KFF Health News Weekly Edition: Jan. 10, 2025

Health Care AI, Intended To Save Money, Turns Out To Require a Lot of Expensive Humans

Darius Tahir

Despite the hype over artificial intelligence in medicine, the systems require consistent monitoring and staffing to put in place and maintain. Checking whether an algorithm has developed the software equivalent of a blown gasket can be complicated — and expensive.

New Year, New Congress, New Health Agenda

Health is unlikely to be a top priority for the new GOP-led 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. But it’s likely to play a key supporting role, with an abortion bill already scheduled for debate in the Senate. Meanwhile, it’s unclear when and how the new Congress will deal with the bipartisan bills jettisoned from the previous Congress’ year-end omnibus measure — including a major deal to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit managers. In this “catch up on all the news you missed” episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Climate Change Threatens the Mental Well-Being of Youths. Here’s How To Help Them Cope.

Bernard J. Wolfson

The growing toll of climate-related disasters is a risk to the emotional well-being of young people. An Orange County, California, pediatric emergency doctor wants to add questions about climate change to standard mental health screenings conducted in pediatricians’ offices and other settings where kids seek care.

Medicaid Expansion Debate Will Affect Other Health Policy Issues Before Montana Legislature

Mike Dennison and Sue O'Connell

Legislative leaders say the decision whether to renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program this year will loom over behavioral health spending and hospital regulation, among other topics.

Indiana State Senator Moves To Scrap Hospital Monopoly Law He Helped Create

Samantha Liss

After rival hospitals in Terre Haute scuttled plans to merge, a state senator has introduced a bill to forbid similar mergers by repealing a state law he helped write.

Biden Administration Bars Medical Debt From Credit Scores

Noam N. Levey

The move, which comes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, represents a challenge to the new administration.

Health Care Is Newsom’s Biggest Unfinished Project. Trump Complicates That Task.

Angela Hart and Christine Mai-Duc

As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, health care stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents. The issue will likely shape his national profile for better or worse. And now, Donald Trump brings a new wrinkle.

Health Insurers Limit Coverage of Prosthetic Limbs, Questioning Their Medical Necessity

Michelle Andrews

Advocates say it is discrimination and are arguing for “insurance fairness” on the grounds that people who have joints surgically replaced typically don’t face the same kinds of coverage challenges.

Stimulant Users Are Caught in Fatal ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic

Lynn Arditi, The Public’s Radio

The migration of fentanyl into illicit stimulants such as cocaine is especially dangerous for people who are not regular opioid users. That’s because they have a low tolerance for opioids, putting them at greater risk of an overdose. They also often don’t take precautions — such as not using alone and carrying the opioid reversal medication naloxone — so they’re unprepared if they overdose.

Syringe Exchange Fears Hobble Fight Against West Virginia HIV Outbreak

Taylor Sisk

Health workers and researchers say an HIV outbreak in West Virginia that three years ago was called “the most concerning” in the U.S. continues to spread after state and local officials restricted syringe service programs.

For Many Rural Women, Finding Maternity Care Outweighs Concerns About Abortion Access

Lillian Mongeau Hughes

A legislative effort to expand access to prenatal care in rural Oregon with mobile clinics was scuttled because those clinics would have provided abortions in rural areas. Opposition to the proposal shows that, even in states that ensure access to abortions, that care isn’t universally available or accepted.

Francis Collins on Supporting NIH and Finding Common Ground

Francis Collins led the National Institutes of Health for 12 years, under three presidents. During the Biden administration, he added White House science adviser to his long list of roles. Now he runs his own lab on the NIH campus, and his latest book, “The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust,” came out in September. In this special holiday episode of KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” Collins joins host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss health misinformation, the Trump administration’s plans for the NIH, and bringing together a fractured society.

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