KFF Health News Weekly Edition: Oct. 18, 2024
California Continues Progressive Policies, With Restraint, in Divisive Election Year
By Don Thompson
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.
Mountain Town Confronts an Unexpected Public Health Catastrophe
By Kim Dinan
Flooding wrought by Hurricane Helene devastated communities around Asheville, North Carolina. A host of government programs are helping restore water, food, and medicine.
Helene and CVS Land Double Whammy for 25,000 Patients Who Survive on IV Nutrition
By Arthur Allen
A Massachusetts woman ended up stranded in the hospital because CVS stopped providing the IV nutrition she needs to survive at home. Without it, she’d starve.
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.
Patients Are Relying on Lyft, Uber To Travel Far Distances to Medical Care
By Michael Scaturro
Uber and Lyft have become a critical part of the nation’s infrastructure for transporting ailing people from their homes — even in rural areas — to medical care sites in major cities such as Atlanta.
Super Bowl Rally Shooting Victims Pick Up Pieces, but Gun Violence Haunts Their Lives
By Peggy Lowe, KCUR and Bram Sable-Smith
Eight months after the Feb. 14 shooting, people wounded at the Kansas City Chiefs parade are wary of more gun violence. In this installment of “The Injured,” survivors of the shooting say they feel gun violence is inescapable and are desperately seeking a sense of safety.
More Mobile Clinics Are Bringing Long-Acting Birth Control to Rural Areas
By Arielle Zionts
Small-town doctors may not offer IUDs and hormonal implants because the devices require training to administer and are expensive to stock.
Harris Backs Slashing Medical Debt. Trump’s ‘Concepts’ Worry Advocates.
By Noam N. Levey
The Biden administration has taken significant steps to address a problem that burdens 100 million people in America, but gains would be jeopardized by a Trump win, advocates say.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week.
Millions of Aging Americans Are Facing Dementia by Themselves
By Judith Graham
In a health care system that assumes older adults have family caregivers to help them, those facing dementia by themselves often fall through the cracks.
California Hospitals Scramble on Earthquake Retrofits as State Limits Extensions
By Annie Sciacca
California legislators for years have granted extensions on a 1994 law requiring hospitals to retrofit their buildings to withstand earthquakes. Gov. Gavin Newsom in September vetoed an extension for all hospitals but signed a bill granting relief to rural and “distressed” hospitals and some others.
Journalists Talk Obesity, Oximeters, and Severe Weather’s Impact on Public Health
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.