KFF

What happened in health policy in 2024, and what should we expect in 2025? KFF President and CEO Drew Altman and KFF Health News #WhatTheHealth host Julie Rovner discuss on the last episode of the year. 🎧 Listen here: https://on.kff.org/402ELD2

In our latest Health Misinformation Monitor, we explore: • Politicized narratives linking vaccines to autism; • Misleading claims about the benefits of raw milk; and • How trust and perceived expertise influence misinformation and AI’s role in spreading false mental health information. Read this week’s edition:

Last month, voters approved constitutional amendments that enshrined the right to abortion in 6 states (reversing abortion bans restrictions in Arizona and Missouri). In our new brief, KFF colleagues Mabel Felix, Laurie Sobel and explain what that means for abortion access in those states and what to look for next.

Following the passage of abortion rights measures in some states, we examine what’s ahead for state abortion ballot initiatives and restrictions. Our new brief explores: - The future of abortion access in states that approved abortion rights; - How 2024 abortion initiatives may affect states that didn’t previously have bans; and - The limited potential role of ballot initiatives to address abortion access in remaining states in future elections.

In a new column, KFF President and CEO Drew examines the data and history around adding work requirements to Medicaid and why the administrative burdens it imposes may offset any savings — even for states that ideologically favor such an approach.

The future of U.S. health policy is poised for significant changes. A new KFF guide explores over 40 potential administrative actions in 11 categories once President-elect Trump takes office. Affordable Care Act (ACA): Changes to Marketplace enrollment processes, potential funding cuts to consumer assistance, and possible re-issuance of abortion coverage segregation rules. Abortion Access: Revisions to mifepristone approval, enforcement of the Comstock Act, and changes to HIPAA regulations regarding abortion privacy. Contraception: Reinstating limitations to the Title X program and potential changes to contraceptive coverage regulations. Medicaid: Policy shifts on enrollment processes, work requirements, and changes to Medicaid managed care rules. Immigration & Health: Potential DACA elimination and reinstating public charge policies, and other changes impacting immigrant health access. LGBTQ Health Policy: Removing LGBTQ protections under the ACA and limiting gender affirming care. Racial Health Equity & DEI Initiatives: The rollback of equity-focused health programs and the introduction of anti-DEI initiatives. Global Health: Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, ceasing U.S. engagement in pandemic treaty negotiations, and withdrawing from WHO funding and membership. Prescription Drugs: Reinstating executive orders to bolster U.S. manufacturing of essential medicines and combat drug shortages. Fentanyl: Imposing tariffs on Mexico, China, and Canada to curb fentanyl importation and increasing domestic law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking. Long-Term Care: Relaxing regulations governing nursing facilities, including staffing and psychotropic drug limitations. 📚 Learn more about these and other potential policy moves and the possible impacts on health care in the U.S. and globally. Read here: https://lnkd.in/g7hJTfHp

KFF President and CEO Drew Altman writes that some aspects of mental health might present an opportunity for bipartisan agreement in the new Congress. 🔗: https://on.kff.org/3ZKwzqP

What’s the federal role in water fluoridation? While the federal government doesn’t have legal authority to require state and local communities to fluoridate their water, nor to remove fluoridation in areas where it is already policy, it can influence policy and practice through its recommendations and by setting limits on maximum levels of fluoride in the water. Learn more in our latest analysis:

How can we tackle misinformation, systemic disparities, and biases in healthcare? In our latest Health Misinformation Monitor, we explore: • The latest research on the role of news influencers spreading misinformation to younger and polarized audiences. • Misleading narratives about harm reduction amid disparities in opioid overdose rates affecting Black and Indigenous Americans. Read this week’s edition:

In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explores people’s challenges accessing and affording needed mental health care and the potential for bipartisan agreement to address aspects of the problem, including suicide prevention, support for families facing a crisis, and addressing prior authorization hurdles.