Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., leaves the stage after speaking at a campaign event in Bakersfield, Calif. on Sept. 30, 2026. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
October 22, 2026 • Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao is fighting for reelection in central California. 6 in 10 residents of his district are covered by Medicaid, which he voted to cut last year.
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at a news conference in Detroit on Aug. 19, 2026. "Medicare for All!" has become part of the political chants at his rallies. Paul Sancya/AP hide caption
October 7, 2026 • Midterm candidates are talking up Medicare for All, and in a poll 2 out of 3 Americans said they support it. The phrase speaks to a desire for radical change, though many don't really know what it is.
Public radio reporter Catherine Sweeney, one of the media witnesses, recounts the moments before the execution of Christa Pike was halted last Wednesday, Sept. 30. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Flanking the podium are two photos of Colleen Slemmer, Pike's victim in the 1995 murder. George Walker IV/AP hide caption
October 6, 2026 • Catherine Sweeney was in the witness room when Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30. An attempted execution in May had also failed. Here's what Sweeney saw and heard.
Amye and Charlie Joseph of Elizabethton, Tenn., are on opposite sides politically, but have a shared disdain for pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs. Earl Neikirk/KFF Health News hide caption
October 5, 2026 • Republicans and Democrats, both patients and politicians, seem united in their disdain for the healthcare companies known as pharmacy benefit managers. Tennessee and Arkansas are regulating them now.
The Riverbend Maximum Security Institution is seen Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV/AP hide caption
September 30, 2026 • After a botched lethal injection in May, dozens of Tennessee medical professionals told the governor that healthcare professionals shouldn't help with executions, no matter the method.
Rep. Mary Caferro, a Democrat in the Montana House, spoke at a rally in July at the Montana Capitol in Helena, criticizing the state's expedited rollout of Medicaid work requirements. She's among several Democrats who pushed for the state to delay implementing the rules until the Jan. 1 federal deadline. Aaron Bolton/MTPR hide caption
September 30, 2026 • In most states, people with Medicaid coverage will have to prove they're working, volunteering or studying, starting Jan. 1. But Montana is starting that early, and it's sowing confusion and anxiety.
Volunteers prepare food at Community Servings, a Boston nonprofit that produces medically-tailored meals. Robin Lubbock/WBUR hide caption
September 26, 2026 • Some states deliver meals to Medicaid patients that address their dietary needs. Evidence shows it aids recovery and saves healthcare costs, but federal budget cuts may lead some states to cancel it.
In January, Jeff La Marca got a prescription for the popular weight loss drug Zepbound, but he couldn't afford the $750 monthly price tag. Erica S. Lee/KFF Health News hide caption
August 30, 2026 • Medicare launched a pilot program that could streamline the process to get GLP-1s, with some seniors paying just $50 a month. But many people with the most serious illnesses won't get that discount.
Camp Cranium counselor Anvitha Tharra (right) helps participant Angelica Zander learn to use a bow and arrow. The weeklong event in Pennsylvania's Columbia County provides community, support and fun for children with brain injuries. Sarah Hofius Hall/WVIA News hide caption
August 25, 2026 • A Pennsylvania summer camp helps children who have survived brain injuries. But the future of federal funding for brain injury research, as well as grants to states to help such patients, is in limbo.
Zack Morgan plays keyboard for a number of bands in Austin, Texas. He's been a full-time musician since 2015. Ysa Mendoza/KUT News hide caption
August 23, 2026 • A nonprofit and a local public health agency are subsidizing marketplace health insurance for Austin musicians , even as rising healthcare costs make the program more expensive.
Xavier Becerra campaigns to be governor of California in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo on August 18. He faces Republican Steve Hilton in the race to succeed two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
August 23, 2026 • The nation's uninsured rate hit a historical low when Xavier Becerra was health secretary. Now he wants to be California's next governor as Trump's actions have driven people off health insurance.
Emergency room nurse Crystal Dhooghe speaks during a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on March 17. She is among hundreds of unionized employees at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital who have been on strike since Sept. 1, 2025. Teamsters J.C.43 hide caption
August 19, 2026 • In addition to pay, striking hospital workers say patient violence is an issue. Hospital workers are seven times more likely to be injured at work due to violent acts than the general working population.
Erica Carter of Sioux City, Iowa, says she enjoys her job as a finance manager for the Omaha Nation public school district in Nebraska, working to find grants and opportunities for low-income students. But when she learned her pay was too high for her to remain in an Iowa Medicaid program, Carter had to choose — leave the job or give up her benefits. Natalie Krebs/Iowa Public Radio hide caption
August 10, 2026 • Medicaid will have new work requirements next year. But some people with disabilities, who already work, say they'd like to work more, but risk losing their Medicaid coverage if they earn too much.
A drug user uses a test strip on Aug. 22, 2018, in New York, to see if fentanyl has been added to heroin, which could increase the risk of overdose. Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo hide caption
August 8, 2026 • Drug addiction groups are reeling after Trump officials said federal grants cannot be used to hand out test strips to drug users. The strips help users check street drugs for dangerous adulterants.
Linda Kim, a nurse at the Washtenaw County Health Department in Michigan, has been helping to investigate more than 900 cases of cyclosporiasis locally. Foodborne illnesses are some of the most complex public health investigations, especially with the Cyclospora parasite. That's because symptoms may not appear for up to two weeks after someone's eaten contaminated food. Kate Wells /KFF Health News hide caption
August 1, 2026 • Public health nurses have been pulled from other duties in Washtenaw County, MI, to call hundreds of people sick with cyclosporiasis, and try to help them remember everything they ate in recent days.
Pediatrician John Snyder gives vaccine information to Tenzin Dekey, who had brought her 1-year-old son to Amherst Pediatrics for an annual exam. She accepted the vaccines that Snyder recommended. Karen Brown/New England Public Media hide caption
July 30, 2026 • The Trump administration's upending of years of vaccine advice puts many pediatricians in a quandary. Some are steering patients away from the CDC to other authoritative websites, including their own.
An aerial view of historic row houses in the Riverside neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. Matt Gush/Getty Images hide caption
July 27, 2026 • Baltimore is rethinking what it means to call 911, and who responds. Callers who don't need police will get help finding social services and healthcare before they actually fall into crisis.
A coordinator at the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project in Somerville, Mass. shows the two medications that can be mailed to patients who have received a prescription through a telehealth consultation. Charles Krupa/AP hide caption
June 22, 2026 • States that have banned abortion are suing to stop mailing of abortion pills over state lines. But the telehealth providers say no matter the outcome, they can adapt, and so will their patients.
Morgan Newman, a survivor of cervical cancer, at the Des Moines Public Library last December. Natalie Krebs/Iowa Public Radio hide caption
June 9, 2026 • Due to advancements in treatment and screening, more Americans are surviving cancer. But many are left with lingering mental health challenges like anxiety and depression.
During a measles outbreak this spring in Washtenaw County in Michigan, local health officials worked to contain cases by ramping up contact tracing and testing efforts. People could take a measles test outside the Washtenaw County Health Department offices in Ypsilanti. Kate Wells/KFF Health News hide caption
June 2, 2026 • A decade ago, Michigan had high rates of parents not vaccinating their children, so it required them to attend an in-person education class to get an exemption. It worked — until things got ugly.
People demonstrate outside the courthouse where the sentencing hearing for former nurse RaDonda Vaught was held on May 13, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. Mark Humphrey/AP hide caption
May 24, 2026 • RaDonda Vaught was convicted of negligent homicide after dispensing the wrong drug to a patient. She now gives speeches about hospital safety in an era of automation and artificial intelligence.
Carol Boigon at home in Denver on Jan 13. To combat vaccine misinformation, Carol joined an outreach coalition and is publicly sharing her story about being hospitalized with polio when she was 5. She never recovered full function in her right arm. Kevin J. Beaty/Colorado Public Radio/Denverite hide caption
May 8, 2026 • As state leaders change laws to make vaccines more accessible, a coalition of doctors, public health advocates and everyday Coloradans is trying to start a public conversation about their importance.
