Half of the $50 billion fund will be evenly distributed to states without accounting for factors like population size. In fact, this means that some of them—such as Wyoming and North Dakota—may receive more from the rural health fund than they lose in federal Medicaid funding. On the flip side, the $50 billion fund would leave other states—such as Kentucky, Washington, and Oregon—in the red. Wyoming is in an enviable position, potentially receiving stands to cover 1,453% of what the state loses in Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, Kentucky is expected to lose $5.4 billion through the cuts and gain only $1.9 billion from the fund, covering just 36% of the state's losses. Coincidentally, the states that stand to gain the most from this half of the rural health fund's distribution are governed by Republicans, and the states that stand to lose the most are not.
Delayed treatments, canceled doctor visits, skipped prescriptions. Losing insurance is bad for your health. The CBO forecasts that the U.S. uninsured population will grow by 10 million in 2034, due to the tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump. And, thanks to a natural experiment nearly two decades ago, researchers can forecast what that will mean for patient care.
After a year that has seen its share price collapse by more than 50%, UnitedHealth Group has swapped out its chief financial officer. Wayne DeVeydt will take over as CFO of UnitedHealth effective Sept. 2. He replaces John Rex, who has been in the role since 2016.
President Trump sent letters Thursday to 17 of the world's largest drug companies, telling them to take more steps to slash the prices of prescription drugs to match the lowest price in certain foreign countries. The letters represent an escalation of the administration's push for lower drug prices by launching a 'most favored nation' model, which ties the prices of prescription medicines in the U.S. to the lowest found among comparably wealthy nations.
Fitch Ratings has revised UnitedHealth Group's outlook to negative from stable while affirming the insurer financial strength ratings of its subsidiaries at 'AA-'. The rating agency maintained UnitedHealth's long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured notes at 'A', along with United HealthCare Services, Inc.'s issuer default rating at 'A'. The outlook change follows UnitedHealth's second quarter earnings call on Tuesday, where the company provided guidance indicating significantly reduced operating performance for the remainder of 2025. This performance decline suggests the company will meet its financial leverage downgrade sensitivities for the year, with only a partial recovery expected in 2026.
Nursing homes will see a 3.2% increase in their Medicare Part A payments next fiscal year, CMS announced late Thursday. That's a jump from a pay rule proposed in April, in which CMS proposed a 2.8% increase for fiscal 2026. The final rate amounts to an increase in SNF PPS payments of $1.16 billion over fiscal 2025, CMS said. It is based on final SNF market basket of 3.3%, plus a 0.6% market basket forecast error adjustment, and a negative 0.7% productivity adjustment.