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On Monday, April 7, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the US District Court for Northern Texas ruled to overturn key elements of a Biden administration rule that established the first-ever minimum staffing ratios for nursing facilities.

This brief identifies time-bound PEPFAR authorities and also provides a detailed side-by-side comparison of PEPFAR’s authorizing legislation over time.

Nearly three in four adults enrolled in Medicaid have one or more chronic conditions. Medicaid spending doubles for adults with 1-2 chronic conditions and quadruples for those with 3 or more chronic conditions. Low or no out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications in the Medicaid program help adults with chronic conditions avoid cost-related rationing or delays in prescription access. Uninsured adults were 2.5 times more likely than Medicaid-enrolled or privately insured adults to report skipping or delaying prescription medications due to cost.

Once Republicans in Congress get specific about Medicaid cuts, it will become more tangible and clearer who will be affected. Changes to the status quo in health care rarely get more popular when the details get filled in.

While enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, has grown steadily over the past decade, traditional Medicare remains the most common source of coverage for people who live in rural areas.

KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare examine market trends contributing to rising health costs and identify several potential federal and state policy issues to watch throughout 2025, including high-cost drugs, federal funding cuts, and workforce shortages.

This Monitor covers how fears about fluoride as a neurotoxin are impacting public health and how trust in food safety is eroding following the USDA’s disbandment of two food safety panels. It also discusses approaches to addressing false information and the accuracy of AI chatbots compared to search engines.

The budget resolution is unusual because it establishes different tracks for reconciliation in each chamber: House committees are instructed to increase deficits by $2.3 trillion, with major cuts to Medicaid; and Senate committees are instructed to increase deficits by what amounts to $5.8 trillion, without clear implications for Medicaid cuts.

The increase translates into an additional $35 billion to Medicare Advantage plans in 2026 compared to this year….The increase in payments is larger than for 2025 (3.7%) or 2024 (3.3%), but below the increase for 2023 (8.5%), and comes at a time of increasing scrutiny over Medicare Advantage payments.