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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Cash Shortages and Complex Rules Impede Native American Health-Care Access

KFF Health News Original

Each year, the Indian Health Service rejects tens of thousands of requests to fund outside care that it doesn’t provide, forcing patients to go without treatment or pay big medical bills themselves. The IHS is supposed to provide free care to Native Americans, but it does so only at scattered clinics and hospitals the agency funds and then manages […]

Calif. Ballot Measure Targets Drug Discount Program Spending

KFF Health News Original

Californians in November will weigh in on a ballot initiative to increase scrutiny over the use of health-care dollars — particularly money from a federal drug discount program — meant to support patient care largely for low-income or indigent people. The revenue is sometimes used to address housing instability and homelessness among vulnerable patient populations. Voters […]

Catholic Hospital Offered Bucket, Towels to Woman It Denied an Abortion, California AG Said

KFF Health News Original

In California, where abortion rights are guaranteed, there’s a loophole. The growth of Catholic hospital systems, which restrict reproductive health care, has left patients with no other option for care. That will be the case for pregnant women in Northern California, with a hospital set to close its birth center.

On the Campaign Trail, Democrats Call Out Opponents on Abortion

KFF Health News Original

As Nov. 5 approaches and the struggle for control of the U.S. House reaches a fever pitch, Democrats are doing everything they can to tie their Republican opponents to their antiabortion voting records. Some Republican candidates, meanwhile, seem to be softening their positions. And political analysts say it’s part of a larger trend playing out […]