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Democrats’ election rout is poised to dramatically reorder federal health policy
Stephanie Armour and Amanda Seitz, KFF Health News, Nov. 4
Democrats’ victories in the midterm elections are expected to reshape the direction of federal health policy. Among their likely efforts are oversight investigations, a legislative push to reverse cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid and a focus on lowering costs. However, party leaders will need buy-in from President Donald Trump to advance any health care agenda. Experts say they will need to find a way to work together to address one of voters’ top concerns: health care affordability. “This is the third-straight election that’s really been focused on affordability,” said Matt Hogan, a partner at polling firm Impact Research. “If members of Congress haven’t got the message yet, I expect them to now.”
‘Medically frail’ Medicaid enrollees won’t have to prove their inability to work to keep coverage
Shalina Chatlani, Stateline, Oct. 29
Medicaid recipients who are disabled or have a chronic illness will not have to prove they are unable to work to be exempted from new work rules that take effect on Jan. 1, a federal judge ruled. The decision grants a partial victory to 25 Democratic-led states, including Connecticut, that sued the Trump administration arguing that its new “medically frail” designation was too narrow. The decision also granted some concessions to the administration, by allowing the new work requirements included in the federal law known as the One Big Beautiful Big Act to remain in place.
Stuck in shelters for months, some migrant children abandon hopes of staying in US
Claudia Boyd-Barrett and Renuka Rayasam, KFF Health News, Nov. 4
A 9-year-old girl from El Salvador spent months in a government-run shelter for migrant children. Her attorney says she became distraught, begged to leave, was getting nosebleeds, and believed she had an infection. She is among almost 1,900 children being held at shelters overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. According to families, lawyers, and advocates, the current administration has used the office to aid in its deportation campaign, keeping children in shelters rather than reuniting them with family in the United States, and often using them to ensnare family members.
How ICE arrests are affecting families and children in CT
Ayannah Brown and Daniela Doncel, Connecticut Public Radio, Oct. 22
About 205,000 children, including 145,000 who are U.S. citizens, have been affected by the detention of a parent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first 15 months of the Trump administration. In Connecticut, ICE apprehensions were higher in 2025 than in 2024. Children who experience family separation can experience impacts to their mental health, including anxiety and depression about the well-being of their family members. “This is not healthy for any community,” said Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center. “This is not healthy for any individual, any family unit, for any city, for any state, for this nation.”
She spent over a decade in pain from endometriosis. Connecticut researchers aim to narrow gaps
Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, CT Insider, Nov. 1
Shakita Thomas Kpetay experienced severe pain and felt dismissed by doctors for years before finally receiving an endometriosis diagnosis in 2020. Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition in which tissue grows outside the uterus and forms lesions. It affects more than the reproductive system, but symptoms can often be dismissed as typical period pain, particularly for women of color. Black women are less likely than white women to be diagnosed and there are misconceptions that the condition is less common among Black women. Researchers in Connecticut said available research generally focuses on white women. They are working to expand the samples they study to come from a more diverse population.