The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
21-40 of 402 results
The child tax credit passed by Congress at the height of covid has expired, but states and localities are trying to fill the gap with their own programs and funding. In Michigan, Rx Kids already covers every family with a new baby in Flint. Now, other communities aim to follow.
The coronavirus pandemic underscored the importance of paid sick leave, a benefit to help workers and their families when they fall ill. Now voters in Missouri, Nebraska, and Alaska are deciding whether employers must provide it.
The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.
A KFF Health News investigation reveals that employers and the government have offered nursing aides little assistance for PTSD and other ongoing maladies triggered by hazardous work during the pandemic.
The term “health equity” means different things to different people. Beyond guaranteeing all Americans access to adequate, affordable medical care, the pursuit of equity can include addressing social determinants of health, such as housing, education, and environment. Systemic and historical racism — manifested in over-policing or contaminated drinking water, for instance — can negatively affect health. In a live taping at the Texas Tribune Festival, special guests Carol Alvarado, the Texas state Senate’s Democratic leader, and Ann Barnes, president and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation, along with KFF Health News’ Sabriya Rice and Cara Anthony, join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss addressing health inequities.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has a plan to protect farmworkers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke, but farmworkers who pick California grapes say they need more, as climate change brings more extreme weather.
For decades, state and federal agencies have restricted or delayed tribes and tribal epidemiology centers from accessing public health data, a blackout that leaves health workers in Native American communities cobbling together information to guide their work, including tracking devastating disease outbreaks.
Rural communities are losing access to maternity care, raising the risk of pregnancy complications, especially for Black women, who face higher rates of maternal mortality. Now, a Georgia medical school is trying to help by training doulas, practitioners who offer patients extra support before, during, and after childbirth.
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in the last couple of weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Administrators at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine are trying to recruit more Black students — and more Hispanic and Choctaw Nation students, for that matter. But they face several obstacles, including a recent swell of Republican opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media in the last couple of weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
As billions of dollars from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors go to state and local governments, efforts to reduce the epidemic’s harm can be hamstrung by drug paraphernalia laws. Health authorities say distributing clean syringes to users can save lives, but in states like Pennsylvania, it may be illegal.
People with disabilities say they are abruptly losing their Medicaid home health benefits and are being advised incorrectly when they call state offices for more information. “Every day the anxiety builds,” one beneficiary told KFF Health News.
The legislature is considering taking the first steps to make Covered California plans available to immigrants without permanent legal status. The state has already extended Medi-Cal coverage to low-income immigrants.
People across the nation claim cancer-causing emissions from local sterilizing plants are making them sick. It’s an example of environmental racism, say residents of one predominantly Black area in southwest Memphis, Tennessee, where life expectancy is much shorter than county and state averages.
Researchers in Charleston, South Carolina, are trying to build a DNA database of 100,000 people to better understand how genetics affects health risks. But they’re struggling to recruit enough Black participants.
The state is looking at ways to weed out false reporting of child abuse and neglect as the number of reports reaches a record high.
Facing widening racial disparities in overdose deaths, Philadelphia officials are sending workers and volunteers to knock on doors across the city, aiming to equip households with naloxone and other drug overdose prevention supplies. City officials hope a proactive approach will normalize naloxone as an everyday item in people’s medicine cabinets and prevent overdoses, especially among Black residents.
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.
A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon. The end of the subsidy launched earlier in the pandemic could have profound impacts on health care access.
© 2026 KFF