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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Cautious Optimism in San Francisco as New Cases of HIV in Latinos Decrease

KFF Health News Original

New HIV diagnoses have decreased among Latinos in San Francisco, potentially marking the first time in five years that the group hasn’t accounted for the largest number of new cases. Public health experts express cautious optimism, but outreach workers warn that many Latinos still struggle to find testing and treatment.

Patient Underwent One Surgery but Was Billed for Two. Even After Being Sued, She Refused To Pay.

KFF Health News Original

A collection agency sought court authority to garnish a patient’s wages to pay a disputed surgery bill. But after the patient showed up in court to argue the bill was bogus, the judge declined to let the bill collector seize her money.

San Francisco: cauteloso optimismo mientras bajan nuevos casos de VIH entre latinos 

KFF Health News Original

San Francisco estableció un modelo nacional de respuesta a la enfermedad. Lo hizo al construir una red de servicios de VIH para que los residentes pudieran acceder a pruebas gratuitas o de bajo costo, así como al tratamiento, independientemente de su seguro de salud o estatus migratorio.

Traveling To Die: The Latest Form of Medical Tourism

KFF Health News Original

Medical aid in death is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia. But only Oregon and Vermont explicitly allow out-of-state people who are terminally ill to die with assistance there. So far, at least 49 people have made the trek while state legislation stalls elsewhere.

Los contrastes de las fórmulas Harris-Walz y Trump-Vance en la atención de salud

KFF Health News Original

La elección de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris del gobernador de Minnesota, Tim Walz, como su compañero de fórmula está poniendo el tema de la atención médica en primer plano en la recta final hacia las elecciones presidenciales de noviembre.

Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance on Health Care

KFF Health News Original

As Democrats convene in Chicago to make official their presidential and vice presidential nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz together are raising the prominence of health care as a 2024 election issue.

Bipartisan Effort Paves Way for Reviving Shuttered Hospitals in Georgia

KFF Health News Original

“Certificate of need” laws, largely supported by the hospital industry, limit health facility construction in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Georgia lawmakers decided its law was complicating the reviving of two hospitals critical to their communities.

Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding

KFF Health News Original

The end of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections coincided with changes in more than a dozen states to expand coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women, and the incarcerated.

Inside Conservative Activist Leonard Leo’s Long Campaign To Gut Planned Parenthood

KFF Health News Original

Anti-abortion groups and their allies secured a generational victory in 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned “Roe v. Wade.” A lawsuit in Texas demonstrates how those same forces threaten access to other health services, including birth control and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.

New Lines of Attack Form Against the Affordable Care Act

KFF Health News Original

While fighting potential fraud in government programs has long been a conservative rallying cry, recent criticisms of the Affordable Care Act represent a renewed line of attack on the program when repealing it is unlikely.

Most Black Hospitals Across the South Closed Long Ago. Their Impact Endures.

KFF Health News Original

Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, was established to exclusively admit Black patients during a time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients. Its closure underscores how hundreds of Black hospitals in the U.S. fell casualty to social progress.

A Call to Action Reignites Debate Over Opioid Settlements

KFF Health News Original

State and local governments have received more than $7.5 billion in opioid settlement funds to date, and everyone’s lining up to have their say in how it’s spent. Of course, that means there’s also plenty of controversy. The latest development comes this morning, as a coalition of 192 recovery and harm reduction organizations across dozens […]

Kids Who Survived Super Bowl Shooting Are Scared, Suffering Panic Attacks and Sleep Problems

KFF Health News Original

Six months after the Feb. 14 parade, parents of survivors under 18 years old say their children are deeply changed. In this installment of “The Injured,” we meet kids who survived the mass shooting only to live with long-term emotional scars.