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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Patients Are Relying on Lyft, Uber To Travel Far Distances to Medical Care

KFF Health News Original

Uber and Lyft have become a critical part of the nation’s infrastructure for transporting ailing people from their homes — even in rural areas — to medical care sites in major cities such as Atlanta.

Public Health Departments Face a Post-Covid Funding Crash

KFF Health News Original

During the coronavirus pandemic, states received a rush of funding from the federal government to bolster their fight against the disease. In many cases, that cash flowed into state and local health departments, fueling a staffing surge to handle, among other things, contact tracing and vaccination efforts. But public health leaders quickly identified a familiar […]

Harris apoya la reducción de la deuda médica. Los “conceptos” de Trump preocupan a defensores.

KFF Health News Original

La administración Biden ha ampliado las protecciones financieras para los pacientes, incluyendo una propuesta histórica de la Oficina de Protección Financiera del Consumidor (CFPB) para eliminar la deuda médica de los informes de crédito de los consumidores.

California Hospitals Scramble on Earthquake Retrofits as State Limits Extensions

KFF Health News Original

California legislators for years have granted extensions on a 1994 law requiring hospitals to retrofit their buildings to withstand earthquakes. Gov. Gavin Newsom in September vetoed an extension for all hospitals but signed a bill granting relief to rural and “distressed” hospitals and some others.

Health Issues Motivating Black Women Voters for Harris

KFF Health News Original

Vice President Kamala Harris, now on the presidential campaign trail, is making inroads with a key voting bloc: Black women, who are rallying behind her because of her work on issues such as preserving abortion access, curbing gun violence and reducing maternal deaths. What has become clear is not just that this voting group supports […]

Colorado’s Naloxone Fund Is Drying Up, Even as Opioid Settlement Money Rolls In

KFF Health News Original

Since Colorado created a pool of money to pay for naloxone in 2019, it has distributed more than half a million doses of the opioid reversal drug to hundreds of organizations throughout the state. Now, its main funding stream is drying up.

Extended-Stay Hotels, a Growing Option for Poor Families, Can Lead to Health Problems for Kids

KFF Health News Original

Extended-stay hotels are often a last resort for low-income families trying to avoid homelessness. But hotel living can lead to — or exacerbate — various physical and mental health issues for children, say advocates for families and researchers who study homelessness.

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 […]

Watch: ‘Breaking the Silence Is a Step’ — Beyond the Lens of ‘Silence in Sikeston’

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony discusses her reporting for the “Silence in Sikeston” multimedia project, which explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing on a rural Missouri community — and what it led her to learn about her own family’s past.

Montana Looks To Fast-Track Medicaid Access for Older Applicants

KFF Health News Original

As Montana’s population ages, providers serving low-income seniors say more people aren’t getting the care they need as they wait to get on Medicaid. Montana lawmakers are considering creating a shortcut to that care.

Happening in Springfield: New Immigrants Offer Economic Promise, Health System Challenges

KFF Health News Original

Donald Trump put Springfield, Ohio, in a harsh spotlight by spreading misinformation about its legal Haitian population. But what is really happening in this small city is a microcosm of the health care challenges immigration hot spots throughout the country are facing.

Older Men’s Connections Often Wither When They’re on Their Own

KFF Health News Original

Older men who find themselves living alone tend to have fewer close personal relationships than older women. They’re vulnerable, physically and emotionally, but often reluctant to ask for help.