Latest KFF Health News Stories
Miss. To Require Cord Blood Testing On Babies Born To Some Teenage Moms
The law is designed to identify older men who had sex with underage women.
Obamacare Insurance Won’t Cover Weight-Loss Surgery In Many States
In more than two dozen states, obesity treatments
Health Care Cuts From Vaccinations To Research
Sequestration’s cuts will likely affect how low-income Americans get maternal care, vaccinate their children and get treatment for mental illness, even if the cuts largely spare Medicare and Medicaid.
Minnesota Legislature Hammers Out Exchange Bill
Abortion restrictions passed the Democratic-majority House but could face a veto by Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. The state Senate takes up its exchange bill on Thursday.
Connecticut Health Agency Fights Desperation Among the Insured
Connecticut was one of the first states to establish a health care advocacy agency, a response to the numerous complaints lawmakers were receiving at that time from constituents about their managed care plans.
Post-Election, Insurance Exchanges, Other Health Care Issues Loom Large In States
Six public radio reporters – Martha Bebinger (Mass.), Sarah Varney (Calif.), Elizabeth Stawicki (Minn.), Erika Beras (Penn.), Lynn Hatter (Fla.) and Elana Gordon (Missouri) – talk about how yesterday’s vote could affect the future of the health law implementation and public health in their states.
Health Law’s Promise Of Coverage Not Resonating With Miami’s Uninsured
Miami-Dade has one of the country’s highest rates of uninsured residents, but the issue is not rising to the top of the bitter campaign in Florida.
The Great Fluoride Debate In Portland
Portland, Ore., is the largest American city that doesn’t add fluoride to its drinking water. Activists have been vocal, for and against a proposal to change that. The science shows that fears of side effects from small amounts of fluoride to protect teeth are unfounded.
From Zambia To Kansas City: One Woman’s AIDS Odyssey
More than 6,000 people in the Kansas City region are living with HIV/AIDS, including Bester Seemani, who says an AIDS diagnosis twelve years ago completely changed her life and her journey back home to Zambia.
Meet A New Breed Of Medical Professional: The Health Coach
Health coaches are becoming more popular as chronic and often preventable diseases like Type 2 diabetes consume more and more health care dollars.
Abortion Opponents Find Success In Statehouses
Mississippi’s battle over abortion may be the most dramatic in the nation right now, but it is far from the only one. On the state level, 2012 has brought a near-record number of anti-abortion laws and provisions.
Kentucky Public Health Expert Says Diabetes Epidemic ‘Really Requires Community Action And Support’
Gilbert Friedell, a doctor who founded a state health care committee, says many residents of Appalachia acknowledge that their families “have a touch of sugar,” but they can’t fight the disease by themselves.
Roberts Says Law’s Offer To States On Medicaid ‘Is A Gun To The Head’
The chief justice also says that the court “does not express any opinion on the wisdom of the Affordable Care Act. Under the Constitution, that judgment is re-served to the people.”
‘Rest Of The Country Should Take A Good Look At The Situation In Texas’
Almost one in three people in Houston lacks health insurance, with many dependent on a fraying health care safety net.
Wallack On Vermont’s Goal: ‘Universal, Affordable Coverage’
Anya Rader Wallack, tapped to move Vermont toward a single payer system, is confident the state would enact its own individual mandate if the Supreme Court strikes down the federal mandate.
Kingsdale: ‘People Are Aware That There Are Huge Problems’
In the first installment of a KHN video series, Jon Kingsdale discusses the three strategies being taken by states in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling and the fall election.
Alaska Targets An Old Foe: Tuberculosis
Until 1950, TB was the No. 1 cause of death in Alaska. That legacy means that a large number of Alaskans still carry the bacteria that can cause the disease.
Mississippi Legislature Passes Abortion Clinic Bill
The bill will require any doctor performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified OB-GYN with admitting privileges at a local hospital, which could make staffing the state’s sole abortion clinic very difficult.
Texas Women’s Health Fund In Jeopardy Over Abortion Politics
Texas is in a stand-off with the federal government over a program that provides contraception and reproductive check-ups for low-income Texas women. A new Texas rule would exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from participating, even though the program has nothing to do with abortion.
Testy Santorum, Romney Tussle Over Mass. Health Reform
In the last scheduled Republican debate, candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul attacked the Obama administration on its birth control stance. Santorum dovetailed the issue into an attack of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, which then-Gov. Romney endorsed. Here is a transcript of the health care portions of the debate:
