Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Attempts To Revive Compassionate Cannabis Programs
After the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, new taxes and regulations decimated an ad hoc network that had donated cannabis for medical purposes to patients who could not afford it. A recent law seeks to revive the network, but hurdles remain.
A Veteran Started Vaping THC To Cope With Chronic Pain. Then He Got Very Sick.
A Navy veteran from Cleveland tried vaping marijuana to deal with his chronic pain. He landed in the hospital, becoming one of over 2,400 Americans who have suffered serious lung injury from vaping.
Promising Greater Safety, A Tiny Widget Creates Chaos For Tube Feeders
A standard connector for feeding tubes was supposed to improve patient safety by preventing accidental misconnections to equipment used for IVs or other purposes. But critics say the design instead could keep patients from real food and inadvertently creates a host of new risks, including for vulnerable premature infants.
The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep
Family caregivers pledge to fulfill their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes. But too often circumstances change, and they must break their word and guard against breaking hearts ― including their own.
For Artist Inspired By Illness, ‘Gratitude Outweighs Pain’
After surviving two double lung transplants, Dylan Mortimer, a Kansas City artist, turns his battle with cystic fibrosis into joyous, whimsical art. Now Mortimer buys glitter by the pound and uses it to create mixed-media collages and sculptures for hospitals, private collectors and public spaces.
Coping With (Power) Loss: California’s Hospitals, Clinics, Patients Face New Reality
How are critical medical services interrupted by the loss of power and what can hospitals and clinics do to minimize the impact? This Q&A will give you some answers.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: A Medical Bill Ninja Shares Her Secrets
On Season 3, Episode 2 of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg,” an Illinois woman harnesses a lifetime of experience — and frustration — with health care finances to help other people solve their medical bill problems.
Dialysis Patients Panic As Financial ‘Life Raft’ Becomes Unmoored
An organization that helps nearly 4,000 California dialysis patients pay for their insurance is threatening to cut off aid in January because of a new law that is expected to reduce dialysis industry profits. Patients fear they won’t be able to afford their life-saving treatment.
When Caring For A Sick Spouse Shakes A Marriage To The Core
A long illness creates a real risk: that the relationship will be undermined and essential emotional connections lost.
Cuando cuidar al cónyuge enfermo afecta los cimientos del matrimonio
El riesgo es que los matrimonios se vean afectados por la enfermedad y se pierdan las conexiones emocionales esenciales.
If Power Outages Are California’s New Normal, What About Home Medical Needs?
Those who rely on plug-in health devices or medicine that requires refrigeration are scrambling to find ways to avoid potentially life-threatening disruptions now and in future fire season shutdowns.
Moved Overseas For School, Stayed For Insulin
Katie West, an American health researcher who has lived in Germany the past three years, hasn’t mastered the language and misses her family. But not having to worry about the cost of her lifesaving medication makes it OK.
Millions Of Diabetes Patients Are Missing Out On Medicare’s Nutrition Help
Health experts say the little-used benefit represents a lost opportunity for older adults to improve their health — and for the program to save money by preventing costly complications from diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Millones con diabetes no aprovechan programa nutricional de Medicare
Hay unos 15 millones de beneficiarios de Medicare que viven con diabetes, pero solo unos 100,000 se han inscripto para usar este beneficio que, al parecer, tiene buenos resultados.
Abuelos que pasan hambre: el país fracasa en alimentar a los más vulnerables
Millones de adultos mayores en todo el país pasan hambre en silencio, mientras la red de seguridad diseñada para ayudarlos se desmembra.
Starving Seniors: How America Fails To Feed Its Aging
One out of every 13 older Americans struggles to find enough food to eat while the federal program intended to help hasn’t kept pace with the graying population.
In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’
As the Indian government reluctantly loosens its prescription opioid laws after decades of lobbying by palliative care advocates desperate to ease their patients’ pain, the nation’s sprawling, cash-fed health care system is ripe for misuse.
Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India
What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.
Readers And Tweeters Take Dialysis Providers To Task: Nowhere But In The USA
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Dialysis Industry Spends Big To Protect Profits
Dialysis companies are fighting a bill in the California legislature that could disrupt their business model. Their weapons: campaign cash and a sophisticated public relations campaign.
