Research Guide · Investigative Update

Current Events

Important developments in American healthcare

Broken Promises does not attempt to report every healthcare story. Current Events highlights significant developments that directly relate to the subjects examined throughout this website. Wherever possible, reporting is linked to the underlying primary source.

Last reviewed: August 14, 2026

Discovery is automated — approved government, research, and journalism sources are scanned on a regular schedule — but nothing here is published without editorial review. Each entry is scored for direct relevance to the investigation, checked against its primary source, and written in original language rather than reproduced from the article that broke it.

Search Current Events

Filters everything below as you type — no ‘Enter’ needed.

Current

The Most Significant Recent Developments

Roughly the last several months, selected and scored for direct relevance to the Broken Promises investigation.

August 13, 2026 EVIDENCE UPDATE Insurance & Access

KFF analysis: insurers deny 12–18% of prior authorization requests, most appeals never filed

A KFF analysis of prior-authorization metrics found denial rates of 12% for Medicare Advantage, 14% for Medicaid managed care, and 18% for ACA Marketplace plans, with wide variation by insurer. When patients do appeal — which is rare — a large share of denials are overturned: 67% in Medicare Advantage, 47% in Medicaid, 43% in ACA plans.

Why it matters

The gap between the denial rate and the appeal-overturn rate is the story: it suggests a meaningful share of initial denials aren't defensible on the merits, and that the real barrier is how few patients have the time or knowledge to appeal — a direct, current data point for the investigation's argument about insurance-driven delayed and denied care.

Source: Forbes → Primary source: KFF — Prior Authorization Metrics Provide New Insights into Insurer Practices, but Gaps Remain →

July 14, 2026 POLICY CHANGE Prescription Drugs

FTC settles antitrust case against CVS's Caremark over insulin rebate practices

The FTC settled its antitrust case against Caremark Rx and Zinc Health Services (CVS Health's PBM arm), alleging the company used rebate practices to keep insulin list prices artificially high while patients paid the cost out of pocket. The settlement requires Caremark to delink PBM fees from list prices, pass rebates through at the point of sale, and stop favoring higher-priced drugs — changes the FTC projects will save consumers $8.5 billion over ten years. It's the second major PBM to settle with the FTC in 2026, after Express Scripts in February.

Why it matters

This is the exact mechanism Before the Counter documents — PBMs profiting from the spread between list price and what patients actually pay. A federal antitrust settlement forcing one of the three dominant PBMs to unwind that structure, on the record, is a direct real-world confirmation of the investigation's central claim about drug pricing.

Source: FTC →

July 1, 2026 EVIDENCE UPDATE Insurance & Access

CBO/KFF: projected Medicaid enrollment down 13%, spending down $503 billion since 2025 reconciliation law

A KFF analysis of CBO's updated baseline finds 2035 federal Medicaid spending now projected at $941 billion, versus $1.03 trillion before the 2025 reconciliation law — $503 billion lower over 2025–2035. Projected 2034 enrollment falls to 74 million, down 13% from the prior 85-million estimate, concentrated among ACA expansion adults (–5 million), children (–3 million), and other adults (–2 million). CBO separately estimates the law increases the uninsured population by 7.5 million in 2034.

Why it matters

This is the clearest current numerical picture of how the 2025 reconciliation law is reshaping Medicaid — not a projection at passage, but an updated one measured against real 2025 cost data. Coverage loss on this scale is squarely the kind of policy-to-patient chain the investigation tracks.

Source: KFF →

June 2, 2026 POLICY CHANGE Healthcare Financialization

FTC requires divestiture in Ascension Health–AmSurg outpatient surgery deal

The FTC required Ascension Health Alliance to divest seven ambulatory surgery centers as a condition of its $3.9 billion acquisition of AmSurg, after finding the deal would reduce competition for outpatient surgical services in five metro areas (Nashville, Panama City, Tulsa, Waco, and Wichita) and could raise prices for patients. Ascension also faces a 10-year requirement to notify the FTC before acquiring any ambulatory surgery centers in those markets.

Why it matters

A concrete, current instance of federal antitrust enforcement against the kind of vertical health-system consolidation Behind the System investigates — and a rare example of a structural remedy (forced divestiture) rather than just a lawsuit or a fine.

Source: FTC →

April 21, 2026 DEVELOPMENT Single-Payer & Reform

California's third single-payer bill dies without a committee hearing

Assemblymember Ash Kalra's CalCare bill (AB 1900) — his third single-payer attempt, backed by over 300 organizational endorsements and 25 legislative co-authors — died when the deadline for committee referral passed without a hearing. Legislative leadership pointed to the need to defend Medi-Cal against an estimated $30 billion in annual federal cuts instead. Kalra says he intends to try again in a future session.

Why it matters

A concrete, dated data point on the actual political feasibility of state-level single-payer — useful context for the trilogy's Toward a Recommended Model appendix and for any reader asking why this hasn't happened somewhere already.

Source: CaloNews → Primary source: AB-1900 bill status, California Legislature →

February 9, 2026 EVIDENCE UPDATE Patient Harm

Commonwealth Fund: over 400 rural hospitals now at risk of closing

A Commonwealth Fund explainer finds more than 400 rural hospitals — over 20% of all rural hospitals — at risk of closure, with nearly half already operating on negative or near-negative margins. Nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed fully or partially since 2005. The report warns that Medicaid work-requirement and redetermination changes could push 1.5 million rural Medicaid beneficiaries off coverage, compounding the strain.

Why it matters

Rural hospital closures are one of the most direct, measurable forms of patient harm the investigation tracks — fewer facilities means longer travel times for emergency and obstetric care, and this update quantifies how much worse it could get from policy changes already in motion.

Source: Commonwealth Fund →

February 3, 2026 POLICY CHANGE Prescription Drugs

Congress reforms PBM compensation nationally, signed into law

As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148), Congress enacted federal PBM reform for Medicare Part D: PBMs must be paid flat administrative fees instead of rebate-linked compensation, 100% of rebates and fees must pass through to payers, and PBMs face new semiannual reporting requirements on drug spending, rebates, spread pricing, and formulary decisions. CMS gained enforcement authority with monetary penalties.

Why it matters

The single biggest legislative change to the PBM rebate system the investigation has tracked — federal law now directly targets the spread-pricing and rebate-capture mechanics Before the Counter spends its middle chapters on. Preliminary note: enforcement and real-world price effects will take time to show up in the data.

Source: AJMC → Primary source: H.R. 7148, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 — Congress.gov →

Recent Developments

Also Worth Knowing

Selected developments that didn't make the Current list — still verified, still relevant, in brief.

Date	Headline	Topic	Source
June 16, 2026	CMS finalizes permanent framework for Medicare drug price negotiation Before the Counter, Prescription Drugs research guide	Prescription Drugs	Federal Register
June 27, 2025	Supreme Court upholds no-cost preventive care mandate in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management Healthcare Reform Overview	Government & Policy	Chief Healthcare Executive

Older Developments

Nothing here yet — items move here from Recent Developments as they age. Check back as the investigation continues.

Know of a development that belongs here, or think one of these doesn't hold up?

Tell us → Browse the Bibliography