The Trump administration plans to send $500 rebate checks to as many as 1 million people who it says were overcharged for their coverage under Obamacare, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The direct-deposit payment would be sent to people in 30 states before the Nov. 3 midterm election, as Trump touts savings from his tax-cut legislation and prescription drug plan.
The fight against mail-order abortions continues Wednesday as Louisiana state attorneys argue that they undermine the state's abortion ban.
Why it matters: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office seeks an end to a Biden-era FDA rule that expanded telehealth access to mifepristone, a drug widely used for abortions. If successful, the state case could affect abortion access nationwide.
A new tool visualizes how much premium revenue health insurers keep to cover overhead and, spoiler alert, it's not very much — an average of15% in 2024.
Why it matters: Just cracking down on insurer overhead won't meaningfully bring down premiums. Making coverage affordable requires lowering health costs.
There are troubling new signs that the overhaul of Medicare drug coverage in the Inflation Reduction Act is dramatically driving up program spending.
Why it matters: The upward trajectory could threaten some seniors' coverage for outpatient prescription drugs — and it could force painful tradeoffs over the next decade as Medicare consumes a growing share of the nation's debt.
Most of us aren't taught how to fight well. We tend to bounce between avoiding conflict and "burning the house down," author and conflict-resolution facilitator Priya Parker tells Axios.
Why it matters:Avoiding every disagreement can create what Parker calls "unhealthy peace" in a group, where the real conversations never happen and people are afraid they'll be punished for saying what they think.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration released more than 170,000 pages of documents Tuesday that suggest city officials knew air conditions following the 9/11 attacks were unsafe, despite assurances otherwise.
The big picture: Twenty-five years later, New Yorkers are still seeking a full accounting of what city officials knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero and whether they were honest with the public about the risks.
A societal spotlight on extreme thinness is stripping body diversity from screens, just as fashion magazines did in the early aughts, mental health experts tell Axios.
The big picture: Fake content creators are introducing unattainable, AI-generated body images that prey on human nature and exacerbate the struggle for many to reach self-acceptance for their bodies.
Campaigning on health care used to mean talking about coverage or costs. Now, in the run-up to the midterms, it's just as likely to focus on "corruption."
The big picture: Candidates are accusing primary or general election opponents of being in the pockets of drugmakers, insurers and other powerful health interests, to the detriment of voters.
As climate change makes extreme heat more frequent and dangerous, states are building systems to manage a hazard they weren't historically built to handle.
The big picture: In a growing number of states, officials are appointing heat officers, writing statewide plans, setting worker protections, funding cooling infrastructure, and coordinating responses across agencies.
