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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Un grupo médico atiende a personas que viven en la calle… y gana dinero

KFF Health News Original

Estos médicos, enfermeros y trabajadores sociales se están desplegando en las calles de Los Ángeles para ofrecer atención médica y servicios sociales a las personas sin hogar: soldados de un nuevo modelo de negocio que está arraigándose en comunidades de toda California.

A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Makes Money Doing It

KFF Health News Original

Healthcare in Action, a California medical group that exclusively serves homeless people, has tapped into growing demand and funding for street medicine services. Three years in, the innovative nonprofit is raking in revenue and serving thousands of people who otherwise might flock to the hospital for high-cost care.

Misleading Ads Play Key Role in Schemes to Gin Up Unauthorized ACA Sign-Ups, Lawsuit Alleges

KFF Health News Original

Misleading money-for-groceries ads helped lure people to call centers where some were enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage — or switched from their existing plans — without their express permission, a new lawsuit alleges.

Trump Is Wrong in Claiming Full Credit for Lowering Insulin Prices

KFF Health News Original

Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.

El plan de Montana para frenar las sobredosis de opioides incluye máquinas expendedoras

KFF Health News Original

En todo Estados Unidos, las máquinas expendedoras que distribuyen naloxona y otros suministros de salud de forma gratuita se están convirtiendo en elementos de primera línea en la lucha contra las sobredosis de opioides. Diferentes versiones del modelo se están probando en al menos 33 estados.

Tennessee Agrees To Remove Sex Workers With HIV From Sex Offender Registry

KFF Health News Original

For years, Tennessee has required anyone convicted of prostitution while HIV-positive to register as a sex offender for life. In response to DOJ and ACLU discrimination suits, the state has agreed to reverse course.

A Little-Recognized Public Health Crisis

KFF Health News Original

About every 12 minutes, someone is killed on America’s roads and countless others are injured. More than 42,500 people died in car crashes in 2022, a death toll that rivals or surpasses those of other major public health threats, such as the flu and gun violence. “We have not recognized that traffic violence is a […]

Her Hearing Implant Was Preapproved. Nonetheless, She Got $139,000 Bills for Months.

KFF Health News Original

Even when patients double-check that their care is covered by insurance, health providers often send them bills as they haggle with insurers over reimbursement, which can last for months. It’s stressful and annoying — but legal.

911 Faces Its Own Emergency

KFF Health News Original

The national 911 emergency response system is in the midst of its own code red. The lack of federal funding to upgrade aging 911 systems has created significant disparities in state emergency response services, with older operations plagued by outages and longer response times. Last month, for instance, Massachusetts was hit with a statewide 911 […]

Before Michigan Legalized Surrogacy, Families Found Ways Around the Ban

KFF Health News Original

Until this spring, Michigan was the only state that had a broad criminal ban on surrogacy. Many families say that left them in limbo: forcing them to leave the state to have children, finding strangers on Facebook who would carry their child, or going through the legal hassle of having to adopt their biological children.

Despite Past Storms’ Lessons, Long-Term Care Residents Again Left Powerless

KFF Health News Original

Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.

Colorado Poultry Workers Battle Bird Flu in Heat Wave as US Struggles to Contain Outbreak

KFF Health News Original

So far, all 10 cases reported nationally this year at dairy and poultry farms have been mild, consisting of respiratory symptoms and eye irritation. Scientists have warned that the virus could mutate to spread from person to person, like the seasonal flu, and spark a pandemic.

California Health Care Pioneer Goes National, Girds for Partisan Skirmishes

KFF Health News Original

Anthony Wright, a champion for Californians’ health care rights, will take the helm of Families USA in Washington, D.C., where he plans to campaign for more affordable and accessible care nationally. He leaves Health Access California, where he helped outlaw surprise medical billing, require companies to report drug price increases, and cap hospital bills for uninsured patients.