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News for families planning care
Updates on care costs, Medicare and Medicaid, and aging policy, gathered from sources we trust. Every headline links to the original publisher — we don't write the news, and nothing here is sponsored.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
A Look at 1115 Waiver Evaluations for Medicaid Payments to Institutions of Mental Disease (IMD) for Substance Use Disorder (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
As SUD IMD waiver evaluations and renewals are becoming available, states face a shifting Medicaid and policy and waiver landscape. This brief examines findings from the first available summative evaluations for SUD IMD waivers and what they show about progress toward meeting goals and milestones.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Medicaid and the Road Ahead: Spending Cuts, Work Requirements and What's Next for States, Providers and Families (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
On Thursday, July 23 at 12 p.m. ET/ 9 am PT, join KFF and States Newsroom for an event focused on the impacts of work requirements and other federal policy changes on states, health care systems, and the people who rely on Medicaid.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Who Are Direct Care Workers and How Might Federal Policy Changes Impact the Workforce? (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
This analysis uses the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) to provide an overview of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the direct care workforce, including home health aides, personal care aides, and nursing assistants who work in nursing facilities, residential care facilities, home…
- KFF — Medicare policyPolicy
The Trump Administration Continues to Advance Incremental Site-Neutral Payment Reforms (opens KFF — Medicare policy in a new tab)
The Administration’s proposed changes for certain imaging services would further advance site-neutral payment reform but, like prior changes, are modest relative to more expansive options raised by MedPAC and others.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Medical Frailty and Medicaid Work Requirements: Challenges for People with HIV (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
This analysis examines Medicaid work requirements and the implementation of medical frailty exclusions for people with HIV in light of CMS's implementing regulation.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
How Has Projected Medicaid Spending and Enrollment Changed Since Passage of the 2025 Reconciliation Law? (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
CBO’s latest projections of Medicaid spending and enrollment from February 2026 show how enrollment and spending are expected to change over the next decade, accounting for the historic policy changes and their expected reductions in future federal Medicaid spending, as well as other economic and te…
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Medicaid/CHIP Monthly Enrollment Tracker (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
This tracker presents the most recent Medicaid monthly enrollment data.
- KFF — Medicare policyPolicy
Decoding Medicare Advantage Coding Intensity (opens KFF — Medicare policy in a new tab)
Federal payments to Medicare Advantage plans, and adjustments for health status, have come under increased scrutiny. This brief answers key questions about coding intensity, recent steps taken by CMS, the effects on beneficiaries, and other proposals to improve payment accuracy.
- KFF — Medicare policyPolicy
Medicare Will Spend More Than $13 Billion on the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program in 2026 (opens KFF — Medicare policy in a new tab)
The Medicare program will spend at least $13 billion on the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program in 2026, as 68% of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in a plan that qualifies for higher payments under the program.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
States Sue CMS Over Medicaid Work Requirements Rule, Citing Departure from Earlier Guidance on Medical Frailty (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
Less than a month after CMS released its interim final rule on Medicaid work requirements, 24 states, including DC, sued the Trump administration over its interpretation of the 2025 reconciliation law’s requirements — including most notably the medical frailty exemption.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law Medicaid Work Requirements: Related Resources (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
KFF resources on the Medicaid work requirements in the 2025 Reconcilation law.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law Medicaid Work Requirements: 1115-waivers (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
State-by-state information on Medicaid 1115 work requirement waivers.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law: Medicaid Work Requirements Implementation Questions (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
A list of the implementation questions relating to the Medicaid work requirements in the 2025 Reconciliation law.
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law: Medicaid Work Requirements (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
KFF's interactive tracks key data and policies that will affect how states implement Medicaid work requirements, which are required under the 2025 budget reconciliation law starting in January 2027. The tracker includes state-level data on Medicaid enrollment and renewal outcomes as well as current…
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law: Medicaid Work Requirements Data and Policies (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
Detailed state and national data related to the 2025 Reconciliation Law Medicaid Work Requirements
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
Medicaid Program Integrity: Tracking State-Specific and Nationwide Federal Action (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
This page tracks emerging developments in the federal government’s approach to Medicaid program integrity, along with the implications of those actions for different states.
- Justice in AgingPolicy
Justice in Aging Comment for House Committee on Ways & Means Joint Subcommittee June 10, 2026 Hearing (opens Justice in Aging in a new tab)
The post Justice in Aging Comment for House Committee on Ways & Means Joint Subcommittee June 10, 2026 Hearing appeared first on Justice in Aging .
- Justice in AgingPolicy
New DOJ Guidance Threatens Community Integration (opens Justice in Aging in a new tab)
Long-standing disability rights protections are under threat. Learn how new DOJ guidance could impact community living, disability rights, and access to essential services and supports. The post New DOJ Guidance Threatens Community Integration appeared first on Justice in Aging .
- KFF — Medicaid policyPolicy
In 30 of the States Implementing Medicaid Work Requirements, Governors Are on the Ballot in November (opens KFF — Medicaid policy in a new tab)
A majority of states subject to new Medicaid work requirements — 30 of 44 — will hold gubernatorial elections this November, and leadership transitions, particularly those involving a change in party, could complicate state implementation of work requirements.
- KFF — Medicare policyPolicy
How Medicare Advantage Rebates Disadvantage Medicare’s Stand-Alone Drug Plan Market (opens KFF — Medicare policy in a new tab)
The private plans that offer the Medicare Part D benefit - stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage drug plans - are increasingly are competing on uneven terms, in part because the payment system for Medicare Advantage plans enables them to lower Part D premiums or reduce Part D cost sharing, m…
- KFF Health News — AgingPolicy
By September, Nearly a Third of Americans Will Live in States With Legal Aid in Dying (opens KFF Health News — Aging in a new tab)
Despite widespread support in polls for legalizing aid in dying, the number of people who go through with the practice remains very small.