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Republicans are testing a new midterm message: They’ re populists fighting against health insurance companies while working to lower premium costs. The offensive on insurers comes as some Republicans say voters want the party to aggressively reform health insurance. A March survey of 2,000 likely voters conducted by McLaughlin& Associates, a firm that has…

DES MOINES— The future of private management of Iowa's $7 billion Medicaid program hinges on which candidate voters choose to become the state's next governor on Nov. 3. Terry Branstad, a Republican, issued an executive order that contracted the management of Iowa's Medicaid program to private companies that are known as Managed Care Organizations, or MCOs.

That drop occurred after Congress let subsidies lapse, which caused premium payments to skyrocket. Consumer advocates and healthcare workers are concerned that number will continue to rise if the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approves the 2027 rate increases requested by insurers. "Pennsylvania families are being squeezed from every direction, and…

Opinion editor’ s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. For four years, Miraya Gran, a Bloomington mom, and other advocates have asked state lawmakers to require health insurers to cover the medical care Minnesotans may need to have children. Unfortunately, Minnesota has yet to join them.

RICHMOND- Diesel prices topped $6 a gallon in Richmond and other parts of Virginia on Friday, while inflation ticked up because of rising costs for energy and housing, setting the stage for a likely increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline exceeded $4.12 a gallon in Richmond and statewide because of…

Diesel prices topped $6 a gallon in Richmond and other parts of Virginia on Friday, while inflation ticked up because of rising costs for energy and housing, setting the stage for a likely increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline exceeded $4.12 a gallon in Richmond and statewide because of higher…

SACRAMENTO, CA., 9/ 12/ 2026– In November, California voters will choose who oversees one of the biggest insurance markets in the world. Those responsibilities have a direct effect on California residents' pocketbooks as risks for wildfires and other climate-related disasters grow. California residents also face higher costs for just about everything,…

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets next week. But as NPR's Rafael Nam reports, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is doing things differently. RAFAEL NAM, BYLINE: There's a big debate going on with even bigger potential consequences.

Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. For stories on the science of healthy living, subscribe to NPR's Health newsletter. Before making the decision, the state didn't seek records from the medical team treating Hailstone, according to letters from those doctors reviewed by KFF Health News.

Anyone who's picked up a prescription lately can relate: Rising drug prices are driving up costs across Connecticut's healthcare ecosystem and helping to worsen the state's affordability crisis. Pharmacy expenses rose 15% year-over-year for customers of both ConnectiCare and UnitedHealthcare, insurance executives told a gathering sponsored by the…

Steve McBee Sr., patriarch of the Missouri family that stars in the Bravo reality series“ The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys,” has been released from prison after serving less than a year for crop insurance fraud. McBee’ s son and namesake, Steven McBee Jr., shared an Instagram Stories video Friday of his dad hanging out with the family at home in Gallatin, a…

SAN ANTONIO, Texas— Emphasizing that Texas sits at the very heart of the U.S.- Mexico economic engine, Roberto A. Coronado, senior vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, delivered a keynote address outlining the deep integration, recent challenges, and future trajectory of binational trade. Coronado pointed out that Texas…

Wall Street ended higher Friday as oil prices retreated and strong consumer price data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week to fight inflation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 12% and HP gained 8.4% after Oracle' s quarterly results topped estimates. Oracle dipped 1.8%. U.S. consumer prices accelerated…

DES MOINES— The future of private management of Iowa's $7 billion Medicaid program hinges on which candidate voters choose to become the state's next governor on Nov. 3. Terry Branstad, a Republican, issued an executive order that contracted the management of Iowa's Medicaid program to private companies that are known as Managed Care Organizations, or MCOs.

A federal judge sentenced a 49- year-old Omaha woman to five months in prison Thursday after the woman pleaded guilty in June to fraudulently billing Medicaid and other insurers for medical products meant for patients who never received them. Cassi Wigington also must pay $445,255.37 in restitution, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Rossiter ruled.

HARRISBURG— Late this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced that nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians who are on Medicaid will begin receiving letters to inform them of federally-mandated changes to the program that are scheduled to begin in January 2027, according to a release. This letter is the first in a series of communications from PA…

Ahead of the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, stubborn inflation, rising Treasury yields and signals from other central banks have all raised the prospect of a rate hike, which economists say is now all but certain. Ahead of the upcoming highly-anticipated Federal Reserve meeting, stubborn inflation, rising Treasury yields and signals from other central…

—The Federal Reserve and its interest rate policy will be the main focus for Wall Street this week. Wall Street will also get an update Wednesday on U.S. retail sales for August. The rate of inflation has held stubbornly above 3%, fueled by the U.S. war with Iran and its impact on the world's oil supply.

The Federal Reserve appears increasingly likely to hike interest rates next week, as inflation remains stubbornly elevated amid the war with Iran. This is raising expectations of a rate hike, even as President Trump pushes for Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to cut rates. Jai Kedia, a research fellow at the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the…