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Patients and providers say health insurers’ preapproval requirements lead to delays and denials of needed medical treatments. Insurers argue that prior authorization keeps costs down.
Frustrated by spiraling drug costs, California lawmakers want to increase oversight of pharmaceutical industry intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers. It’s unclear whether they can persuade Gov. Gavin Newsom to get on board.
In several red states, officials say few or no abortions happened in 2023, raising alarm among researchers about the politicization of vital statistics.
The town of Havana, Florida, is seeking a family doctor to practice in the rural community. Incentives include rent-free office space with medical equipment owned by the town. With a physician shortage hitting small communities hard, town leaders put want ads in newspapers and on social media.
“An Arm and a Leg” is collecting stories for a new series about how Americans get the medicine they need when faced with sticker shock.
Mental health workers on strike in Southern California say Kaiser Permanente is woefully understaffed, its therapists are burned out, and patients are often denied timely access to care. The insurer says it has largely fixed the problem. But across California and the nation, mental health parity is still not a reality.
Survivors and witnesses of gun violence often freeze emotionally at first, as a coping mechanism. As the one-year mark since the parade shooting nears, the last installment in our series “The Injured” looks at how some survivors talk about resilience, while others are desperately trying to hang on.
More than 60,000 people bleed to death every year in the United States. Many of those deaths occur before the patient reaches a trauma center where blood transfusions can be given.
The current strain of bird flu is spreading from wildlife and livestock to house cats. To keep pets healthy, many virologists and veterinarians say, house cats shouldn’t eat raw food and should be kept indoors. Despite no known cases of H5N1 transmission between cats and people, some public health agencies and virologists are warning cat owners to be mindful of the theoretical risks to the health of humans in their households if a pet gets sick.
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump said the power to make abortion policies “has been returned to the states.” In his first two weeks in office, he’s already gone further to restrict abortion than any president who’s held office since the 1973 “Roe v. Wade” decision, writes Julie Rovner.
Tools used to contain previous bird flu outbreaks aren’t working this time, experts say. The virus has sickened at least 67 people in the U.S. and killed one, with egg producers begging for a new approach. “I call this virus a terrorist,” said one egg farmer, who lost 6.5 million birds to H5N1 in two weeks.
It’s common for young people leaving jails and prisons to end up back behind bars, often after lapses related to untreated mental health issues or substance abuse. A new law is aimed at getting them on Medicaid before they’re released. But the government coordination required to make it happen is significant.
With hospitalizations and at least nine confirmed cases, health officials race to contain a growing outbreak in a community with low vaccination.
The Senate has yet to confirm a Health and Human Services secretary, but things around the department continue to change at a breakneck pace to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders. Payment systems have been shut down, webpages and entire datasets have been taken offline, and workers — including those with civil service protections — have been urged to quit or threatened with layoffs. Meanwhile, foreign and trade policy changes are also affecting health policy. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about a young woman, a grandfathered health plan, and a $14,000 IUD.
A new rule requires insurers to improve coverage of PrEP, which can prevent HIV, but Georgians face challenges getting the drug.
The Montana health department says the Board of Public Assistance is redundant and a bureaucratic hurdle that helps few people. Current and former board representatives say the rare cases in which the panel helps people are important.
State officials say homes should be able to be cooled to a safe indoor air temperature of 82 degrees. The legislature will now take up the report.
State Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs have long struggled to connect with lower-income Americans to help them access care. Now some are trying an alternative approach: meeting them at the laundromat.
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump said the power to make abortion policies “has been returned to the states.” In his first two weeks in office, he’s already gone further to restrict abortion than any president who’s held office since the 1973 “Roe v. Wade” decision, writes Julie Rovner.
Gloria Sachdev, a pharmacist by training, has spent years taking on the health care establishment in Indiana, working to pull down high hospital prices and make information public to patients. Now, in a newly created position in the governor’s Cabinet, she’s no longer fighting from the outside.
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