As states struggle to meet the needs of people with serious mental illness, some are signing on to a federal pilot project that’s pouring new funding into institutional care.
Leslie Walker
Leslie is a senior reporter and producer for Tradeoffs covering a wide range of health policy issues including prescription drugs and Medicare. Her story, “Inside Big Health Insurers’ Side Hustle,” was awarded first place in audio reporting by the Association of Health Care Journalists and her work has been featured on Marketplace, NPR and STAT News. Before Tradeoffs, Leslie worked as a freelance writer and editor, in nonprofit communications, and at a health care social enterprise. She lives in San Francisco.
Posted inInsurance
Former North Carolina Health Secretary Sees Hard Road Ahead for States
Sweeping federal reforms force North Carolina and other states to make tough decisions about Medicaid coverage, costs and eligibility under mounting budget pressure.
Posted inInsurance
As the Big Beautiful Bill Becomes Law, States Face a ‘Daunting’ Rollout
North Carolina’s former health secretary explains the heavy lift and hard choices ahead of states as they rush to put Republicans’ new health reforms in place.
Posted inHealth Law
How Two Supreme Court Rulings Affect the ACA, Planned Parenthood and the Future of Preventive Care
Health law expert Katie Keith helps us break down what a pair of big court decisions mean for RFK Jr.’s power and for people’s access to abortion, cancer screening and many other kinds of care.
Posted inCost of Care
Helping Some of America’s Costliest Patients Could Get A Lot Harder
Some people’s lives are so complicated by trauma, poverty and other social problems that conditions like diabetes and asthma regularly flare into $10,000 hospital visits. Health care experts have spent years trying to help this small but costly group of patients. What have they learned?
Posted inInsurance
What Cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare Could Mean for Hospitals, Insurers and You
As Republicans consider major changes to Medicaid and Obamacare, we asked a leading economist about the shockwaves these sharp policy shifts could send throughout the entire health care system.
Posted inInsurance
New Studies Show How Cutting Medicaid Could Be Deadly
Two new studies inject powerful evidence into the heated Medicaid debate in Washington, showing the public insurance program is saving lives.
Posted inHealth Equity
What Republican Health Cuts Could Mean for People with Disabilities
We talk with Harvard researcher Ari Ne’eman about why the sharp policy shifts underway in Washington pose a unique threat to people with disabilities.
Posted inInsurance
How Did Picking a Medicare Plan Get So Hard?
Medicare’s open enrollment season presents a challenging choice for its 67 million beneficiaries: selecting a new plan.
Posted inPublic Health
How New York Times Columnist Paula Span Navigates ‘The New Old Age’
Journalist Paula Span, who writes The New Old Age column for the New York Times, shares what she’s learned about how to age well.