The Affordable Care Act seems to always be in a policy tug-of-war as its backers and critics spar over how it should work and who can qualify for coverage. This year is no different, with the Trump administration embracing standards it says will reduce fraud as well as steps that could further erode national enrollment.

Wide-ranging ACA changes...Read more

The Trump administration has issued final rules on how states should ensure that millions of Medicaid enrollees prove they’re working or completing other activities, such as job training, volunteering, or being enrolled in an educational program.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the rules on June 1. That deadline was set ...Read more

SALT LAKE CITY — Ben Dowse hadn't expected to treat measles when he became a doctor, but there he was, examining a newborn exposed to the virus in the womb. The infected mother had given birth just hours earlier. The hospital had alerted Dowse to the case before delivery, and he'd braced himself for the worst.

Dowse wore a full-body ...Read more

Patients receiving a type of vitamin D lived longer after chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer in a small study run by researchers with the Salk Institute.

Among 36 patients with previously untreated pancreatic cancer that had metastasized or spread, those taking a type of vitamin D called paricalcitol experienced a significant survival boost one...Read more

BOSTON — As the state investigates a possible cancer cluster at a high school, many Herald readers have asked whatever happened with the potential tumor cluster at a local hospital.

Seven current and former nurses in Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s fifth floor maternity wing were diagnosed with brain tumors, the Herald reported last year.

The ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The first case of the measles this year has been reported in Connecticut.

The case involves an unvaccinated adult in Hartford County who tested positive over the weekend, according to Brittany Schaefer, spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health.

The Connecticut resident had left the country “recently” and ...Read more

Jason Miller watched his monthly health insurance premiums quadruple to $374 from $80 for a silver-level plan when the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits ran out in December.

“That’s just not functionally doable,” the married father of four children said about the increase.

Worse, he said, “the coverage you’re paying for is...Read more

Late in her pregnancy in the fall of 2025, Jacqueline, a Guatemalan immigrant living in North Florida, began planning for labor alone.

After her husband was detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she stopped leaving her home except when absolutely necessary. Even routine prenatal visits felt risky, she told the ...Read more

Children with more exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAs, had lower forearm density by age 12 and could face greater fracture risk, researchers found, with girls apparently more vulnerable than boys.

“Adolescence is a key period for building strong bones, and achieving optimal bone mass during this time can reduce lifelong ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- In late April, Joshua Good got a call from a parent at Ephrata Mennonite School: Two of their children had been diagnosed with measles.

Good, who heads the private religious school in Lancaster County, knew he had to act quickly to prevent further spread of the highly contagious disease. But he was not particularly surprised ...Read more

The looming impact of federal Medicaid cuts has reignited a long-simmering, costly battle between California’s medical industry and one of its largest health worker unions.

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, with approximately 120,000 members, has put forward two ballot initiatives to cap the pay of medical executives and require community ...Read more

Having healthy meals at school, during breaks and at childcare/after-school programs sets kids up for success so they can learn, grow and stay active. Healthy meals are an important tool to help children learn, just as much as textbooks and technology. Research shows that school meals are positive influences in kids' health as they ensure that ...Read more

Having a baby in the United States is about to get more complicated.

Under new billing codes that take effect in January, doctors who manage maternity care will start charging à la carte for visits and services related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. It's an about-face from recent years, when doctors have often received a single...Read more

When her son was a teenager, Connecticut mom Amy Wadsworth said, he was the type of kid parents rarely worry about.

He played sports, cared about his health and stayed away from drugs. In 2018, when he left West Hartford to start his freshman year at American University in Washington, D.C., she expected his biggest challenge would be adjusting ...Read more

Jules Netherland traveled from her home in the Bronx to the New York state Capitol in Albany several times in the past few years, hoping to persuade the legislature to pass a medical aid in dying bill, allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives with a lethal prescription.

She spoke at rallies. With other members of the advocacy ...Read more

A reported possible case of hantavirus in an inmate at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in California was determined to be a false positive after further laboratory testing, officials said Friday.

Authorities investigating a potential case of the rare-but-deadly disease initially sent a sample from an inmate to a commercial lab for ...Read more

Officials are investigating a potential case of hantavirus, a rare but deadly disease that attacks the lungs, in an inmate at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County, California.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which manages the state’s prison system, “is waiting for more lab test results for an ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has joined a chorus of California hospitals and health systems lobbying the state for a $500-million emergency payment to public hospitals bracing for massive financial losses.

The California Assn. of Public Hospitals and Health Systems is requesting a one-time general fund ...Read more

Authorities are unable to determine the true extent of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo because emergency workers can’t find all the missing contacts of patients infected by the virus, Africa’s top health official said.

Congo reported 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths as of June 10, the National Institute of Public ...Read more

President Donald Trump, who once declared he had “saved” flavored vapes, grew his stock holdings this year to as much as $1.64 million in tobacco giant Philip Morris.

He also had holdings in Altria and a third leading tobacco company, though an apparent discrepancy in his disclosures clouds the extent of his investments. In 2025, tobacco ...Read more