Layoffs of federal employees and cutbacks to federal agencies have direct consequences for the Philadelphia area.

I am a law professor at Villanova University outside Philadelphia, and my research focuses on the work of the administrative agencies that compose the federal government.

I believe that understanding the federal ...Read more

A community-led partnership in Colorado designed to negotiate health care prices lowered health care premiums in 2020 and 2021, we find in our new paper in the Journal of Risk and Insurance. The nonprofit organization is called the Peak Health Alliance.

As health care premiums continue to rise nationwide, many employers have formed so...Read more

Since the mid-2000s, the Medicare system has dramatically transformed. Enrollment in Medicare Advantage – the private alternative to the traditional Medicare program administered by the government – has more than quadrupled. It now accounts for the majority of Medicare enrollment.

Employers, including state government agencies, ...Read more

The job of director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention carries immense responsibility for shaping health policies, responding to crises and maintaining trust in public health institutions.

Since the Trump administration took office in January 2025, the position has been held on an interim basis by Susan Monarez, whom ...Read more

Five years ago, the CEO of one of the largest pain clinic companies in the Southeast was sentenced to more than three years in prison after being convicted in a $4 million illegal kickback scheme.

But after just four months behind bars, John Estin Davis walked free. President Donald Trump commuted Davis’ sentence in the last days of his first...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who won election in November on the pledge to crack down on the city’s fentanyl crisis, has announced a new public health policy that will more forcefully push treatment on drug users seeking clean needles and other supplies tied to their addiction.

The new policy, to take effect April 30, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sutter County in Northern California has the lowest vaccination rates among transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students in the state, according to new data from the California Department of Public Health.

Only 73% Sutter County kindergarten students were up to date on their childhood vaccinations in the 2023-24 ...Read more

CHICAGO — Dirty air remains a chronic problem in the Chicago area.

Shortly before President Joe Biden left office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reclassified the region from “moderate” to “serious” violations of federal regulations limiting lung-damaging smog, also known as ground-level ozone.

Better understanding about ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rafael Leyva was only 8 years old when his mother was stabbed with a knife and died in the young boy's lap.

Soon after that, his brother and sister were sent to live with their uncle in California, while Rafael — or Rafa as his siblings call him — remained the ward of an orphanage in Mexico.

Now, in a tale of rising ...Read more

Under an emerging Republican plan to require some Medicaid recipients to work, between 4.6 million and 5.2 million adults ages 19 to 55 could lose their health care coverage, according to a new analysis.

The study, conducted by Urban Institute researchers with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, calculated that up to 39% of the 13....Read more

LOS ANGELES — With the top city and county elected officials sitting in his jury box, the judge lectured for more than an hour, excoriating what he called the Rocky Horror Picture Show of homeless services in Los Angeles.

But when it came time to reveal the drastic remedy anticipated by a courtroom full of spectators, U.S. District Judge ...Read more

When epidemiologist Sophia Newcomer tries to evaluate how well Montana might be able to ward off the measles outbreak spreading across the U.S., she doesn’t have much data to work with.

A federal state-by-state survey last year showed that just over 86% of Montana’s 2-year-olds had recently received the measles, mumps, and rubella ...Read more

For many California residents, the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year were the latest and most searing example of the devastating effects of climate change. Some estimates have pegged the damages and economic losses from the fires at more than $250 billion.

“We’ve had disaster after disaster after disaster,” said Assemblymember Dawn ...Read more

GAYLORD, Mich. — Life remained at a standstill in this northern Michigan community for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday.

Residents were relieved an overnight storm didn’t pack the wallop of the one Saturday that caused tens of thousands of people in northern Michigan to lose power. But the snow and rain Wednesday slowed recovery efforts...Read more

Public health advocates in Georgia have canceled a major annual conference, more than 100 public health workers have been let go and state agencies are now limiting other spending as the Trump administration last week abruptly canceled pandemic health grant money that was awarded but not yet spent.

Georgia agencies dealing with public health, ...Read more

The Israeli army carried out multiple airstrikes in different parts of Syria on Wednesday, including the capital Damascus, and “almost completely destroyed” a military airport in another major city as Israel continues to degrade the war-torn country’s military capabilities.

The airstrikes, carried out in five different areas, lasted for ...Read more

ATLANTA — After a decade of fierce debate, Georgia approved one of the most divisive bills in recent state history by passing a “religious liberty” measure that supporters say protects faith-based beliefs from government overreach and critics decry as a license to discriminate.

Republicans muscled the initiative through the Georgia House ...Read more

The U.K. refrained from retaliation and said it would maintain its push for a U.S. trade deal after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs of 10% on all imports from Britain as part of a wider global package which he dubbed “Liberation Day” for his country.

“Our approach is to remain calm and committed to doing this deal, which we hope ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump did not blink Wednesday while resurrecting an economic policy approach last used 95 years ago, a move that will shape his second term and help decide the fate of his “Make America Great Again” movement.

“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said at a Rose Garden event to announce ...Read more

After Andrea Martinez gave birth to her daughter, she could take only four weeks of leave — two weeks paid, two weeks unpaid. As a single mother with one income, she returned to work quickly to support her three children and sent her newborn to a daycare.

“This situation created a significant hardship for me, especially since I had a C-...Read more