The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll examines the views and experiences of the groups that could be most directly impacted by the impending legislation. Most of the public is worried about the consequences of significant reductions in federal Medicaid spending, including among many groups that would be directly impacted by the cuts. Partisanship drives these attitudes to a certain extent, but about two-thirds or more of Republicans enrolled in Medicaid and those with lower incomes are worried that Medicaid spending reductions would hurt their families and their communities.
Humana has told congressional staffers that it will support moves that would curtail billing practices worth billions in extra payments to the industry. The stance by a leader in the Medicare Advantage business represents an important development in a growing debate over how the companies are paid in the $460 billion program. Humana has told congressional staffers that it is willing to back new limits on lucrative payments insurers can gain from diagnoses recorded by nurse practitioners who visit millions of enrollees in their homes. After the Journal published this article Thursday, UnitedHealth Group, posted a statement saying that it too would support a new limit on the use of diagnoses from home visits. A Wall Street Journal investigation found home visits generated $15 billion in revenue for Medicare insurers over three years.
Diary entries written by Luigi Mangione reveal the now 27-year-old's detailed thinking before the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, a new court filing shows. A red notebook was recovered by police at the time of his December 9 arrest at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In diary writings contained in that notebook, Mangione vents about his frustrations with the health insurance industry and his intent to carry out an attack. The entries also shed light on Mangione's focus on the court of public opinion and how he intended to gain widespread support through the alleged killing.
Seven UPMC hospitals are among 47 Pennsylvania medical centers that are threatened financially by cuts to Medicaid being weighed by the U.S. Senate, a new study found.
The program that allows veterans to see private doctors using Department of Veterans Affairs funding would get a 50% boost under a spending plan released by House Republicans on Wednesday. Overall, the House Appropriations Committee's fiscal 2026 VA spending bill would give the department about $453 billion -- a whopping $83 billion more than Congress approved for the department for this year.
Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra blasted the Trump administration’s handling of public health since taking office, warning that its actions are a precursor of "how public health collapses." Writing on the social media platform X, Becerra, who's running for California governor, said, "I've held back. Gave this administration a chance to settle in. But after this MAHA report fiasco, the vaccine rollbacks, and the silencing of public health experts—I'm done holding back. We have an obligation to speak up. And I will."