Lifesaving Drugs and Police Projects Mark First Use of Opioid Settlement Cash in California
By Aneri Pattani Don Thompson
July 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
California is in line for more than $4 billion in opioid settlement funds, and local governments are most often spending the first tranche of money on lifesaving drugs. An exclusive KFF Health News analysis also found projects to help police deter youths’ drug use and counsel officers who witness overdoses.
New Medicare Advantage Plans Tailor Offerings to Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+
By Stephanie Stephens
September 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As more seniors opt for Medicare Advantage, a few small insurers have begun offering plans that provide culturally targeted benefits for cohorts including Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The approach, policy researchers say, has potential and perils.
Pandemic Swells Medicaid Enrollment to 80 Million People, a ‘High-Water Mark’
By Phil Galewitz
June 17, 2021
KFF Health News Original
More than 80 million Americans with low incomes were receiving health coverage through the federal-state program in January. The program now covers nearly 1 in 4 people nationwide.
4 Ways Vaccine Skeptics Mislead You on Measles and More
By Amy Maxmen Céline Gounder
May 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Vaccine scare tactics haven’t shifted, but more parents are falling for them. Here’s what the rhetoric gets wrong and how it endangers children.
Massive Kaiser Permanente Strike Looms as Talks Head to the Wire
By Bernard J. Wolfson
September 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Both sides, still at loggerheads over pay and staffing, agreed to keep bargaining after unions announced a possible strike Oct. 4-7. If no deal is reached, a walkout by about 75,000 KP workers in five states could disrupt care.
New Charleston Museum Nods to Historical Roots of US Health Disparities
By Lauren Sausser
June 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The $120 million International African American Museum that opened this week in Charleston, South Carolina, allows visitors to step back in history at Gadsden’s Wharf, where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans arrived in America, the genesis of generations of health disparities.
Gubernatorial Candidates Quarrel Over Glory for Winning Opioid Settlements
By Aneri Pattani
November 1, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Some gubernatorial candidates are sparring over bragging rights for their state’s share of $50 billion in opioid settlement funds. Many of the candidates are attorneys general who pursued the lawsuits that produced the payouts.
The Shrinking Number of Primary Care Physicians Is Reaching a Tipping Point
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
September 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The declining share of U.S. doctors in adult primary care is about 25% — a point beyond which many Americans won’t be able to find a family doctor at all.
Si Trump recorta fondos, millones de personas en nueve estados podrían perder Medicaid
By Phil Galewitz
December 4, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Los estados son Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, Carolina del Norte, Utah y Virginia.
California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed.
By Vanessa G. Sánchez
November 8, 2024
KFF Health News Original
California this year completed its Medi-Cal expansion to include income-eligible residents regardless of their immigration status. This final installment of the “Faces of Medi-Cal” series profiles three of those newly eligible patients and how coverage has affected their health.
PBM Math: Big Chains Are Paid $23.55 To Fill a Blood Pressure Rx. Small Drugstores? $1.51.
By Andy Miller
October 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Criticism of prescription drug middlemen has intensified recently in the wake of a federal agency’s actions and legislative reform attempts. Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, though, vetoed a related bill that would have helped independent pharmacies, citing the unfunded cost of the move.
Grabando el dolor por covid en la piel de los sobrevivientes
By Heidi de Marco
November 23, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Una encuesta revela que más del 30% de los estadounidenses tienen al menos un tatuaje, y en el 80% de los casos son conmemorativos. La pandemia elevó esta tendencia.
Feds Hope to Cut Sepsis Deaths by Hitching Medicare Payments to Treatment Stats
By Julie Appleby
October 11, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A new rule sets specific treatment metrics for suspected sepsis cases in an effort to reduce deaths, but some experts say the measures could add to antibiotic overuse and need to be more flexible.
Colorado Bill Would Encourage, But Not Require, CPR Training in High Schools
By Helen Santoro
March 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Colorado is one of 10 states without a law requiring CPR training for high school students, but proposed legislation that recently passed the state House would only strongly urge schools to teach this lifesaving skill.
Incluso los rivales políticos coinciden en que es urgente resolver el problema de la deuda médica
By Noam N. Levey
October 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Desde 2021, en más de 20 estados se han promulgado nuevas leyes para frenar la facturación abusiva de los hospitales, ampliar la atención caritativa a los pacientes con ingresos más bajos y frenar a los recaudadores de deudas.
What You Need to Know About the Drug Price Fight in Those TV Ads
By Arthur Allen
July 10, 2023
KFF Health News Original
At least nine bills introduced in Congress take aim at pharmacy benefit managers, the powerful middlemen that channel prescription drugs to patients.
Rural Hospitals Are Caught in an Aging-Infrastructure Conundrum
By Markian Hawryluk
January 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Small, community hospitals face challenges in paying for the capital improvement projects they need to stay open.
Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
May 26, 2023
KFF Health News Original
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 It Comes to Ketamine, Meta’s Posting Policy Is No Party to Decipher
By Darius Tahir
March 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Despite growing awareness that the party drug is dangerous, the social media company is open to promotion of the drug in treating mental health.
Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
January 2, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Deep gaps in rural America’s child care system threaten communities’ stability by shrinking the workforce and inhibiting economic potential. Now that pandemic-era federal aid for child care programs and low-income families has ended, it’s up to state and local leaders to find solutions.
