Montana Looks To Fast-Track Medicaid Access for Older Applicants

As Montana’s population ages, providers serving low-income seniors say more people aren’t getting the care they need as they wait to get on Medicaid. Montana lawmakers are considering creating a shortcut to that care.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Health of the Campaign

The 2024 presidential race is taking on a familiar tone — with Democrats accusing Republicans of wanting to ban abortion and repeal the Affordable Care Act and Republicans insisting they have no such plans. Voters will determine whom they believe. Meanwhile, for the second time in a month, a state judge overturned an abortion ban, but few expect the decision to settle the matter. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post “Bill of the Month,” about a teenage athlete whose needed surgery lacked a billing code.

Historic Numbers of Americans Live by Themselves as They Age

Longer life spans, rising rates of divorce, widowhood, and childlessness, and smaller, far-flung families are fueling a “gray revolution” in older adults’ living arrangements. It can have profound health consequences.

In Montana, 911 Calls Reveal Impact of Heat Waves on Rural Seniors

State and local governments are struggling to keep up with the increasing burden of heat-related illness as summers get hotter because of climate change. In Missoula County, Montana, officials are working with researchers to understand trends in heat-related 911 calls.

Exercise Is Key for Parkinson’s Relief. But Bias, Underdiagnosis Hold Black Patients Back.

Exercise is considered fundamental treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a progressive condition that attacks the central nervous system. But there’s a huge equity gap, researchers say, with Black people missing from popular treatment programs.

‘Scared to Death’: Nurses and Residents Confront Rampant Violence in Dementia Care Facilities

Clashes between residents — verbal, physical, and sexual — can be spontaneous and too unpredictable to prevent. But the chance of an altercation increases when memory care homes admit and retain residents they can’t manage, according to a KFF Health News examination of inspection and court records and interviews with researchers.

Urgent Care or ER? With ‘One-Stop Shop,’ Hospitals Offer Both Under Same Roof

Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.

Florida’s RSV Season Has Started, and It’s Coming Soon to the Rest of US. Here’s a Primer.

Florida’s RSV season begins earlier and runs longer than anywhere else in the U.S., according to the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute. New vaccines can help, but most older adults, who are vulnerable to RSV, haven’t gotten them yet.

Harris, Once Biden’s Voice on Abortion, Would Take an Outspoken Approach to Health

If she grabs the baton from President Joe Biden to become the new presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris would widely be expected to take an aggressive stance in support of abortion access — hitting former President Donald Trump on an issue that could undermine his chances of victory.

Trump Is Wrong in Claiming Full Credit for Lowering Insulin Prices

Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.

Despite Past Storms’ Lessons, Long-Term Care Residents Again Left Powerless

Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.