KFF Health News Weekly Edition: Oct. 20, 2023
Let’s Have an Honest Conversation About What to Expect as You Age
Judith Graham
A leading geriatrician says a lot of health information for older adults isn’t as useful as it should be. No person’s aging process looks exactly like another’s. So she’s written a guidebook.
The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large — often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio’s November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Journalists Offer Insights on Mobile Clinics and Suicide Prevention
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.
Listen: Inroads for Women in California’s Health Care Workforce
KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart leads a discussion about the role women play as California grapples with a shortage of health care providers.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
Julie Appleby
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Doctors Abandon a Diagnosis Used to Justify Police Custody Deaths. It Might Live On, Anyway.
Markian Hawryluk and Renuka Rayasam
The American College of Emergency Physicians agreed to withdraw its 2009 white paper on excited delirium, removing the only official medical pillar of support left for the theory that has played a key role in absolving police of culpability for in-custody deaths.
A Third of Schools Don’t Have a Nurse. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.
Colleen DeGuzman and Eric Harkleroad
School nurses treat children daily for a wide range of illnesses and injuries, and sometimes serve as a young patient’s only health provider. They also function as a point person for critical public health interventions. Yet many states don’t require them, and school districts struggle to hire them.
Michigan Voters Backed Abortion Rights. Now Democrats Want to Go Further.
Kate Wells, Michigan Public
Michigan is one of the few remaining abortion havens in the Midwest. But getting an abortion in that state is still more difficult than it should be, providers say.
For People With Sickle Cell Disease, ERs Can Mean Life-Threatening Waits
Sara Hutchinson
When patients with sickle cell disease have a health crisis — crescent-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow — their condition can quickly lead to a fatal stroke or infection. But, despite efforts to educate doctors, research shows that patients are waiting hours in ERs and are often denied pain medication.
‘Hurts to Say?’
Trevor White
Used with the permission of Trevor White and CartoonStock. Cartoons are the property of their respective artists and are subject to copyright laws. Do not reproduce or redistribute this cartoon without permission of the artist.
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.
Pregnant and Addicted: Homeless Women See Hope in Street Medicine
Angela Hart
As homelessness explodes across California, so does the number of expectant mothers on the streets. Street medicine doctors are getting paid more by Medicaid and offering some of those mothers-to-be a chance to overcome addiction and reverse chronic diseases so they can have healthy babies — and perhaps keep them.
Covid Relief Payments Triggered Feds to Demand Money Back From Social Security Recipients
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Some Social Security beneficiaries say the government is clawing back benefits after they received covid stimulus payments that were supposed to be exempt from asset limits.
Abortion Coverage Is Limited or Unavailable at a Quarter of Large Workplaces
Rachana Pradhan
A KFF survey of employer health benefits shows that 28% of large U.S. companies have limited or no access to abortion under company health insurance.
Suzanne Somers’ Legacy Tainted by Celebrity Medical Misinformation
Liz Szabo
The popular actress and author, who died this week, also can be remembered as a progenitor of selling dubious medical information to a trusting public.
Under Fire, Social Security Chief Vows ‘Top-to-Bottom’ Review of Payment Clawbacks
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi was pressed by a House Ways and Means subcommittee to explain why so many poor, disabled, or retired people are suddenly hit with demands that can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Feds Try to Head Off Growing Problem of Overdoses Among Expectant Mothers
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Katheryn Houghton
Homicides, suicides, and drug overdoses have driven rising rates of pregnancy-related death in the U.S. This fall, six states received federal funding for substance use treatment interventions to prevent at least some of those deaths.
Health Care ‘Game-Changer’? Feds Boost Care for Homeless Americans
Angela Hart
This month, the federal government started paying for treatments delivered outside hospitals and clinics, expanding funding for “street medicine” teams that treat homeless patients. California led the way on the change, which could help sick and vulnerable patients get healthy, sober, and, in some cases, into housing.
‘Side Effects Include…’
Ken Levine
Used with the permission of Ken Levine and CartoonStock. Cartoons are the property of their respective artists and are subject to copyright laws. Do not reproduce or redistribute this cartoon without permission of the artist.
Senators Demand Answers From Social Security on Clawbacks Tied to Covid Relief
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Covid relief payments weren’t supposed to cost people their Social Security benefits, but some recipients say they did. Senators want to know why.
Biden Pick to Lead NIH Finally Has Her Day, but Still Gets Caught Up in Drug Price Debate
Colleen DeGuzman
Monica Bertagnolli, the president’s choice to head the National Institutes of Health, appeared before a Senate committee this week. Her confirmation has been held up by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has demanded President Joe Biden work more aggressively to lower prescription drug prices.
California Moves Ahead of the FDA in Banning Common Candy Additives
Annie Sciacca
The legislation bans the use of four additives that are already prohibited in many other countries but remain in popular U.S. foods. Advocates say states need to act because the FDA has done little.