit of equity and a sense of urgency. This is the call made by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in an open letter published on Monday ahead of the G7 summit in France. Talks on the outstanding annex to the Pandemic Agreement, on a pathogen access and benefit sharing (PABS) system, have deadlocked,…
The 2025 reconciliation law reduced federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion from 2025 through 2034, some of which stems from new restrictions on Medicaid state directed payments (SDPs) for hospital and other health care services. While states are generally prohibited from directing how managed care organizations (MCOs) pay for care, states can implement SDPs that require MCOs to increase rates or set minimum rates for specified Medicaid services. In authorizing SDPs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aimed to help states improve access to care and provider participation. Many states that contract with MCOs use SDPs…
The 2025 reconciliation law reduced federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion from 2025 through 2034, some of which stems from new restrictions on Medicaid state directed payments (SDPs) for hospital and other health care services. While states are generally prohibited from directing how managed care organizations (MCOs) pay for care, states can implement SDPs that require MCOs to increase rates or set minimum rates for specified Medicaid services. In authorizing SDPs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aimed to help states improve access to care and provider participation. Many states that contract with MCOs use SDPs…
The Affordable Care Act seems to always be in a policy tug-of-war as its backers and critics spar over how it should work and who can qualify for coverage. This year is no different, with the Trump administration embracing standards it says will reduce fraud as well as steps that could further erode national enrollment. Wide-ranging ACA changes pushed by the administration were finalized in mid-May, including new offerings such as plans with 30% higher out-of-pocket costs, and others with no set networks of doctors and hospitals. The administration says such plans expand consumers’ choices and may carry lower premiums.…
SUGAR GROVE, N.C. — Year after year, Ross and Rebecca Tobiassen saw their healthcare costs rise, having relied on the Affordable Care Act for federally subsidized health insurance since its start in 2014. Year after year, the couple in western North Carolina kept their coverage, believing the peace of mind was worth the cost. But in December, that changed. The Tobiassens decided to cancel their insurance when Rebecca saw the cost of their monthly premiums would jump from $130 to more than $550. “It makes no sense,” she said. “It’s not worth it anymore.” The couple own and are the…
“It wasn’t unusual for shells and missiles to smash through the upper floors, leaving sizeable holes. Every time we were hit, we’d wonder if we should close the hospital.” That is how Dr. Amani Ballour, a Syrian paediatrician and the first female director of a hospital in a Syrian war zone, recalls working in an underground medical facility during the Syrian civil war. Yet despite repeated attacks, “the people kept coming, and we kept working. We never did close the cave.” Speaking on the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast, Ballour described six years spent treating civilians under siege in Eastern…
“Those are people who are being killed socially.” That is how Dr. Marcus Lacerda, one of the world’s leading malaria researchers, describes children whose futures are shaped by repeated bouts of vivax malaria. Lacerda, who joined TDR as Director in March 2026, has spent more than 25 years studying infectious diseases in the Brazilian Amazon. He is perhaps best known as a driving force behind tafenoquine, the first single-dose radical cure for Plasmodium vivax malaria approved in four decades. Speaking on the latest episode of Trailblazers with Garry, hosted by Dr. Garry Aslanyan, Lacerda reflected on the experiences that…
The Panchachuli peaks, part of the Himalaya range between India and Nepal. Home to 1 in 4 people globally, the region should brace for “multi-hazards” and poor air quality apart from heat and water stress, according to a new report. The authors called on countries in the fractious neighbourhood to cooperate on data and form common solutions. The monsoon season this year is likely to bring more water and heat stress, rather than relief, to South Asia, home to over two billion people – a quarter of the world’s population. This preliminary assessment comes from the Hindu Kush Himalaya Monsoon…
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s position on antidepressants on WAMU’s 1A on June 10. KFF Health News journalist Rae Ellen Bichell discussed, on WBUR’s Here & Now on June 10, a recent investigation that found immigration facilities aren’t providing adequate medical care. KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen discussed the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show on June 9. Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed on Fox’s LiveNow on June 8 how…
Industrial action by resident doctors will be taking place from 7am on Monday 15 June to 6:59am Friday 19 June 2026. This four-day strike coincides with more expected hot weather and the start of the football World Cup, with millions turning out to watch England’s first match against Croatia on Wednesday. The NHS’s top doctor is reminding those who need care to come forward amid rising pressure expected next week. While hotter temperatures could see more people seeking emergency care, hospitals across the country have been working around the clock to minimise disruption and keep patients safe during this period of…
The issue of affordability has reignited a long-simmering battle between California’s medical industry and one of its largest health worker unions. SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, with approximately 120,000 members, has put forward two ballot initiatives to cap the pay of medical executives and require community clinics to spend the vast bulk of their revenues on patient care. The California Hospital Association has responded with its own ballot proposal that would make it tougher for unions to spend money on future political initiatives by requiring a union’s rank-and-file membership to approve any spending of at least $1 million on statewide measures…
Prevention programmes have borne the biggest brunt of the cuts, while The number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at least once in the year fell 38% between 2024 and 2025, the report shows. The global HIV response is facing its “biggest storm” since the world united against the epidemic, UNAIDS warned Friday, as it published new data showing donor funding for HIV/AID prevention and community services critical to containing infections dropped by almost one quarter last year. The Global AIDS Brief is being published just 10 days ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) in New York City,…
When Congress allowed covid-era subsidies for health insurance to expire, California used its own funds to offset the hike in Obamacare premium costs for residents with low incomes. But the reach has been limited. As Gov. Gavin Newsom negotiates his last budget with the legislature, the Democrat wants to offer financial help to more than 1 in 4 enrollees in Covered California, the nation’s largest state-run health insurance marketplace. Democratic lawmakers, who hold a supermajority, are still debating the plan. “My budget proposal would KEEP $0 monthly plans for low-income Californians to help clean up the financial disaster Trump created,”…