KFF Health News Weekly, May 5, 2023
Biden Administration Issues New Warning About Medical Credit Cards
Noam N. Levey
Americans paid an estimated $1 billion in deferred interest on medical debt in just three years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports. The agency warns against medical credit cards, which are often pitched right in doctors’ offices.
The Nation’s Health Secretary Has This Doctor on Call
Samantha Young
Carolina Reyes, a physician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, says providers and health systems have a role in tackling systemic racism. She’s also married to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Health Programs Are at Risk as Debt Ceiling Cave-In Looms
A warning from the Treasury Department that the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as June 1 has galvanized lawmakers to intervene. But there is still no obvious way to reconcile Republican demands to slash federal spending with President Joe Biden’s demand to raise the debt ceiling and save the spending fight for a later date. Meanwhile, efforts to pass abortion bans in conservative states are starting to stall as some Republicans rebel against the most severe bans. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
From the States
California Says New Cigarettes Appear to Violate State’s Flavored Tobacco Ban
Don Thompson
The attorney general is warning two tobacco companies, R.J. Reynolds and ITG Brands LLC, that their reformulated cigarettes appear to violate the state’s ban on flavored tobacco products, based on marketing materials. R.J. Reynolds said Thursday that its cigarettes comply with the law.
For California Teen, Coverage of Early Psychosis Treatment Proved a Lifesaver
Samantha Young
A Medi-Cal patient illustrates how early schizophrenia treatments can yield big benefits. Advocates want California to expand such services to more people living with severe mental illness, which they argue will not only improve lives but also save money over time.
Montana Passes Significant Health Policy Changes in Controversial Session
Keely Larson
The recently ended legislative session was marked by Medicaid reimbursement hikes, abortion restrictions, anti-LGBTQ+ statutes, behavioral health spending, and workforce and insurance measures.
Listen: How Are States Spending Money From the Opioid Settlements? It’s Not Easy to Know
KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani appeared on NPR’s “1A” on May 1 to discuss issues related to how opioid settlement funds are being distributed.
Reproductive Health
Can a Fetus Be an Employee? States Are Testing the Boundaries of Personhood After ‘Dobbs’
Bram Sable-Smith and Oona Zenda
Laws granting rights to unborn children have spread in the decades since the U.S. and Missouri supreme courts allowed Missouri’s definition of life as beginning at conception to stand. Now, a wrongful death lawsuit involving a workplace accident shows how sprawling those laws — often intended to curb abortion — have become.
Colorado Becomes the First State to Ban So-Called Abortion Pill Reversals
Claire Cleveland
The controversial practice of administering progesterone to people after they have taken the abortion pill mifepristone may be coming to an end in Colorado. Pills have emerged as the latest front in the war over abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
After Idaho’s Strict Abortion Ban, OB-GYNs Stage a Quick Exodus
Sarah Varney
At least two Idaho hospitals are ending labor and delivery services, with one citing the state’s “legal and political climate” and noting that “recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult” as doctors leave.
Federal Rules Don’t Require Period Product Ingredients on Packaging Labels. States Are Stepping In.
Erica Zurek and Oona Zenda
New York and California have passed laws requiring disclosure of ingredients on menstrual product packaging. Advocates want more transparency across the U.S.
Dental Health
Millions Are Stuck in Dental Deserts, With No Access to Oral Health Care
Lauren Peace, Tampa Bay Times
Vulnerable and marginalized communities are getting left behind in dental deserts, where patient volume exceeds provider capacity or too few dentists are willing to serve the uninsured or those on Medicaid.
Health Personnel
Community Paramedics Don’t Wait for an Emergency to Visit Rural Patients at Home
Arielle Zionts
Community paramedicine is expanding nationwide, including in rural areas, as health care providers, insurers, and state governments recognize its potential to improve health and save money.
Public Health
Gun Assault Rates Doubled for Children in 4 Major Cities During the Pandemic, New Data Shows
Sammy Caiola, WHYY
A study of roughly 2,700 shootings in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia found that racial disparities in gun injuries and deaths widened during the covid-19 pandemic. Researchers looked only at assaults, excluding accidents or incidents of self-harm.
Lead Contamination Surfaces in Affluent Atlanta Neighborhood
Andy Miller
The Environmental Protection Agency recently confirmed high lead levels in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood. The location stands in contrast to many polluted sites investigated by the federal Superfund program — often in former industrial or waste disposal areas where environmental racism has left marginalized groups at risk.
Ask a Chatbot: ‘What’s for Dinner?’
Tarena Lofton
The AI program ChatGPT can save time and energy spent meal planning, especially for people with dietary restrictions. But be sure to double-check its work, users say.
KFF Health News On Air
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.
Journalists Discuss Enduring Effects of Long Covid and Handling of Opioid Settlement Funds
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.
Readers and Tweeters Defend the Rights of Adults With Disabilities
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Noticias En Español
Pregúntale a chatbot: ¿qué hay para cenar?
Tarena Lofton
Los usuarios de ChatGPT están entusiasmados con las capacidades del programa y con la idea de que podría simplificar las tareas cotidianas. Pero hay dudas.