Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obesity Trends Still On The Rise, But Intervention Is Possible, Study Finds
Strategies have been identified to address this trend, but they need to be considered a public health priority.
Although Smoking Has Declined, Its Consequences Continue, Study Finds
The bottom line, according to researchers, is that despite 50 years of declining smoking prevalence rates, almost 170,000 cancer deaths annually are still caused by this habit.
Texas’ Tough Abortion Restrictions Mostly Upheld By Appeals Court
Abortion rights groups say the ruling would leave only eight clinics open statewide.
Tanning Beds And College Campuses – A Public Health Concern
Public health advocates increasingly view tanning beds as a cancer “delivery device” and are stepping up efforts to make them less available to young people.
Rural Indiana Struggles With Drug-Fueled HIV Epidemic
In response to an HIV outbreak of historic proportions, Indiana’s legislature passed a bill permitting drug users in areas with disease outbreaks to trade used needles for clean ones. Sarah Varney reports for KHN and PBS NewsHour from Austin, Indiana.
Boston Bombing Survivors Struggle With Medical And Emotional Recovery
Two years after the marathon bombing, Martha and Alvaro Galvis still suffer from physical wounds and emotional pain.
Missouri Health Plans Offer Inadequate Coverage For Smoking Cessation, Report Finds
The American Lung Association study finds that few insurers fully cover all seven FDA-approved devices to help smokers quit the habit, but insurers dispute the findings.
Tougher Vaccine Exemption Bill In Calif. Clears First Hurdle
The state Senate health committee passed the bill after a debate that drew several hundred protesters to Sacramento.
Texas Bill Would Prohibit Doctors From Asking About Guns
A Texas lawmaker, also a surgeon, wants to ensure doctors ‘have the right not to ask’ about gun ownership and is pushing a bill to do just that.
Many Along Texas Border Still Live Without Clean, Safe Water
Roughly 90,000 Texans living along the Texas-Mexico border in unincorporated ‘colonias’ don’t have running water in their homes.
To Protect His Son, A Father Asks School To Bar Unvaccinated Children
A California child in remission from leukemia cannot be vaccinated because his immune system is rebuilding after chemotherapy. The family, which lives in a school district where 7 percent of the children are not vaccinated under a “personal belief exemption,” is asking school officials to have all kids be vaccinated or stay home from school during the measles outbreak.
Fourth Florida Insurer Agrees To Cap Cost Of HIV Drugs
A fourth insurer in Florida, Preferred Medical Plan, was hit with a federal civil rights complaint for discriminating against people with HIV. All have now agreed to lower drug costs.
Next Goal For Abortion-Rights Backers: Reducing Stigma
Groups urge women to tell their own abortion stories to helps change the public view of abortion.
NIH Cancels Children’s Study After 10 Years Of Work
The research, which cost $1.3 billion so far, was supposed to follow 100,000 children from birth to age 21 to track biological and environmental effects.
For Gay Men, Gaps In HIV Knowledge And Treatment Persist
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Saturday is National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, but the news about knowledge and treatment of HIV in the gay community is dispiriting. Just 30 percent of gay and bisexual men say they were tested for HIV within the last year as recommended; another 30 percent […]
Schizophrenia, Suicide And One Family’s Anguish
Homer Bell was 54 years old when he committed suicide in April in a very public way — he laid down in front of a bus in his hometown of Hartford, Conn. It was the culmination of three decades of suffering endured by Bell and his family because of his illness, schizophrenia. Harold Schwartz, the […]
Alicia Keys Shines Light On Women And HIV
One in 32 African American women in the United States is likely to be diagnosed with HIV in her lifetime. “One in 32, think about that,” said singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic at an event Monday. “Thirty years after we first heard of AIDS, it is really a […]
Family, Community Ties Key To Fighting Chronic Disease Among Latinos, Officials Say
Mayra Alvarez, one of four daughters, said her mother makes ends meet in California by cleaning houses during the week and caring for an elderly person on weekends. And when it comes to deciding between paying for a preventive screening test for herself or spending the money on her youngest daughter’s education, she said her […]
Greg Millett: New HIV Infections Are Down, But ‘Much More’ To Be Done
AIDS In 2012: Senior policy advisor in the Office of National AIDS Policy tells Joanne Silberner the president’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy has improved coordination among federal agencies and that the 2010 health law will improve access to care for those living with HIV/AIDS.
Employers Tie Financial Rewards, Penalties To Health Tests, Lifestyle Choices
Whether such programs spur long-term change is unclear, and some fear discrimination against those with chronic conditions.
