Latest KFF Health News Stories
Pregnant and Addicted: Homeless Women See Hope in Street Medicine
As homelessness explodes across California, so does the number of expectant mothers on the streets. Street medicine doctors are getting paid more by Medicaid and offering some of those mothers-to-be a chance to overcome addiction and reverse chronic diseases so they can have healthy babies — and perhaps keep them.
Michigan Voters Backed Abortion Rights. Now Democrats Want to Go Further.
Michigan is one of the few remaining abortion havens in the Midwest. But getting an abortion in that state is still more difficult than it should be, providers say.
For People With Sickle Cell Disease, ERs Can Mean Life-Threatening Waits
When patients with sickle cell disease have a health crisis — crescent-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow — their condition can quickly lead to a fatal stroke or infection. But, despite efforts to educate doctors, research shows that patients are waiting hours in ERs and are often denied pain medication.
Es el momento de revisar el plan de Medicare. Lo nuevo que hay que saber
Desde el 15 de octubre y hasta el 7 de diciembre, los afiliados al programa tradicional o a los planes de Medicare Advantage, que ofrecen aseguradoras privadas, pueden cambiar su cobertura.
Doctors Abandon a Diagnosis Used to Justify Police Custody Deaths. It Might Live On, Anyway.
The American College of Emergency Physicians agreed to withdraw its 2009 white paper on excited delirium, removing the only official medical pillar of support left for the theory that has played a key role in absolving police of culpability for in-custody deaths.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Listen: Inroads for Women in California’s Health Care Workforce
KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart leads a discussion about the role women play as California grapples with a shortage of health care providers.
A Third of Schools Don’t Have a Nurse. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.
School nurses treat children daily for a wide range of illnesses and injuries, and sometimes serve as a young patient’s only health provider. They also function as a point person for critical public health interventions. Yet many states don’t require them, and school districts struggle to hire them.
Journalists Offer Insights on Mobile Clinics and Suicide Prevention
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Rare ‘Flesh-Eating’ Bacterium Spreads North as Oceans Warm
A rise in cases of Vibrio vulnificus and its spread northward have heightened concern about the bacterium, which can cause human tissue to rot and skin to decay. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to make more doctors aware of the dangerous pathogen.
Goody Gumdrops! It’s Freakin’ Time to Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus.
Submissions are open for KFF Health News’ fifth annual Halloween Haiku competition. Send us your best scary poems — if you dare.
The New Vaccines and You: Americans Better Armed Than Ever Against the Winter Blechs
Flu, covid, and respiratory viruses kill thousands of Americans each year, but the latest batch of vaccines could save lives.
California prohíbe el controversial diagnóstico de “delirio excitado”
El gobernador demócrata Gavin Newsom firmó un proyecto de ley el 8 de octubre para prohibir que los forenses, doctores, y examinadores médicos incluyeran el síndrome de “delirio excitado” en certificados de defunción o informes de autopsias.
California Bans Controversial ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis
California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice.
PrEP, a Key HIV Prevention Tool, Isn’t Reaching Black Women
New HIV infections occur disproportionately among Black women, but exclusionary marketing, fewer treatment options, and provider wariness have limited uptake of preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drugs, which reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
House Panel to Hold Hearing on Erroneous Social Security Payments
Congress is beginning to take action on the Social Security Administration’s clawbacks of payments it mistakenly made to poor, retired, and disabled Americans.
Hospitales perderán reembolsos de Medicare si no combaten mejor la mortal sepsis
La sepsis es la respuesta extrema del organismo a una infección y afecta cada año a 1,7 millones de adultos en Estados Unidos.
Narcan, Now Available Without a Prescription, Can Still Be Hard to Get
Narcan is available without a prescription. Addiction treatment experts hope this move will increase access to the medication, which can reverse opioid overdoses. But hurdles remain: cost and stigma.
Feds Hope to Cut Sepsis Deaths by Hitching Medicare Payments to Treatment Stats
A new rule sets specific treatment metrics for suspected sepsis cases in an effort to reduce deaths, but some experts say the measures could add to antibiotic overuse and need to be more flexible.
‘I’m So Burned Out’: Fighting to See a Specialist Amplified Pain for Riverside County Woman
Teresa Johnson has been in extreme pain for more than a year after what she believes was a severe allergic reaction to iodine. Her Medi-Cal plan approved her referral to a specialist, but it took her numerous phone calls, multiple complaints, and several months to book an appointment.
