Latest KFF Health News Stories
Can You Rely on Your Mammogram To Identify Heart Disease Risk?
Clinicians and researchers are searching for answers to whether an incidental finding on breast X-rays could improve the detection of cardiovascular disease risk among women.
Marylanders To Vote on Expansive ‘Right to Reproductive Freedom’
The Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment would enshrine in the state constitution a right “to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”
Residentes de Maryland votarán por un amplio “derecho a la libertad reproductiva”
En Maryland, donde el aborto es legal, una enmienda propuesta consagraría en la constitución estatal un derecho “a tomar y hacer efectivas decisiones para prevenir, continuar o terminar el propio embarazo”.
Mothering Over Meds: Docs Say Common Treatment for Opioid-Exposed Babies Isn’t Necessary
Amid what has been called the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic, doctors and researchers are walking back medication-heavy methods of treating babies born experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, replacing the regimen with the simplest care: parenting.
California Continues Progressive Policies, With Restraint, in Divisive Election Year
This legislative cycle, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills affirming reproductive rights and mandating insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, but the Democrat was reluctant to impose new regulations and frequently cited costs for vetoing bills.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': LIVE From KFF: Health Care and the 2024 Election
The Affordable Care Act has not been a major issue in the 2024 campaign, but abortion and reproductive rights have been front and center. Those are just two of the dozens of health issues that could be profoundly affected by who is elected president and which party controls Congress in 2025. In this special live episode, Tamara Keith of NPR, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Cynthia Cox and Ashley Kirzinger of KFF join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss how health policy has affected the campaign and how the election results might affect health policy. Plus, the panel answers questions from the live audience.
More Mobile Clinics Are Bringing Long-Acting Birth Control to Rural Areas
Small-town doctors may not offer IUDs and hormonal implants because the devices require training to administer and are expensive to stock.
Más clínicas móviles están llevando anticonceptivos de acción prolongada a zonas rurales
Un creciente número de programas móviles buscan aumentar el acceso de las comunidades rurales a los cuidados de salud de la mujer, incluida la anticoncepción reversible de acción prolongada.
Health Issues Motivating Black Women Voters for Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris, now on the presidential campaign trail, is making inroads with a key voting bloc: Black women, who are rallying behind her because of her work on issues such as preserving abortion access, curbing gun violence and reducing maternal deaths. What has become clear is not just that this voting group supports […]
Abortion Emerges as Most Important Election Issue for Young Women, Poll Finds
A KFF survey found significant shifts among women voters since late spring — all in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
El aborto es el tema electoral más importante para las mujeres jóvenes, según una encuesta
Casi 4 de cada 10 mujeres menores de 30 años encuestadas en septiembre y principios de octubre dijeron que el aborto es la cuestión más importante a la hora de emitir su voto.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Yet Another Promise for Long-Term Care Coverage
As part of her presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris has rolled out a plan for Medicare to provide in-home long-term care services. The proposal would fill a longtime need for families trying to simultaneously care for young children and older parents, but its enormous price tag makes it a promise unlikely to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, a growing number of Republican candidates up and down the ballot facing voter backlash over their support for abortion restrictions are trying to reinvent their positions. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, excerpts from a KFF lunch with “Shark Tank” panelist and generic drug discounter Mark Cuban, who has been consulting with the Harris campaign about health care issues.
Catholic Hospital Offered Bucket, Towels to Woman It Denied an Abortion, California AG Said
In California, where abortion rights are guaranteed, there’s a loophole. The growth of Catholic hospital systems, which restrict reproductive health care, has left patients with no other option for care. That will be the case for pregnant women in Northern California, with a hospital set to close its birth center.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Health of the Campaign
The 2024 presidential race is taking on a familiar tone — with Democrats accusing Republicans of wanting to ban abortion and repeal the Affordable Care Act and Republicans insisting they have no such plans. Voters will determine whom they believe. Meanwhile, for the second time in a month, a state judge overturned an abortion ban, but few expect the decision to settle the matter. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post “Bill of the Month,” about a teenage athlete whose needed surgery lacked a billing code.
On the Campaign Trail, Democrats Call Out Opponents on Abortion
As Nov. 5 approaches and the struggle for control of the U.S. House reaches a fever pitch, Democrats are doing everything they can to tie their Republican opponents to their antiabortion voting records. Some Republican candidates, meanwhile, seem to be softening their positions. And political analysts say it’s part of a larger trend playing out […]
Doctors Urging Conference Boycotts Over Abortion Bans Face Uphill Battle
A famed breast cancer surgeon has created a California alternative to a major Texas event. Yet many doctors believe boycotting medical conferences in states that criminalize abortion accomplishes nothing and can be harmful.
Vance-Walz Debate Highlighted Clear Health Policy Differences
The vice presidential debate showcased the very different views of Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick, on health policies past and present.
Harris’ Emphasis on Maternal Health Care Is Paying Dividends With Black Women Voters
Polls are showing renewed support from Black women voters for the Democratic ticket. Vice President Kamala Harris has backed key health priorities for Black women.
Democratic Hopefuls Fault GOP Incumbents for Anti-Abortion Records in Congress
Democratic congressional hopefuls in California are highlighting the anti-abortion records of vulnerable Republican incumbents, many of whom have moderated their stances ahead of the election. With control of the U.S. House at stake, Democrats hope to convince voters that their candidates will do more to protect women’s health.
A medida que se acerca el día de las elecciones, los aspirantes demócratas están haciendo todo lo posible para vincular a sus oponentes republicanos en distritos congresionales disputados con sus antecedentes antiaborto.
