Rachana Pradhan
@rachanadpradhan.bsky.social
Reporter @kffhealthnews.org. I write about decisions made by powerful individuals and institutions, and the real-life impact on Americans' health. Find me on Signal: username rachanadpradhan.83
Nebraska's Medicaid director, in an exclusive interview with nonprofit news organization Tradeoffs, said roughly 200 people will lose health coverage on Aug. 1. n.pr/4wwMtTv
In Nebraska, Americans begin to lose Medicaid under Trump's work rules
Nebraska's Medicaid director, in an exclusive interview with nonprofit news organization Tradeoffs, said roughly 200 people will lose health coverage on Aug. 1.
n.pr
Severely ill prisoners are being granted early parole. But without long-term care facilities to accept them, they remain incarcerated. https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/sick-prisoners-compassionate-release-parole-long-term-care-hawaii/
Severely Ill Prisoners Granted Early Release Are Left Stuck Behind Bars - KFF Health News
Prisoners with severe medical conditions can be granted compassionate release, but without a long-term care facility willing to accept them, many continue to wait in prison as their conditions worsen.
kffhealthnews.org
Nationwide, Deloitte — a multibillion-dollar global consulting firm — dominates this important slice of government business: At least 25 states have awarded the company contracts to build or run computer systems that control access to safety net benefits such as Medicaid.
KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 2w agoComputer system problems foreshadow trouble as states prepare to roll out the most significant and complicated changes to their Medicaid programs in years. https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/deloitte-medicaid-eligibility-system-denials-michigan-trump-policy-piles-on/
Computer system problems foreshadow trouble as states prepare to roll out the most significant and complicated changes to their Medicaid programs in years. https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/deloitte-medicaid-eligibility-system-denials-michigan-trump-policy-piles-on/
A Deloitte-Run System Denied Medicaid Benefits for Michigan’s Disabled. Now Trump’s Law Piles On. - KFF Health News
Complex computer systems that decide whether people, including the disabled, get Medicaid benefits have a history of errors. Now changes to comply with Trump’s signature tax and domestic policy law ar...
kffhealthnews.org
“I just wanted to give up”: People with disabilities have been denied Medicaid benefits due to IT problems. The problems foreshadow trouble as states ready major changes to their Medicaid programs under Trump's signature One Big Beautiful Bill. kffhealthnews.org/health-indus... @kffhealthnews.org
A Deloitte-Run System Denied Medicaid Benefits for Michigan’s Disabled. Now Trump’s Law Piles On. - KFF Health News
Complex computer systems that decide whether people, including the disabled, get Medicaid benefits have a history of errors. Now changes to comply with Trump’s signature tax and domestic policy law ar...
kffhealthnews.org
One of my goals as a journalist this year is to do a better job showing where my stories come from and how I report them. It's the best way I can think of to build trust. So let me pull back the curtain on my latest video for @kffhealthnews.org and @npr.org...
I went to Utah to see what life is like in America's new reality, where vaccine-preventable diseases are common again. Utah's measles outbreak has lasted 10 months. Pediatricians teared up in interviews. Mothers were stressed. 🧵My latest @wired.com @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/anguis...
Anguished Parents, Crying Doctors: Life Amid Utah’s Measles Outbreak
The state’s outbreak means adapting to America’s new reality, in which vaccine-preventable diseases become common again.
wired.com
Boatloads of ivermectin, little evidence or oversight. “This is about political identity. This is about creating distrust in the existing biomedical community. This is about money,” said @caulfieldtim.bsky.social By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & Brett Kelman kffhealthnews.org/health-indus...
Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads’ - KFF Health News
Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation’s first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly conc...
kffhealthnews.org
“Folks coming from all over the world to get our ivermectin”: Tennessee pharmacies are selling potent ivermectin pills. Here’s how it happened. https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/ivermectin-pharmacies-tennessee-anti-vaccine-doctor-denise-sibley/
Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads’ - KFF Health News
Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation’s first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly conc...
kffhealthnews.org
Tennessee pharmacies are selling potent ivermectin, led by an anti-vaccine doctor who's taken "bucketloads" The state was the nation's first to allow adults to buy the drug at a pharmacy without individual prescriptions By Brett Kelman + me @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/health-indus...
Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads’ - KFF Health News
Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation’s first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly conc...
kffhealthnews.org
The Trump administration’s new regulations say having a medical condition alone isn’t enough to avoid Medicaid work requirements. “This is a recipe for disaster,” one patient advocate says. kffhealthnews.org/medicaid/tru...
Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules Force States To Scrap Plans and Rework Systems - KFF Health News
Health experts and advocates for low-income people say federal rules implementing President Donald Trump’s new Medicaid work requirements upend months of work by state governments to prepare the compu...
kffhealthnews.org
The Trump administration’s rollout of a mandate that millions of Medicaid enrollees work or risk losing benefits is forcing states to scrap months of preparation. States had already committed to paying contractors millions to comply w/the law. @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/medicaid/tru...
Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules Force States To Scrap Plans and Rework Systems - KFF Health News
Health experts and advocates for low-income people say federal rules implementing President Donald Trump’s new Medicaid work requirements upend months of work by state governments to prepare the compu...
kffhealthnews.org
After nearly 40 years shaping the health policy landscape, our founding president and CEO Dr. Drew Altman announced he’ll retire at the end of the year. Larry Levitt and Dr. Mollyann Brodie have been appointed by the Board as the new leadership team.
Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO of KFF, Announces Retirement Plans; Board Appoints Larry Levitt and Mollyann Brodie as Next Leadership Team | KFF
Dr. Altman has led the organization for nearly 40 years; Levitt and Dr. Brodie to assume leadership roles next year, after a combined six decades at KFF in senior positions guiding policy research and...
on.kff.org
🚨During lunch at his golf course with tobacco executives on May 2, Pres. Trump called Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Oz, furious. He wanted action on flavored vapes. And he soon got it, prompting the FDA commissioner to resign. w/ the amazing @kenvogel.bsky.social --> 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/u...
With a Friend in Trump, the Tobacco Industry Secures a Lucrative Win
nytimes.com
Hundreds of foreign doctors planning to treat underserved patients in the U.S. are in limbo. If the government doesn't expedite their visa waiver applications, most will have to leave by the end of July. @ajzionts.bsky.social reports ⤵️
Delays in Visa Program Threaten Placement of Hundreds of Doctors in Underserved Areas - KFF Health News
A federal agency has dramatically slowed its review of visa waiver applications that allow international physicians completing U.S. training programs to stay in the country to work in underserved area...
kffhealthnews.org
SCOOP: Two weeks ago, the head of the CDC delayed publication of a report showing covid vaccine cut likelihood of ER visits and hospitalizations by half. Now that report is no longer allowed to be published in CDC’s flagship scientific journal. My latest. 1/2 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
CDC won’t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits
The report, which had cleared the agency’s scientific-review process, had been delayed. It now won’t be published at all, people familiar with the decision told The Post.
washingtonpost.com
States are paying contractors such as Deloitte, Accenture, and Optum millions of dollars to help them comply with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a law that will strip health and food benefits from millions. "This is a pretty big payday,” one expert told us. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls - KFF Health News
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add red tape and restrictions for those seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And the costs to update computer systems that determine eligibility for those programs w...
kffhealthnews.org
“There’s been a fundamental destruction.” Scientists are leaving the National Institutes of Health in droves under President Donald Trump. @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social & @k-hought.bsky.social report on what's left behind ⤵️
Six Federal Scientists Run Out by Trump Talk About the Work Left Undone - KFF Health News
Cancer treatments, disease outbreaks, addiction science: Scientists say an exodus from the National Institutes of Health will harm the nation's ability to respond to illness.
kffhealthnews.org
Thousands of Minnesotans are still too scared to leave home, even for desperately needed medical care. So doctors and nurses have quietly operated informal, underground medical networks to bring that care to them.
As ICE Moved In, Minnesotans Set Up a Shadow Medical System. It’s a Lesson for Other Cities. - KFF Health News
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis forced families into hiding and catalyzed informal medical networks to deliver critical health care services.
kffhealthnews.org
“It’s clear when someone comes out with a drug and now you’ve just cured a disease. But you never know which ones could have been cured...We don’t know what we’ve lost.” Data by @hackwriter.bsky.social Our full investigation is below. More on the people and work lost: www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...
The people — and research — lost in the NIH exodus | CNN
Sylvia Chou, 51
cnn.com
Rachana Pradhan@rachanadpradhan.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades. Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more. Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...
A more complete set of voices in a companion piece. www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...
The people — and research — lost in the NIH exodus | CNN
Sylvia Chou, 51
cnn.com
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo agoCompelling story from KFF News/CNN Listen to the sound clips to get a clear sense of what has been happening at NIH. www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...
The number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades. Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more. Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...
Six federal scientists run out by Trump talk about the work left undone | CNN
Federal data shows the NIH lost about 4,400 people — more than 20% of its workforce. Scientists say the departures harm the U.S.’ ability to respond to disease outbreaks, develop treatments for chroni...
cnn.com
Katheryn is truly one of the best. Give her a follow to see all her work @kffhealthnews.org
Katheryn Houghton@k-hought.bsky.social · 5mo agoHi — new to BlueSky! I’m a journalist covering how health policy and systems impact people. Lately I’ve reported on federal cuts hitting a rural bioscience hub, a town recovering from meth, and a man who said he had to break Medicaid rules. Based in Montana, I write for both 📰 and 📻
The National Cancer Institute’s decision to do lab research on ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment has alarmed the agency’s career scientists. “I am shocked and appalled,” one scientist said. @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social reports ⤵️
US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’ - KFF Health News
At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to d...
kffhealthnews.org
The National Cancer Institute, the federal research agency charged with leading the war against the nation’s second-largest killer, is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official. New from me @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’ - KFF Health News
At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to d...
kffhealthnews.org
My latest: A look inside the secretive immigration prisons at Guantanamo—and the ethical questions that doctors and nurses face to treat those inside.
WIRED@wired.com · 6mo agoDoctors, nurses, and other officers are increasingly being deployed to ICE detention centers. Some have resigned in protest, while others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.
F.B.I. Searches Home of Washington Post Journalist for Classified Documents www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/u...
F.B.I. Searches Home of Washington Post Journalist for Classified Documents
nytimes.com
Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
Scoop: The Trump admin is planning to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule, per person familiar. The proposed new schedule would recommend fewer vaccines, bringing it close to or in line with Denmark’s schedule. Comes weeks after Trump demanded an expedited review: www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/h...
HHS planning to overhaul childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots, source says | CNN
The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the schedule of recommended vaccines for children in the US, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on Thursday.
cnn.com
This summer, Brett Murphy, @peterdicampo.bsky.social and I went to South Sudan, where the U.S. had been supporting the response to a historic cholera outbreak in the world’s poorest country before pulling the plug. We found shuttered clinics and dead bodies. www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
propublica.org