Florida’s RSV Season Has Started, and It’s Coming Soon to the Rest of US. Here’s a Primer.
By Sam Ogozalek, Tampa Bay Times
July 31, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Florida’s RSV season begins earlier and runs longer than anywhere else in the U.S., according to the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute. New vaccines can help, but most older adults, who are vulnerable to RSV, haven’t gotten them yet.
Horse Sedative Use Among Humans Spreads in Deadly Mixture of ‘Tranq’ and Fentanyl
By Sam Ogozalek, Tampa Bay Times
February 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Illegal supplies of fentanyl are being cut with xylazine, a powerful horse tranquilizer. Overdoses involving this veterinary sedative are growing nationally and now Florida officials are tracking the deaths.
Social Security Tackles Overpayment ‘Injustices,’ but Problems Remain
By David Hilzenrath Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Updated November 18, 2024
Originally Published November 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
With his term soon to expire, Social Security chief Martin O’Malley’s efforts to address the agency’s overpayments to beneficiaries remain incomplete.
How to Find a Good, Well-Staffed Nursing Home
By Jordan Rau
July 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Here are the telltale signs to look for in nursing homes to avoid, and resources that can point to better places.
New Charleston Museum Nods to Historical Roots of US Health Disparities
By Lauren Sausser
June 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The $120 million International African American Museum that opened this week in Charleston, South Carolina, allows visitors to step back in history at Gadsden’s Wharf, where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans arrived in America, the genesis of generations of health disparities.
Officials Agree: Use Settlement Funds to Curb Youth Addiction. But the ‘How’ Gets Hairy.
By Aneri Pattani Emily Featherston, InvestigateTV
Illustration by Oona Zenda
September 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Parents, educators, and elected officials agree that investing in school-based prevention efforts could help curb the rising rate of youth drug overdoses. The well-known D.A.R.E. program is one likely choice, but its effectiveness is in question.
Rural Hospitals Are Caught in an Aging-Infrastructure Conundrum
By Markian Hawryluk
January 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Small, community hospitals face challenges in paying for the capital improvement projects they need to stay open.
As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending
By Andy Miller Markian Hawryluk
July 11, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Nonprofit hospitals avoid paying taxes if they provide community benefits such as charity care. More states are examining that trade-off, scrutinizing the extent of hospitals’ spending on their communities.
Thousands of Experts Hired to Aid Public Health Departments Are Losing Their Jobs
By Lauren Weber
November 14, 2022
KFF Health News Original
As the covid-19 pandemic raged, an independent nonprofit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hired an army of seasoned professionals to fill the gaps in the country’s public health system. Now, the money has largely run out, and state and local health departments are again without their expertise.
Hospitales rurales, atrapados en el dilema de sus viejas infraestructuras
By Markian Hawryluk
January 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
El aumento de los costos, en medio de reducciones de los pagos de las aseguradoras, dificulta que los pequeños hospitales obtengan financiación para grandes renovaciones.
New Mexico Program to Reduce Maternity Care Deserts in Rural Areas Fights for Survival
By Sarah Jane Tribble
May 15, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A federally funded program in remote New Mexico has helped hundreds of pregnant mothers stay healthy, but it’s running out of time and money despite a growing national maternity care crisis. The four-year, nearly $3 million grant has provided telehealth, coordinated care, and social services to mothers in need.
Una FTC más agresiva persigue las fusiones en la industria farmacéutica y a los intermediarios del sector
By Arthur Allen
May 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
La Comisión Federal de Comercio está actuando contra las empresas farmacéuticas y los intermediarios del sector, como parte de la campaña de la administración Biden para reducir los precios de los medicamentos en las farmacias.
Why Long-Term Care Insurance Falls Short for So Many
By Jordan Rau JoNel Aleccia
November 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for millions of older Americans, in part by underestimating how many policyholders would use their coverage.
Homelessness Among Older People Is on the Rise, Driven by Inflation and the Housing Crunch
By Aaron Bolton, MTPR
November 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In Montana and across the nation, homeless shelters are reporting that people older than 60 are a growing proportion of their populations.
The US Mental Health Hotline Network Is Expanding, but Rural Areas Still Face Care Shortages
By Christina Saint Louis
July 28, 2022
KFF Health News Original
On July 16, a three-digit number, 988, became the centerpiece of a nationwide effort to unify responses to Americans experiencing mental health crises. But many people, especially those in rural areas, will continue to find themselves far from help if they need more support than call operators can offer.
For Older Adults, Smelling the Roses May Be More Difficult
By Judith Graham
December 1, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The loss of smell is a common issue for many seniors and is often overlooked. Yet it can have serious consequences.
It’s Not Just Physicians and Nurses. Veterinarians Are Burning Out, Too.
By April Dembosky, KQED
April 15, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Empathy overload and compassion fatigue contribute to the mental health woes of veterinarians, who are more likely than other Americans to attempt suicide. And with 23 million families adopting pets during the pandemic, vets’ stress burden is no doubt heavier now.
Pandemic Swells Medicaid Enrollment to 80 Million People, a ‘High-Water Mark’
By Phil Galewitz
June 17, 2021
KFF Health News Original
More than 80 million Americans with low incomes were receiving health coverage through the federal-state program in January. The program now covers nearly 1 in 4 people nationwide.
Death Is Anything but a Dying Business as Private Equity Cashes In
By Markian Hawryluk
September 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Investors are banking on increased demand in death care services as 73 million baby boomers near the end of their lives.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress Kicks the (Budget) Can Down the Road. Again.
November 16, 2023
Podcast
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in six weeks, as Democrats came to the rescue of divided House Republicans over annual spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1. But the brinksmanship is likely to repeat itself early in 2024, when the next temporary spending patches expire. Meanwhile, a pair of investigations unveiled this week demonstrate how difficult it still is for seniors to get needed long-term and rehabilitation care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
