Latest KFF Health News Stories
Insurer Tries A Soft Touch — Puppies! — For This Year’s Hard Sell Of Obamacare Plans
Open enrollment for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges started last week. Across the country, municipalities, insurers and grass-roots groups are working hard to help folks navigate the hoops.
Flat-Fee Primary Care Helps Fill Niche For Texas’ Uninsured
Doctors offering this care charge a monthly fee for services that can be handled in the office. But patient advocates warn it is not insurance and offers no coverage for hospital or specialist care.
Years After Silently Combating Sexual Trauma, Female Veterans Seek Help
Many women who served in the military decades ago were victims of sexual assaults but often felt compelled to keep quiet.
A Tale Of Two States: California, Texas And The Latest ACA Repeal Bid
In the GOP’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, California would lose a lot of federal funding. Texas would gain a lot in the short term, but experts worry Texas would not use the money well.
Hurricane’s Health Toll: A Texas Doctor Taps Lessons From Katrina
After weathering the catastrophe in New Orleans 12 years ago, Dr. Ruth Berggren moved to Texas, where she again finds herself in the center of a hurricane crisis. In a Q&A, she draws parallels between the harrowing events and pinpoints risks in Harvey’s aftermath.
Oregon, Texas Are Latest States To Put Down Markers On Abortion Coverage
The governors of both states signed abortion legislation last week. Texas will restrict insurance coverage while Oregon will require that it be covered.
Programa contra la tuberculosis en Texas podría reproducirse a nivel nacional
En 20 condados se están realizando pruebas a personas vulnerables, para saber si tienen tuberculosis latente, una condición que pone a la persona en un riesgo mucho mayor de desarrollar tuberculosis activa.
South Texas Fights Tuberculosis One Blood Test At A Time
A Medicaid-funded effort in San Antonio seeks to test vulnerable populations for latent TB infections.
In Texas, People With Mental Illness Find Work Helping Peers
Peer support, well-known in addiction treatment, is gaining ground for people with serious mental illness. Texas and 35 other states are training and paying peer support specialists to help bridge a gap in mental health treatment.
Texas Hospitals Fear Losing $6.2B Medicaid Deal
Texas is asking the Trump administration to renew a 2011 agreement set to expire in December that helps pay hospitals’ costs of caring for the state’s uninsured residents.
Seesawing Family Income Threatens Kids’ Medicaid Coverage In Texas
Critics point to the state’s aggressive eligibility checks as an example of what can go wrong when states have flexibility and add a reason to worry about GOP efforts to overhaul the program.
Houston Hospital Checking To See If Patients’ Cupboards Are Bare
Starting in fall 2015, Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System began to examine the food struggles among patients at four medical sites and found that 11 percent to 30 percent said they had run out of food in the prior month or thought that they would.
Texas Braces For Medicaid Cuts Under GOP Health Plan
Texans on both sides of the political spectrum say the Lone Star State is not going to fare well under GOP plans to replace the Affordable Care Act.
Change In Texas Medicaid Payments Helps Cut Number Of Premature Births
Texas has reduced unnecessary early deliveries by 14 percent since refusing to pay doctors who performed C-sections that weren’t medically necessary.
What Made Obamacare Succeed In Some States? Hint: It’s Not Politics
A study of five states looks at the market conditions that make or break the health insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act.
As Non-Medical Vaccine Exemptions Grow, Texas Parents Seek Transparency In Schools
Although the state has an overall high level of vaccinations, some people are concerned about growing pockets with high numbers of children who are not immunized.
To Curb Unintended Pregnancy, States Turn To IUDs — In The Delivery Room
States are contemplating whether access to IUD through post-delivery procedures could be an important step in curbing unintended pregnancies.
Despite Federal Directive, Texas Denies Medicaid Coverage For An Autism Therapy
The state’s Medicaid program quit covering the expensive therapy, called applied behavioral analysis, leaving some families scrambling to afford the treatment.
5 Things To Know About The Supreme Court’s Texas Abortion Decision
It was a big win for pro-abortion rights advocates, but abortion opponents are not daunted. Stay tuned for how it will affect presidential politics and the next generation of women voters.
Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Restrictions In Texas Anti-Abortion Law
The 5-to-3 decision could impact similar laws in about two dozen other states.
