"It remains to be seen if Republican candidates in close races will want to go head-to-head with Democrats on health care, despite Trump’s urging them to do so. They may feel they have other cards to play, and some will not want to highlight decisions they made to cut Medicaid and double people’s ACA premium payments in a general election."

Beyond the Data: The Midterms Lurk Behind Every Health Policy Move Now

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman discusses how midterm political strategy will shape health policy in 2026, focusing on recent moves by President Trump. He writes: “Democrats start out with a significant advantage on health in the midterms, but rather than cut and run to other issues, Trump wants Republicans to try to erode that advantage where they can.”

vaccines

Tracking Polling on Health Information and Trust

KFF’s new interactive polling dashboard draws on more than a dozen surveys to show trends in trust in health information, attitudes toward vaccines, and use of news, social media, and AI for health-related information.

new and noteworthy

Constrained Budgets Lead States to Restrict HIV Drug Access Through Ryan White

This policy watch explores how state Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Programs are responding to constrained budget pressures, including by restricting eligibility and reducing the scope of services offered, actions that could led to negative health outcomes for people with HIV and lead to new HIV infections.

How States Verify Citizenship and Immigration Status in Medicaid

This brief describes federal citizenship and immigration status eligibility and eligibility verification requirements for Medicaid. Eligibility for federally-funded coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program is limited to U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present immigrants.

What Newly Released Medicaid Data Do and Don’t Tell Us

CMS released a dataset with provider-level spending data that the agency suggests could be used to identify unusual billing patterns for specific services, states, or providers. This policy watch describes the data and how they could potentially lead to mistaken conclusions given the data’s limitations.

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