Latest News On Michigan

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Newborns Get Routine Heel Blood Tests, but Should States Keep Those Samples?

KFF Health News Original

Shortly after birth, babies are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for life-threatening conditions. States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Judge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Benefits

KFF Health News Original

A federal judge in Texas — the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 — has ruled against some of the ACA’s preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.

Parents Become Drug Developers to Save Their Children’s Lives

KFF Health News Original

Families affected by ultra-rare diseases are starting their own companies to speed the development of treatments for their kids, venturing into territory that traditional drugmakers deem too risky.

Las clínicas de salud sexual luchan sin medios contra la viruela del simio

KFF Health News Original

Las clínicas que tratan las enfermedades de transmisión sexual —que ya se enfrentaban a un aumento explosivo de enfermedades como la sífilis y la gonorrea— se encuentran ahora en la primera línea de la lucha para controlar el brote de viruela del simio, que crece rápidamente.

In Some States, Voters Will Get to Decide the Future of Abortion Rights

KFF Health News Original

Measures to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution will be on the ballot in California and Vermont this fall. Abortion-rights advocates in Michigan are hoping their state will follow suit.

Boost Now or Wait? Many Wonder How Best to Ride Out Covid’s Next Wave

KFF Health News Original

As the country faces a rise in new infections driven by the omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus, about 70% of people 50 and older who got a first covid-19 booster shot haven’t received the recommended second one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many undervaccinated Americans have lost interest, and others aren’t sure whether to get boosted again now or wait for vaccines reformulated to target newer strains of the virus.

Patients With Epilepsy Navigate Murky Unregulated CBD Industry

KFF Health News Original

The FDA has approved a cannabis-derived drug, Epidiolex, to treat some forms of epilepsy. Now people who have other forms of the condition are using over-the-counter CBD products in hopes of taming their seizures. But doctors and patients worry about the unregulated world of CBD, in which product ingredients can be a mystery.

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.

Why So Slow? Legislators Take on Insurers’ Delays in Approving Prescribed Treatments

KFF Health News Original

Insurers say prior authorization requirements are intended to reduce wasteful and inappropriate health care spending. But they can baffle patients waiting for approval. And doctors say that insurers have yet to follow through on commitments to improve the process.

1931 State Law Makes Abortion a Felony if ‘Roe’ Falls, Warns Michigan Attorney General

KFF Health News Original

Dana Nessel, the Democratic attorney general of Michigan, said she would not have the authority to keep county prosecutors from enforcing the old law. Nessel also discussed the “selective reduction” abortion she had when pregnant with triplets.

Who Doesn’t Text in 2022? Most State Medicaid Programs

KFF Health News Original

As states prepare for the end of the covid public health emergency, they are making plans to reevaluate each Medicaid enrollee’s eligibility. They will rely primarily on mail and email because not many states can text enrollees.

Refurbished Walkers and Wheelchairs Fill Gaps Created by Supply Chain Problems

KFF Health News Original

Loan closets are playing an important role as supply chain issues and the rising price of aluminum have led to shortages in medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and knee scooters.