domingo, 1 de febrero de 2026
Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 53 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2024 Authors: Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Nolan Sroczynski, Meredith Freed, and Tricia Neuman Published: Jan 28, 2026
https://www.kff.org/medicare/medicare-advantage-insurers-made-nearly-53-million-prior-authorization-determinations-in-2024/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--8O3JY4nMLdT5R-CDDlM-c-bzIMOaTQzshykosLE1dQCkxCzmFyLfR7BawlYvuPxrEMwdVjMsfA8eope-h7-cNOEs7fA&_hsmi=401271096&utm_content=401271096&utm_source=hs_email
Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 53 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2024
Nearly 53 million prior authorization requests were submitted to Medicare Advantage insurers on behalf of Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2024, of which 4.1 million (7.7%) were denied. Just 11.5% of denied requests were appealed, though 80.7% of appeals overturned the initial denial in Medicare Advantage. Substantially fewer prior authorization requests were made in traditional Medicare, reflecting the small number of services subject to prior authorization requirements.
The Trump Administration’s Latest Expansion of the Mexico City Policy: A Funding Analysis Authors: Kellie Moss, Jennifer Kates, Anna Rouw, and Stephanie Oum Published: Jan 28, 2026
https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/the-trump-administrations-latest-expansion-of-the-mexico-city-policy-a-funding-analysis/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_7Y4wgwkNpbdXZjyBJAtl6YSlnuK4wN-ENirRY6HLgPm1dIiVMwAILMAFyflw24MllzvRjx1YYug7dxpvKLCCW9uOjtQ&_hsmi=401271096&utm_content=401271096&utm_source=hs_email
The Trump Administration’s Latest Expansion of the Mexico City Policy
KFF explores the potential reach of the latest expansion of the Mexico City Policy (MCP) in a new analysis, and discussed the latest developments and what they mean for global health programs in a virtual event.
https://www.kff.org/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--HAUIqvE9h1qwlabw-pFzK3e7_moJ8HzRCelm3znjeJgsgSj6gdjHTghWcSzSlwIoOjyOlsRzov0lFBqo85Q08f8sajQ&_hsmi=401271096&utm_content=401271096&utm_source=hs_email
KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms Authors: Shannon Schumacher, Audrey Kearney, Mardet Mulugeta, Isabelle Valdes, Ashley Kirzinger, and Liz Hamel Published: Jan 29, 2026
https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-health-tracking-poll-health-care-costs-expiring-aca-tax-credits-and-the-2026-midterms/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--3xrMX0dxtswt9Wx0QOT5wtqHvI0A81qnwtMkVr_aXXRQN9z6S5tf78PuR_7NS_VM7eZb1C6D9JQhDhx8Zh3nBckrCWA&_hsmi=401271096&utm_content=401271096&utm_source=hs_email
More Than 4 in 10 Voters Say the Cost of Health Care Will Have a Major Impact on Their Vote
Looking ahead to the midterm elections, health care costs are the public’s top economic concern, and many voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, our new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. On health care issues, including the cost of health care, voters currently trust Democrats more than Republicans, though neither party has an advantage on addressing the overall cost of living. Following the expiration of the ACA enhanced tax credits, two-thirds of the public say Congress did the “wrong thing” by not extending them.
Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs Author: Drew Altman Published: Jan 28, 2026
https://www.kff.org/from-drew-altman/our-darwinian-approach-to-health-care-costs/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_wP0R7p70P6mEbV0SG_if1jbaRahZnT2n6om9U9SDHzbnM4gQpN9GzMD7srJ01_oq_SkNH4uYxjGZGV7J7mKnsch3Oag&_hsmi=401271096&utm_content=401271096&utm_source=hs_email
President Trump is now railing about insurance company premiums. The Ways and Means Committee and Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee in the House just held hearings putting insurance company executives on the hot seat and examining a broad range of health cost issues. Politically, it’s an effort to shift accountability for affordability worries from Republicans to tried-and-true villains (insurance companies and drug companies), and blunt Democratic attacks to come in the midterms on affordability issues. It also helps to put health care costs back in the spotlight. What it doesn’t really do is put the costs that matter most in focus: spending for hospitals and doctors, which together represent 52% of the health care bill. With the exception of the occasional piece of legislation affecting them, such as site neutral payment for some hospital services, they have mostly been basking on the sidelines while drug companies (retail drugs are 9% of spending), and now insurance companies, take it on the chin.
Slashing of funding for mRNA vaccine development raises concern ByTodd Datz
https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/slashing-of-funding-for-mrna-vaccine-development-raises-concern/?utm_campaign=KHN%20-%20Weekly%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9ANIvh-tx0dm-SVaywf73jNLTZD00xqi5PsVOUacGa46eqm9eCHUtrG1NaoLhgWiQmupvukhLkpL3a9IrgeHZ9htmbIQ&_hsmi=401263459&utm_content=401263459&utm_source=hs_email
I’m Stephanie Armour, a KFF Health News senior correspondent in Washington, D.C., covering health policy and the people behind it. Send tips to sarmour@kff.org.
By Stephanie Armour
More than two years since the official end of the covid pandemic, a growing body of research continues to reveal information about the virus and its ability to cause harm long after initial infections resolve. The findings raise fresh concerns about the Trump administration’s decision to reduce recommendations about who should get covid vaccines and halt funding for the development of more-protective shots.
Covid, for instance, is now linked in studies to possible autism in children of mothers who were infected during pregnancy, as well as a decline in mental cognition and greater risk of heart problems. It’s even been shown to trigger the awakening of dormant cancer cells in people who are in remission.
Policies around covid and vaccination have economic ramifications. The annual average burden of the disease’s long-term health effects is estimated at $9,000 per patient in the U.S., according to a report published in November in the journal NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine. In this country, the annual lost earnings are estimated to be about $170 billion.
The virus that causes covid, SARS-CoV-2, leaves damage that can linger for months and sometimes years. In the brain, the virus leads to an immune response that triggers inflammation, can damage brain cells, and can even shrink brain volume, according to research on imaging studies published in March 2022 in the journal Nature.
Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist who has studied longer-term health effects from covid, estimated the virus may have increased the number of adults in the U.S. with an IQ less than 70 from 4.7 million to 7.5 million — a jump of 2.8 million adults dealing with “a level of cognitive impairment that requires significant societal support,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, data from more than a dozen studies suggests covid vaccines can help reduce risk of severe infection as well as longer-lasting health effects, although researchers say more study is needed. But last May, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on X that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would stop recommending covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, citing a lack of clinical data. The FDA has since issued new guidelines limiting the vaccines to people 65 and older and individuals 6 months or older with at least one risk factor, though many states continue to make them more widely available.
Economic burden of long COVID: macroeconomic, cost-of-illness and microeconomic impacts
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12639003/?utm_campaign=KHN%20-%20Weekly%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--NKZAUpDA029NSnlQHI_V--Ok0nX4MnzWzHXkntpu4_NqBQJV9iCC2zYyxBq5E0FgXmYlNqB1ZLrvKiEwGC2HJXfZVJQ&_hsmi=401263459&utm_content=401263459&utm_source=hs_email
Long COVID, defined by symptoms persisting three months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection, presents a significant global health and economic challenge, with global prevalence estimated at 36% (ranging from 1–92%). This brief communication consolidates current knowledge on its economic impacts, including macroeconomic, cost-of-illness, and microeconomic impacts, which are estimated at an average annual burden of $1 trillion globally and $9000 per patient in the USA, with some individuals covering substantial out-of-pocket expenses. Annual lost earnings in the USA alone are estimated at approximately $170 billion. Long COVID was associated with increased unemployment, financial distress, and work impairment for up to three years post-infection. This paper highlights discrepancies in impact estimation methodologies and calls for standardised metrics especially in emerging economies. Key research gaps include the absence of comprehensive longitudinal studies on individual and aggregated economic burden, specific long COVID phenotypes and biomarkers, and cost-effectiveness evaluations of interventions.
RFK Jr. Makes False Claims about Covid Deaths, Vaccine Safety at Senate Hearing
https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/rfk-jr-makes-false-claims-about-covid-deaths-vaccine-safety-senate-hearing?utm_campaign=KHN%20-%20Weekly%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--9W5XadfyOU4FAB4WPJSGME5Zyorfigptqxkx7GYGTRnixCtjQe3M9leBzeOmDpqEruWaGVjBXCNemxuff35T94UG-7A&_hsmi=401263459&utm_content=401263459&utm_source=hs_email
On September 4, 2025, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., made several false or misleading statements during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, including claiming that “there’s no clinical data” to support Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy people and that “nobody knows” how many Americans have died from Covid.
A Closer Look at Nebraska, the First State Planning to Implement a Medicaid Work Requirement Authors: Amaya Diana and Anna Mudumala Published: Jan 30, 2026
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-closer-look-at-nebraska-the-first-state-planning-to-implement-a-medicaid-work-requirement/
In December, Nebraska was the first state to announce that it would be enforcing Medicaid work requirements early, starting May 1, 2026. The 2025 reconciliation law requires states to condition Medicaid eligibility for adults in the ACA Medicaid expansion group and enrollees in partial expansion waiver programs (Georgia and Wisconsin) on meeting work requirements starting January 1, 2027; however, states have the option to implement requirements sooner through a state plan amendment or through an approved 1115 waiver. Implementing work requirements will require complex changes to eligibility and enrollment...
Recent Trends in GLP-1 Use and Spending in Medicare Author: Juliette Cubanski Published: Jan 30, 2026
https://www.kff.org/medicare/recent-trends-in-glp-1-use-and-spending-in-medicare/
Ahead of the Trump administration’s planned expansion of Medicare coverage for GLP-1s to treat obesity through temporary models and the availability of Medicare’s negotiated price for certain GLP-1 products beginning in 2027, new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that use and spending for these drugs under Medicare has grown substantially in recent years, reflecting their demonstrated effectiveness at treating type 2 diabetes and other conditions. Medicare currently covers GLP-1s for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and sleep apnea, but coverage for weight loss drugs is prohibited by law, even as GLP-1s have proved to be highly effective for this purpose (and even cost-effective, according to a recent analysis).
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