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Current rules permit, but do not require, states to impose cost sharing on certain populations, within limits designed to protect Medicaid enrollees who have low incomes from high out-of-pocket costs. States have flexibility to impose cost sharing on certain populations. Cost-sharing is generally limited to nominal amounts but may be higher for those with incomes above 100% FPL. Certain populations and services are exempt from cost sharing requirements (Table 1). Total out-of-pocket costs for premiums and cost sharing for all individuals in a Medicaid household are capped at 5% of monthly or quarterly household income. States are required to establish…
IntroductionIn a world where most of our waking hours are spent seated, from office desks to long commutes, physical inactivity has quietly become one of the leading global health threats. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020), insufficient physical activity contributes to nearly 5 million preventable deaths each year. Yet, new research shows that you don’t need to become a marathon runner to reap the benefits of exercise. Even small, consistent movements can drastically improve cardiovascular health, mood, and longevity.The Physiology of MovementExercise triggers a cascade of biological reactions that protect nearly every system in the body. Aerobic activity,…
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has parents who lack legal residency worried about the welfare of children left behind. Some jurisdictions are taking action. Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., allow families to name temporary guardians if a parent is detained or deported. KFF Health News correspondent Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez appeared on WAMU’s May 13 Health Hub segment to explain why keeping the children of immigrants out of foster care can increase the likelihood of families reuniting and reduce the health impacts of a traumatic separation. Audio,Children’s Health,Immigrants,Multimedia,Trump AdministrationAudio,Children’s Health,Immigrants,Multimedia,Trump Administration#ICE #Arrests #Separating #Families #Heres #Plan #Ahead1779752175
Tens of thousands of patients could benefit from a ‘rapid’ new immunotherapy jab on the NHS for over a dozen different cancers, which can be given in just 60 seconds. The NHS is rolling out a new injectable form of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) which can slash the time the treatment takes by up to 90%, to help patients spend less time in hospital while improving NHS productivity. The jab can be used to treat 14 different cancer types, including lung, breast, head and neck, and cervical, and works by triggering immune cells to recognise and kill cancer cells. 1 of the…
WHO’s first AMR strategy overhaul since 2015 cleared the World Health Assembly after a months-long fight over technology transfer. WHO Member States approved a new 10-year global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on Friday after a months-long fight over how the world should share AMR-related medical technologies. The plan, which runs through 2036, maps out strategies for countries to implementing the ambitious targets set at a UN High Level Meeting, including reducing deaths from AMR by 10% by 2030. It’s also the first overhaul of the WHO’s circa-2015 AMR strategy, adopted in an era when the public health…
Since early 2025, the Trump Administration has sought to limit youth access to gender-affirming care, taking a comprehensive approach to impose and enforce limitations. The administration has implemented or initiated dozens of actions with this aim, some of which have been challenged in court. In response to these actions, at least 40 health care institutions have walked back the provision of gender-affirming care over the last year and a half. This attrition has occurred in waves and in direct response to policy making – first following an executive order laying out the administration’s approach to limiting this care in January…
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for about one in five deaths each year. Major cardiovascular conditions, including coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure, are heavily influenced by modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, and smoking. Among these, diet plays a key role in both the development and prevention of cardiometabolic diseases.In recent decades, plant-based diets have garnered increasing attention as a potentially effective strategy for lowering cardiovascular risk. These diets focus on foods primarily from plants, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, while reducing or…
In response to abrupt and politicized changes to federal vaccine policy, concerned Coloradans have taken several steps to shore up support for vaccine science. A bill passed by the state legislature in March then signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis allows Colorado to further uncouple itself from federal guidance. The law allows health officials to follow the recommendations of national medical groups when making decisions such as purchasing bulk vaccines for the Medicaid program. “We are insulating our state from the dysfunction coming out of Washington,” said Democratic state Sen. Kyle Mullica, a co-sponsor of the bill and…
Shoppers are being urged to look out for lumps, swelling, skin changes and unexplained bruising as Morrisons teams up with the NHS to put cancer advice on its own-brand bath and shower products. The range of nine new shower and bath products will carry messages including “Be body aware” and “Know the signs of cancer”, encouraging people to get to know what is normal for their body and contact their GP practice if something doesn’t feel right. The products will start appearing in around 450 Morrisons stores and online in May. Professor Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer at…
Factors beyond individual lifestyle decisions continue to shape health–including Three emerging threats to health: the commercial, digital, and climate determinants of health played centre stage at an event 40 years after a WHO charter shifted the focus of health from individual lifestyle choices to broader social and environmental determinants. Commercial formula company practices are just one case study of how structural factors like marketing can determine health across the life span. GENEVA– New frontiers have emerged since the 1986 optimism of a global health document tackling the world’s health inequities: commercial, digital, and planetary health determinants. “The world has gotten…
The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion expanded Medicaid coverage to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level ($21,597 for an individual in 2025) and provided states with an enhanced federal matching rate (FMAP) for their expansion populations. To date, 41 states (including DC) have adopted the Medicaid expansion and 10 states have not adopted the expansion. Current status for each state is based on KFF tracking and analysis of state expansion activity. These data are also available in a table format. The map may be downloaded as a Powerpoint. Affordable Care Act,Medicaid,State Health Policy and…
Mindfulness, the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment without judgment, has transitioned from the meditation cushion into mainstream clinical discussions. Once seen as alternative wellness, it is now backed by thousands of peer-reviewed studies and actively researched in fields like psychiatry, cardiology, pain medicine, and oncology.This post reviews the strongest clinical evidence supporting mindfulness, explains its benefits for both mind and body, and provides practical, research-backed techniques that patients and clinicians can include in daily life.What Is Mindfulness? A Clinical DefinitionThe most widely cited clinical definition comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the…
Enough time had passed since the patient’s previous colonoscopy that she met the criteria to undergo another, said Steven Itzkowitz, a gastroenterologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She was in “reasonably good health,” and the risks of the procedure — bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, perforation of her colon — were fairly low. But she was 85. And she would need to briefly discontinue the blood thinners she took because of the cardiac stents keeping her arteries open; doing so could increase the risks. Had Itzkowitz and his patient faced this decision five years…
Hundreds more children with muscle-wasting condition spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are to be offered potentially “life-changing” therapy on the NHS which could help them live years longer and attend primary school. From today, 2 innovative treatments for SMA – nusinersen and risdiplam – will be made routinely available on the NHS in England following an access scheme to collect more evidence, giving hundreds of families long term-certainty. NHS England today announced it had secured a commercial agreement to ensure lifelong treatment for anyone eligible, as landmark new data from the SMA REACH UK study found the therapies have now helped 73 children with the severe form of SMA (Type 1) survive to aged…
Egypt, leading the resolution as part of a four-text package that also covered teleradiology, pharmacovigilance and precision medicine, stressed “the urgency of integrated national responses to strengthen prevention, early detection, acute care, rehabilitation, and long-term support, particularly in low and middle-income countries, where the [stroke] burden continues to rise.” Cold War-era guidelines updated If stroke waited decades for a resolution, the global system for monitoring whether medicines are killing the people taking them has waited longer. The Berlin Wall went up and came down, the Soviet Union dissolved, Russia invaded Ukraine twice – and the WHO’s pharmacovigilance architecture stayed where…
Last updated on May 21, 2026 The Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, overturning Roe v. Wade, returned the decision to restrict or protect abortion to states. In many states, abortion providers and advocates are challenging state abortion bans contending that the bans violate the state constitution or another state law. Additionally, new questions have arisen regarding the intersection of federal and state authority when it impacts access to abortion and contraception. This litigation tracker presents up-to-date information on the ongoing litigation in state and federal courts involving access to contraception and abortion. Use the buttons below to navigate between cases related to: Pregnancy…