KFF Health News Weekly Edition: May 26, 2023
Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder
Elisabeth Rosenthal
The Department of Health and Human Services is tasked with monitoring denials both by Obamacare health plans and those offered through employers and insurers. As insurers’ denials become more common, they sometimes defy not just medical standards of care but sheer logic. Why hasn’t the agency fulfilled its assignment?
When an Anti-Vaccine Activist Runs for President
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s official entry into the presidential race poses a thorny challenge for journalists: how to cover a candidate who’s opposed to vaccines without amplifying misinformation. And South Carolina becomes the latest state in the South to ban abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani about her project to track the billions of dollars coming from opioid makers to settle lawsuits.
California Hospitals Seek a Broad Bailout, but They Don’t All Need It
Samantha Young and Angela Hart
As hospitals squeeze Democratic leaders in Sacramento for more money, health care finance experts and former state officials warn against falling for the industry’s fear tactics. They point to healthy profits and a recession-era financing scheme that allows rich hospitals to take tax money from poorer ones.
As Water Levels Drop, the Risk of Arsenic Rises
Melissa Bailey
As the West grapples with a megadrought, its driest spell in at least 1,200 years, rising levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — in Colorado’s San Luis Valley offer clues to what the future may hold.
Abortion Bans Are Driving Off Doctors and Closing Clinics, Putting Basic Health Care at Risk
Julie Rovner
Doctors say they are reluctant to practice in abortion-banned states, where making the best decision for a patient could run afoul of the law. Even former President Donald Trump’s surgeon general is concerned about the repercussions for women’s health, writes KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner.
Domestic Violence Shelters Move Out of Hiding
Katheryn Houghton
A new domestic violence shelter in Bozeman, Montana, reflects efforts nationwide to rethink the model that keeps survivors of abuse in hiding. But there are no guidelines for bringing shelters out into the open, leaving each to make it up as they go.
A Trans Teen No Longer Feels Welcome in Florida. So She Left.
Stephanie Colombini, WUSF
Josie sensed Florida lawmakers were threatening her health care and ability to be herself at school. So she left. Families of other trans youth are plotting exits as well.
This Panel Will Decide Whose Medicine to Make Affordable. Its Choice Will Be Tricky.
Markian Hawryluk
Colorado’s new Prescription Drug Affordability Board could cap what health plans and consumers pay for certain medications starting next year. The process will pit patient groups against one another.
A Striking Gap Between Deaths of Black and White Babies Plagues the South
Lauren Sausser
Infant mortality rates across the South are by far the worst in the U.S. A look at South Carolina — where multimillion-dollar programs aimed at improving rates over the past 10 years have failed to move the needle — drives home the challenge of finding solutions, especially in rural communities.
A More Aggressive FTC Is Starting to Target Drug Mergers and Industry Middlemen
Arthur Allen
Industry analysts are skeptical that Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan can win her first fight against a drug industry merger. It will be reviewed by a judge appointed by then-President Donald Trump.
Young People Are Having Less Sex Than Their Parents Did at Their Age. Researchers Explore Why.
Phillip Reese
The percentage of young adults not having sex was rising even before covid made dating harder. Data and research suggest economic precarity, technology, and the warping effects of porn on sexual attitudes may play a role.
California’s Fentanyl Problem Is Getting Worse
Don Thompson
State lawmakers have recently been debating whether and how to stiffen punishments for dealers, while Gov. Gavin Newsom is targeting fentanyl trafficking and distributing more naloxone. The problem, experts say, is one with no easy or clear answers.
A Catch-22 for Clinics: State Bans Limit Abortion Counseling. Federal Title X Rules Require It.
Rachana Pradhan
Family planning clinics are getting caught between state abortion bans and a federal requirement to refer patients for abortion care on request.
Small, Rural Communities Have Become Abortion Access Battlegrounds
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
After local leaders in rural Nevada reached an impasse over a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic, an anti-abortion activist pitching local abortion bans across the U.S. arrived at their remote City Hall.
He Returned to the US for His Daughter’s Wedding. He Left With a $42,000 Hospital Bill.
Sarah Jane Tribble
After emergency surgery, an American expatriate with Swiss insurance now carries the baggage of a five-figure bill. Costs for medical care in the U.S. can be two to three times the rates in other developed countries, so foreigners and expats with good insurance in their home countries need travel insurance to protect themselves from “crazy prices.”
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Journalists Unpack Facility School Closures and Federal Investment in Crisis Hotlines
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.