News

Sisters Carrie and Kristy Madden, who have muscular dystrophy, rely on California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) - a self-direction program that allows them to hire and manage their own caregivers. They employ Gigi and Felix Valbuena for essential daily tasks like bathing, dressing, and cooking. The article highlights how IHSS enabled paid family caregiving when Carrie initially hired their mother as her caregiver. Now facing $1 trillion in federal Medicaid cuts, the sisters fear losing the independence that IHSS provides.

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This summer marks the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, the twin government programs that have shaped the health care system into what it is today. In this special episode, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews two experts on the history, significance, and future of these programs: Medicare historian and University of North Carolina professor Jonathan Oberlander and George Washington University professor emerita Sara Rosenbaum, who has studied Medicaid since nearly its beginning and has helped shape Medicaid policy over the past four decades.

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The National Association of Medicaid Directors released a timeline outlining key Medicaid policy changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that require immediate state planning. The resource highlights provisions with the greatest operational impact, requiring new systems, budgetary processes, or federal CMS approvals well before effective dates. It emphasizes upcoming deadlines where states must make critical implementation decisions now, though it's not a comprehensive list of all OBBBA policies.

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A new report from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving reveals 63 million Americans now provide unpaid caregiving, a 45% jump from a decade ago, with many facing financial hardship and health challenges.

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With the passage of the big Republican tax and spending bill, the federal government is poised to reduce support for Medicaid and the insurance marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that these cuts could cause 10 million Americans to lose health insurance by 2034. Lawmakers have justified these cuts as a necessary step to address the bigger budget deficit exacerbated by tax cuts and other spending increases in the big bill. However, that doesn't capture how these cuts will send costs spilling out around society, to be paid by hospitals, clinics, individuals and then in the end, back to the federal government. 

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 The Social Security Administration (SSA) has recently added 13 new conditions to its Compassionate Allowances (CAL) list, which will enable more people to access disability benefits more quickly. The list fast tracks help for people with the most severe health problems. people who have conditions on the list are prioritized the application approval process so they can receive benefits as soon as possible.

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Advocates are concerned after a White House order calls for greater reliance on institutionalization threatens decades of precedent on disability rights.  The specific order addresses homelessness, but advocates fear that this could have implications for people with disabilities more broadly 

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President Trump signed an executive order that would make it easier for states to remove unhoused people from streets. This comes after the bill slashing funding to Medicaid and food assistance programs was signed in early July. The reality is that all of these changes will effect people with disabilities at the same time as many people rely on these programs and find themselves in difficult situations.

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