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Amid debates about proposed cuts to federal Medicaid spending, this brief analyzes key characteristics of children with special health care needs and explores how Medicaid provides them with coverage.
A new KFF analysis examines a range of measures that may make it harder for states to respond to possible federal Medicaid cuts and finds that six states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia) rank in the top five for multiple risk categories. Across four broad categories of measures that could affect demand for Medicaid and states’ abilities to raise revenue or reduce spending—population demographic characteristics, health status of Medicaid enrollees, available revenue and state budget choices, and health care costs and access to care—KFF finds that 15 states rank in the top five for at least one category of risk factors.
The Southeast region of the U.S. is particularly vulnerable to severe tropical storms due to climate change, and its persistently high poverty rates inhibit residents’ ability to prepare for and recover from storms. Many of the states in the Southeast have not implemented the ACA Medicaid expansion, leaving lower income residents with more limited access to health care, which may lead to challenges addressing their health needs.
On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion on Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, ruling that the ACA requirement that most private insurers and Medicaid expansion programs cover preventive services recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with no cost-sharing is constitutional.
This brief reviews new data from the May 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll on LGBT adult’s experiences and concerns related to health care affordability. Overall, the findings show that LGBT adults face more widespread problems and concerns with health care affordability compared to non-LGBT adults.
Changes related to Medicaid could have major consequences for health coverage of women with low incomes as well as pregnancy, postpartum and other reproductive health care for women. Here are the top five things to know about women and Medicaid ahead of the election.
Young adults, particularly those ages 18-25, are more likely to be covered as dependents than adults overall (72% vs. 32%). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most employer plans to allow young adults to remain on a parent’s plan until age 26.
Many physicians fear criminalization if state authorities challenge whether their patients qualify under the narrow and vague exceptions in state bans.
This issue brief draws from the KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants and other KFF analyses to highlight immigrants’ health care eligibility, healthcare use and costs, as well as their contributions to the economy and workforce.
This brief provides background on public charge, describes the 2019 policy changes and their chilling effects, and reviews provisions of the 2022 public charge rule and its implications for immigrants' access to health care.
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