Latest News On Environmental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

LA’s First Heat Officer Says Helping Vulnerable Communities Is Key to Achieving Climate Goals

KFF Health News Original

Los Angeles taps Marta Segura, director of the city’s climate emergency mobilization office, as its first heat officer. Segura, the first Hispanic person to hold such a position in the country, will work across city departments on an early warning system while developing cooling strategies.

Sobering Lessons in Untying the Knot of a Homeless Crisis

KFF Health News Original

The homeless tragedy in Portland, Oregon, now spills well beyond the downtown core, creating a crisis of conscience for a fiercely liberal city that has generously invested in homeless support services.

It’s Hot Outside — And That’s Bad News for Children’s Health

KFF Health News Original

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine takes a sweeping look at how heat — which can be a byproduct of air pollution and climate change — adversely affects people’s health, especially that of kids.

Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools

KFF Health News Original

Researchers say the billions in pandemic funding available for ventilation upgrades in U.S. schools provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat covid-19, as well as making air more breathable for students living with allergies, asthma, and chronic wildfire smoke.

Some People in This Montana Mining Town Worry About the Dust Next Door

KFF Health News Original

Residents of a Butte neighborhood are concerned about the dust from a nearby open-pit mine that can coat their homes and vehicles. In a city where past mining left a legacy of soil and water pollution, is the air unsafe, too?

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Washington’s Slow Churn

KFF Health News Original

Stemming gun violence is back on the legislative agenda following three mass shootings in less than a month, but it’s hard to predict success when so many previous efforts have failed. Meanwhile, lawmakers must soon decide if they will extend current premium subsidies for those buying health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and the Biden administration acts, belatedly, on Medicare premiums. Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a too-common problem: denial of no-cost preventive care for a colonoscopy under the Affordable Care Act.

‘American Diagnosis’: ‘Water Warriors’ Tap Diné Resilience to Increase Access on Navajo Land

KFF Health News Original

Over decades, federal and state policies have left many tribal communities without access to clean, running water. This episode explores what separates some Diné and other Native people in the western United States from this critical resource.

Climate Change May Push the US Toward the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ for West Nile Virus

KFF Health News Original

Colorado recently recorded the most West Nile virus deaths and cases of neuroinvasive infections in nearly two decades. Scientists warn that climate change will make conditions ripe for more West Nile transmission.

‘American Diagnosis’: From Church Rock to Congress, Uranium Workers Are Still Fighting for Compensation

KFF Health News Original

This episode is the second half of a two-part series about uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. A coalition of Indigenous leaders and non-Native locals are lobbying Congress and fielding research to force the cleanup of abandoned uranium mining sites and expand federal compensation for workers harmed by the uranium industry.

Colorado abre período especial para tener seguro de salud por omicron y un incendio forestal

KFF Health News Original

Funcionarios estatales anunciaron la apertura de un período especial de inscripción hasta el 16 de marzo, abierto para todos los residentes de Colorado sin seguro, independientemente de si fueron afectados por el fuego o por covid-19.