Viewpoints: Congress Can Make Caregiving Accessible To All; Health Care Demand Far Outweighs Supply
January 2, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss caregiving, physician shortage, medical assistance in dying and more.
First Edition: Jan. 2, 2024
January 2, 2024
Morning Briefing
Happy new year! Here are today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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.
Can Family Doctors Deliver Rural America From Its Maternal Health Crisis?
By Sarah Jane Tribble
January 2, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Family medicine doctors already deliver most of rural America’s babies, and efforts to train more in obstetrics care are seen as a way to cope with labor and delivery unit closures.
Dying Broke
January 1, 2024
Page
Featured Story More From the Project Follow-Up: Panel Discussion & Reader Reactions Credits Reporters Jordan RauReed AbelsonJoNel Aleccia Photographers William DeShazerShuran HuangRuth FremsonArin YoonMichelle V. AginsMaansi SrivastavaDesiree RiosBryan MeltzWill CrooksKelly BurgessTim GruberAriana DrehslerCaroline GutmanEric Harkleroad Editors John HillkirkElisabeth RosenthalKate PhillipsCelia Duggar Data Holly HackerAlbert Sun Copy Editors Terry ByrneGabe Brison-TreziseAlison Peterson Photo Editors Eric HarkleroadMatt […]
Más estados amplían cobertura de salud para inmigrantes sin papeles, en medio de crisis en la frontera
By Phil Galewitz
December 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
La mayoría de los adultos sin papeles trabajan, representan aproximadamente el 5% de la fuerza laboral nacional, según el Pew Research Center.
States Expand Health Coverage for Immigrants as GOP Hits Biden Over Border Crossings
By Phil Galewitz
December 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
More than 1 million immigrants, most lacking permanent legal status, are covered by state health programs. Several states, including GOP-led Utah, will soon add or expand such coverage.
Mental Health Courts Can Struggle to Fulfill Decades-Old Promise
By Sam Whitehead
December 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Mental health courts have been touted as a means to help reduce the flow of people with mental illness into jails and prisons. But the specialized diversion programs can struggle to live up to that promise, and some say they’re a bad investment.
An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 2)
By Dan Weissmann
December 28, 2023
Podcast
Why do hospitals sue patients who can’t afford to pay their medical bills? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann investigates such lawsuits and covers new laws and regulations that may change this practice.
RFK Jr.’s Campaign of Conspiracy Theories Is PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year
By Madison Czopek, PolitiFact and Katie Sanders, PolitiFact
December 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Debate and speculation are heating up over whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign will factor into the outcome of the 2024 election. But one thing is clear: Kennedy’s political following is built on a movement that seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories.
In Year 6, KFF Health News-NPR’s ‘Bill of the Month’ Helps Patients in a Changing System
December 23, 2023
KFF Health News Original
In the sixth year of the KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” series, patients shared more than 750 tales of medical billing problems, and reporters analyzed more than $730,000 in charges — including more than $215,000 owed by 12 patients and their families.
Rising Colon Cancer Rate In Young Americans Can’t Be Explained
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
In other news, a new online tool offers caregivers an easy way to pass on their care plans to other caregivers; how virtual reality can help boost seniors’ moods and memory in nursing homes; the difficult topic of grief during the holidays; a novel back pain treatment; and more.
Federal Judge Blocks California’s Public Place Gun Ban
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
The law would have banned firearms in most public places was blocked by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney over Second Amendment violations. The New York Times, meanwhile, covers how school kids in Cranston, Rhode Island, blithely ignore gunfire from a nearby police range.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads For The Holiday Break
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on cancer, migraines, aging, CAR-T therapy, and more. Happy holidays!
Viewpoints: How Was Phenylephrine Approved Despite Being Ineffective?; Confusion On Supervised Drug Sites
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss OTC decongestants, supervised drug sites, abortion and more.
Morning Briefing for Friday, December 22, 2023
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
Health care legislation in 2024, Medicaid, ‘Paxlovid rebound,’ pediatric training, colon cancer, weight-loss drugs, and more are in the news.
‘Plenty’ Of Unfinished Health Care Work Awaits Lawmakers In New Year
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
Congress left for the holiday recess without settling a large number of top health care priorities like appropriations and expiring funding, hospital and doctor payments, and more. News outlets also look back at how key health matters fared in 2023.
Closure Of St. Louis Nursing Home Came After Medicaid Payment Loss
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the home had just lost a special $1 million annual Medicaid payment before its abrupt shuttering left families and staff scrambling. Also, Indiana’s Medicaid program has turned out to be around $1 billion more expensive than previously expected.
There May Not Actually Be A ‘Paxlovid Rebound,’ US Researchers Say
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
People with weakened immune systems appear to have a greater probability of “viral rebound” of covid, no matter if they receive drugs or not, scientists at the CDC and FDA suggested.
CMS Reveals Medicare Appeal Process For Incorrect Hospital Observation Stays
December 22, 2023
Morning Briefing
The process is aimed at Medicare beneficiaries who feel hospitals inappropriately classified stays as observations instead of admissions, resolving a 12 year-old class action lawsuit. Also in the news: cancer patients facing frightening delays in treatment approvals.