To get these headlines delivered to your inbox every week, sign up for our weekly health news roundup.
‘A Fear Pandemic’: Immigration Raids Push Patients Into Telehealth
Christine Mai-Duc, KFF Health News, Aug. 14
Patients in need of care are increasingly scared to seek it after President Trump rescinded a Biden-era policy that barred immigration officials from conducting operations in “sensitive” areas such as schools, hospitals, and churches. Clinics and health plans have ramped up the use of telehealth to care for patients scared to leave the house. At St. John’s Community Health clinics in the Los Angeles area, virtual visits have skyrocketed from roughly 8% of appointments to about 25%. The organization is also registering patients for in-home health visits, a service funded by private donors, and has trained employees how to read a warrant. Federal agents recently tried to gain access to patients at a mobile clinic, according to the organization’s CEO.
Health care groups aim to counter growing ‘national scandal’ of elder homelessness
Felice J. Freyer, KFF Health News, Aug. 18
As housing costs rise, organizations responsible for people’s medical care are realizing that to ensure their clients have a place to live, they must venture outside their lanes. Some hospitals have started investing in housing, recognizing that health isn’t possible without it. Among older adults, the need is especially growing. In the U.S., 1 in 5 people who were homeless in 2024 were 55 or older. “No one imagines anybody living on the street at 75 or 80. But they are,” said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging, a national association representing area agencies on aging. Programs known as PACE are funded by Medicare and Medicaid and aim to keep seniors in their homes, but PACE leaders worry that federal funding cuts could lead to reduced support.
Looming Medicaid cuts could hurt Black children, advocates warn
Cheyanne M. Daniels, Politico, Aug. 19
Advocates are warning the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law will disproportionately harm Black women and children who depend on the program, worsening already disparate health outcomes among Black Americans. Although Black people represent about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 20 percent of Medicaid enrollees — and almost 60 percent of Black children are enrolled in Medicaid, according to a recent analysis from the NAACP and other advocacy organizations. The looming cuts, advocates say, could limit resources in high poverty schools, exacerbate maternal mortality rates and leave Black families without critical care.
Medicaid effort to target undocumented immigrants may create enrollment hurdles
Jason Lalljee, Axios, Aug. 19
Federal health officials announced a new push to ensure that Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees are U.S. citizens or have a qualifying immigration status. The effort could create new administrative hoops for enrollees to jump through. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin providing states with “monthly enrollment reports identifying individuals whose citizenship or immigration status could not be confirmed through federal databases,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. The change looks to put the burden of proof on the individuals whose immigration statuses the CMS cannot verify through the databases. Traditional Medicaid coverage with federal funding is not available to undocumented immigrants.