Latest News On Substance Misuse

Latest KFF Health News Stories

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Waiting For The Trump Health Plan

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump keeps promising a new health plan, but so far it’s nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is proposing a plan to cancel billions of dollars in medical debt owed by patients. This week, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Rovner also interviews KHN’s Rachel Bluth about the latest “Bill of the Month” feature. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

Back To School 2019: Backpack, Lunchbox And A Drug Test

KFF Health News Original

As schools begin a new year, more districts will test students as young as 11 for illicit drug use even as other drug prevention efforts are scaled back. More than 1 in 3 school districts nationwide give students drug tests.

Governor’s ‘Mental Health Czar’ Seeks New Blueprint For Care In California

KFF Health News Original

Thomas Insel, who ran the National Institute of Mental Health for 13 years before casting his lot with Silicon Valley, is taking a temporary break from his senior position at a health care startup to advise Gov. Gavin Newsom on how to remake mental health care in the Golden State.

In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’

KFF Health News Original

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.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Biden Doubles Down On Obamacare

KFF Health News Original

Presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled a health plan intended to provide a more moderate alternative to his competitors’ “Medicare for All” plans. It would build on the Affordable Care Act but would go much further. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus Planned Parenthood’s very bad week, the U.S. House vote to repeal the health law’s “Cadillac tax” on generous health plans, and the reduction in deaths from opioids.

Florida Is The Latest Republican-Led State To Adopt Clean Needle Exchanges

KFF Health News Original

Florida has struggled for years with opioid overdoses — and the highest rate of HIV infection in the U.S. Lawmakers now hope needle exchanges and a “harm reduction” approach could help save lives.

Federal Grants ‘A Lifesaver’ In Opioid Fight, But States Still Struggle To Curb Meth

KFF Health News Original

The federal government has doled out at least $2.4 billion in state grants since 2017 to address the opioid epidemic, which killed 47,600 people in the U.S. that year alone. But local officials note that drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance.