The "KFF Health News Minute" brings original healthcare and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week.

In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, a new system could screen hospital patients for financial aid, preventing hundreds of thousands from getting bills they can’t pay.

At a time when more than 100 million Americans carry medical debt, it’s easy to get behind a promise of free, or free-ish, no-hassle health care. But turning an inspirational slogan into law gets gnarly.

It’s been more than a year since President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and SNAP enrollment is down more than 20% in Louisiana. Anti-hunger groups say far more people could lose access if states are required to cover more of the food program’s cost.

The idea of scrapping the U.S. health insurance system for a massive expansion of government-funded healthcare isn’t new. But voters hit by ballooning private health insurance costs are rallying behind midterm candidates calling for universal coverage.

Catherine Sweeney was one of the reporters in the witness room during the attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The journalists knew that a recent execution hadn’t gone according to plan and that Pike’s lawyers had predicted failure because of a health condition. They’d even asked for her to be hanged instead.

Tests like full-body scans marketed directly to consumers are pitched as a way to detect diseases early and establish a baseline of health markers. But there are financial, physical, and psychological risks to all medical tests — and in some cases, not getting a test could be better for your health.

Many rural voters say immigrants are a key part of their local economy, but views on whether President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has had positive or negative effects on their communities are split.

There’s a term for reducing unnecessary or harmful drugs: “deprescribing.” Especially as patients age, experts say, it’s important to regularly review the medications they’re taking.

KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.