Bipartisan Senate Budget Deal Boosts Health Programs
By Julie Rovner and Shefali Luthra
The agreement would add $2 billion to the National Institutes of Health and fund community health centers around the country. But it does not include provisions to help stabilize the federal health law’s marketplaces.

Community Health Centers Caught In ‘Washington’s Political Dysfunction’
By Steven Findlay
The centers, which serve 27 million people, get about 20 percent of their funding from the federal government. But that revenue is slated to end on March 31.

Despite Changes That Undermined ACA Enrollment, Marketplaces ‘Remarkably Stable’
By Julie Appleby
A report issued by the National Academy for State Health Policy shows a small decrease in sign-ups last fall, but states running their own marketplaces did better than those that don’t.

Cut In Federal Subsidies Threatens Basic Health Programs In N.Y., Minn.
By Michelle Andrews
President Donald Trump’s decision to stop paying cost-sharing reduction subsidies means the federal government will reduce its funding of the Basic Health Program that provides low-cost coverage to more than 800,000 low-income people in those two states.

Changing The Way We Look At Dementia 
By Judith Graham
A new social movement in the U.S. tackles the stigma of living with Alzheimer’s.

Skip The Rocking Chairs For These Rock Stars Of Aging
By Bruce Horovitz
Two women, 80 and 91, from opposite poles, agree on the art of aging.

Upsurge Of Suburban Poor Discover Health Care’s Nowhere Land
By Elaine Korry
More low-income people now live in suburbs than in cities or rural areas, putting a strain on local health services. Suburbs, which traditionally have had fewer resources or infrastructure, are scrambling to catch up.

Nurse Calls Cops After New Mom Seeks Help For Depression. Right Call?
By April Dembosky, KQED
A package of mental health bills in California aims to ensure that all new moms are screened for postpartum depression and that more support is available for those who struggle with the malady.

Listen: Why Don’t You Hear More About Sickle Cell Disease?
Sickle cell disease receives far less attention from the medical establishment and the press than other illnesses that affect far fewer people.

The ‘Gesundheit Machine’ Collects Campus Cooties In Race Against A Fierce Flu
By Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR
Environmental health professor Don Milton is studying how the flu — and other dangerous infections — are spread. The close quarters of dorm rooms and cafeterias at the University of Maryland provide him with a steady supply of research subjects.

California To Drug Users: We’ll Pay For You To Test Your Dope
By Pauline Bartolone
Fentanyl, a significant cause of overdoses and deaths across the country, has begun showing up in California street drugs. State health officials have responded with a bold but controversial policy: paying for test strips so users can check their stash.

Readers And Tweeters Add Two Cents On Amazon Venture To Repackage Health Care
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.