Trump Has No Health Plan, He Has the Art of the Health Care Deal
In his first column for the new year, KFF CEO Dr. Drew Altman analyzes President Trump’s “make a deal” approach to health care. He explains that while the president doesn’t have a health reform plan, or even “concepts of a plan,” or a replacement for the ACA, he does have a distinctive set of tactics that features one-off deals with the health care industry that are more like “health policy by transaction.” He writes that the deals “even do some good,” but “don’t change the long-term incentives of the health care companies that participate in the deals,” and a big question is “whether they have staying power.”
How Unaffordable Is Health Care?
In a new column for JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores how unaffordable health care is in the context of the debate over extending enhanced ACA premium tax credits and an upcoming election where affordability will likely be front and center.
The New Federal Vaccine Schedule for Children: What Changed and What Are the Implications?
Changes to the pediatric vaccine schedule announced this week by HHS reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children. This brief looks at implications of these changes for childhood vaccination rates and trust in public health. Learn more →
Plus, more resources on vaccine developments:
- Trump Administration Drops Medicaid Vaccine Reporting Requirements
- The CDC Just Sidelined These Childhood Vaccines. Here’s What They Prevent.
- MAGA and MAHA Parents Are More Likely Than Others To Think the CDC Was Recommending Too Many Childhood Vaccines
New KFF Analysis Examines State-By-State Awards for Rural Health Transformation
Our new policy analysis evaluates state awards through the rural health fund in 2026, the first year of the program. There are relatively modest variations in total awards this year across states but wide variation in how much states will receive per rural resident.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: New Year, Same Health Fight
Congress returned from its break facing a familiar question: whether to extend the expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that expired at the end of 2025. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a promise to Bill Cassidy, the chairman of Senate health committee, by overhauling the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule to reduce the number of diseases for which vaccines will be recommended.
Listen →
Question of the Week
In the last edition of This Week, 55% correctly answered that without enhanced tax credits, average ACA out-of-pocket premium payments will increase by 114% in 2026.
What percentage of parents thought the CDC recommended “too many” childhood vaccines?
See how many readers answered correctly in the next edition of This Week.
Health News
California Ends Medicaid Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs Despite TrumpRx Plan
Solving the Home Care Quandary
Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine
On the Hook for Uninsured Residents, Counties Now Wonder How They’ll Pay
Older Americans Quit Weight-Loss Drugs in Droves
Advertisements Promising Patients a ‘Dream Body’ With Minimal Risk Get Little Scrutiny
More on Health Policy
State-Based Efforts Will Provide Limited Relief from Enhanced Tax Credit Expiration
Policy Changes Bring Renewed Focus on High-Deductible Health Plans
Payment Rates for Medicaid Home Care Ahead of the 2025 Reconciliation Law
Medicaid Home Care (HCBS) in 2025
Medicaid’s Home Care Support for Family Caregivers in 2025
Filling in the Gap in Federal Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood: State
Abortion Trends Before and After Dobbs
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