KFFHN Weekly: April 5, 2024
Track Opioid Settlement Payouts — To the Cent — In Your Community
Aneri Pattani and Lydia Zuraw and Holly K. Hacker
Want to know how much opioid settlement money your city, county, or state has received so far? Or how much it's expecting in the future? Use our new searchable database to find out.
More Patients Are Losing Their Doctors — And Trust in the Primary Care System
Lynn Arditi, The Public’s Radio
A shortage of primary care providers is driving more people to seek routine care in emergency settings. In Rhode Island, safety-net clinics are under pressure as clinicians retire or burn out, and patients say it’s harder to find care as they lose connections to familiar doctors.
How Primary Care Is Being Disrupted: A Video Primer
Julie Appleby and Hannah Norman and Oona Zenda
Under pressure from increased demand, consolidation, and changing patient expectations, the model of care no longer means visiting the same doctor for decades.
Medical Debt Affects Much of America, but Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard
Rae Ellen Bichell and Lindsey Toomer, Colorado Newsline
Colorado is ahead of the curve on policies to prevent medical debt, but the gap between the debt load in places inhabited primarily by people of color versus non-Hispanic white residents is greater than the national average.
The Horrors of TMJ: Chronic Pain, Metal Jaws, and Futile Treatments
Brett Kelman and Anna Werner, CBS News
TMJ disorders affect as many as 1 in 10 Americans and yet remain poorly understood and ineffectively treated. Many common treatments used by dentists lack scientific evidence.
Attacks on Emergency Room Workers Prompt Debate Over Tougher Penalties
Sejal Parekh
In California, assaulting paramedics or other emergency medical workers in the field carries stiffer fines and jail time than assaulting emergency room staffers. State lawmakers are considering a measure that would standardize the penalties.
End of Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Households Threatens Telehealth Access
Sarah Jane Tribble
A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon. The end of the subsidy launched earlier in the pandemic could have profound impacts on health care access.
Hospitals Cash In on a Private Equity-Backed Trend: Concierge Physician Care
Phil Galewitz
Hospitals are increasingly stretching a velvet rope, offering “concierge service” to an affluent clientele. Critics say the practice exacerbates primary care shortages.
For-Profit Companies Open Psychiatric Hospitals in Areas Clamoring for Care
Tony Leys
State institutions and community hospitals have closed inpatient mental health units, often citing staffing and financial challenges. Now, for-profit companies are opening psychiatric hospitals to fill the void.
ACA Plans Are Being Switched Without Enrollees’ OK
Julie Appleby
Insurance agents say it’s too easy to access consumer information on the Affordable Care Act federal marketplace. Policyholders can lose their doctors and access to prescriptions. Some end up owing back taxes.
Feds Join Ranks of Employers with Generous Fertility Benefits
Michelle Andrews
Starting this year, federal employees can choose plans that cover a broad menu of fertility services, including up to $25,000 annually for in vitro fertilization procedures. At the same time, politics around IVF and reproductive health have become a central issue in the current election-year debate.
Biden Is Right About $35 Insulin Cap but Exaggerates Prior Costs for Medicare Enrollees
Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact
Most Medicare enrollees likely were not paying a monthly average of $400 — as President Joe Biden stated — before the insulin cap took effect. However, because costs and other factors result in widely varying prices, some Medicare enrollees might have paid that much in a given month.
More Kids Are Dying of Drug Overdoses. Could Pediatricians Do More to Help?
Martha Bebinger, WBUR
The surge in overdose deaths among teens is opening a new path to treatment: pediatricians. A doctor in Massachusetts shows how it works with a 17-year-old patient.
Heat Protections for California Workers Are in Limbo After Newsom Abandons Rules
Angela Hart and Samantha Young
Proposed rules to protect millions of workers from potentially dangerous heat inside workplaces are dead after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration refused to sign off. Labor advocates and state regulators are calling for emergency regulations before temperatures soar this summer.
Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists
Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, PolitiFact
False claims that covid vaccines cause deaths and other diseases are still prevalent despite multiple studies showing the vaccines are safe and saved lives.
Dietary Choices Are Linked to Higher Rates of Preeclampsia Among Latinas
Vanessa G. Sánchez
Researchers at the USC Keck School of Medicine found that Latinas who ate vegetables, fruits, and healthy oils-based foods had fewer incidences of preeclampsia. More research is needed to determine the exact diet that could be beneficial.
California Universities Are Required to Offer Abortion Pills. Many Just Don’t Mention It.
Jackie Fortiér, LAist and Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, LAist
One year after California became the first state to require public universities to provide abortion pills to students, LAist found that basic information for students to obtain the medication is often nonexistent.
Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect immediately — before an even more sweeping, six-week ban replaces it in May. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is doubling down on his administration’s health care accomplishments as he kicks off his general election campaign. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health care analyst Jeff Goldsmith about the growing size and influence of UnitedHealth Group in the wake of the Change Healthcare hack.
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 Dig Into Measles, Abortion Access, and Medicaid Expansion
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.