healthcare
12 briefs
Moderate Republicans Block Medicaid Cuts, for Now
Vulnerable GOP senators blocked the third reconciliation bill over Medicaid fear, but the cuts already signed into law via H.R. 1 are hitting millions of Americans right now.
900 Health Facilities Are At Risk of Closing. States Are Trying to Fill a Hole They Cannot Fill.
The One Big Beautiful Bill cut $911 billion from Medicaid over ten years. The rural health fund it created to compensate is $50 billion over five years. The math does not balance.
Nebraska Just Started Kicking People Off Medicaid for Not Working. The Federal Government Won't Track What Happens Next.
The biggest change to Medicaid since the ACA is rolling out state by state, with no federal reporting requirement, definitions that aren't finalized, and a January 2027 deadline that 43 states have to hit without knowing the rules.
The Medicaid Clock: Eight Months to Build What Arkansas Couldn't in Three Years
H.R. 1 mandated Medicaid work requirements effective January 1, 2027. States have less than 18 months to build the verification infrastructure. Nebraska starts first in May. The evidence from every prior work requirement program shows the same outcome: eligible people lose coverage, employment doesn't increase.
RFK Jr. Told the Senate He Is Not Cutting Medicaid. His Budget Cuts $15.8 Billion From HHS.
While RFK Jr. testified that he was not reducing Medicaid coverage, his own 2027 budget proposal would impose new eligibility restrictions, eliminate payments to family caregivers, and defund programs used disproportionately by disabled children and rural hospitals.
Trump Got All 17 Pharma Companies to Say Yes. Now the Hard Part Starts.
Every major drug company has signed a most-favored-nation pledge. None of it is enforceable, and the tariff relief that made it happen just created a new exemption class.
42,000 UC Workers Are Preparing to Strike. The University's 'Historic' Offer Is Arithmetically Dishonest.
The University of California touted a 32.3 percent wage increase. The actual raise, after accounting for the healthcare premium hike it imposed without bargaining, is negative for many workers.
Fraud Is the Pretext. The Map Tells You the Truth.
Trump says he's cracking down on Medicaid fraud. The enforcement actions are concentrated in blue states. Minnesota fixed the problem CMS cited and lost the funding anyway. The pattern is not about fraud.
446 Hospitals Facing Closure Didn't Vote for This
The One Big Beautiful Bill's Medicaid work requirements kick in January 2027. A new analysis finds 446 hospitals in 44 states face elevated closure risk. The cuts are not designed to fix Medicaid. They are designed to end it.
446 Hospitals Are Now at High Risk of Closing. Most Are in Trump Country.
A new Public Citizen analysis names 446 hospitals across 44 states at heightened risk of closure after the Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The hospitals most exposed are rural, and the counties they serve voted heavily for Trump.
Two Drug Prices at Once
Trump is simultaneously threatening 100% tariffs on brand-name drugs that do not cut prices and expanding Medicare's power to negotiate drug prices downward. These are opposite levers. One of them is a bluff.
States Are Already Cutting Medicaid. Congress Hasn't Even Voted Yet.
Missouri, Montana, Virginia, and other states are preemptively eliminating Medicaid services — doula care, psychiatric units, dental coverage — in anticipation of federal cuts that have not yet been enacted. The cuts are happening twice: once in advance, and once when the bill passes.