Despite Restraints, Democrats’ Drug Pricing Plan Could Still Aid Consumers
By Michael McAuliff
November 5, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A last-minute agreement among lawmakers restored a provision seeking to hold down rising costs of prescription medicines. Although details on which drugs will be targeted remain sketchy, the legislation would help patients buying insulin and cap Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year.
Abuse Reports Of ‘Reproductive Coercion’ Doubled After Roe Ended
October 19, 2023
Morning Briefing
New data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline show in the yearlong period after the end of Roe v. Wade, there was a near doubling of domestic violence reports involving reproductive coercion. Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has self-funded a national abortion access effort.
What Do We Really Know About Vaccine Effectiveness?
By Julie Appleby
November 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Reports of waning effectiveness and mixed messages about booster shots fuel the politicization of vaccination.
Organ Centers to Transplant Patients: Get a Covid Shot or Move Down on Waitlist
By JoNel Aleccia
October 8, 2021
KFF Health News Original
At issue is whether transplant patients who refuse the shots are not only putting themselves at greater risk for serious illness and death from covid-19, but also squandering scarce organs that could benefit others.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate
August 24, 2023
Podcast
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump — and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for not giving them enough notice or a way to contest their being dropped from the program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Student Nurses Who Refuse Vaccination Struggle to Complete Degrees
By Michelle Andrews
October 4, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration is requiring workers at health care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. For the minority of nursing students who have refused a shot, the new policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.
Next Year’s Medicare Part B Premiums Will Drop 3%
September 28, 2022
Morning Briefing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that 2023 Medicare Part B premiums would drop 3% — the first time in a decade that has happened. The Biden administration says the decrease is primarily due to expected savings on prescription drugs with Medicare now able to negotiate some costs and limited coverage of Aduhelm.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.
August 3, 2023
Podcast
Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers won’t have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing the Affordable Care Act is no longer the top promise, some candidates have lively ideas about what to do with federal health programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Phil Galewitz, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about how a bill that should never have been sent created headaches for one patient.
Grupos de base lideran el camino para cerrar la brecha de mortalidad infantil en Colorado
By Rae Ellen Bichell
June 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Aunque Colorado se encuentra entre los estados más saludables del país, las disparidades en salud entre distintos grupos raciales y étnicos son visibles. Y un indicador clave es la mortalidad infantil.
White House Asks For $10B More To Battle Covid
November 16, 2022
Morning Briefing
The money is sought by the end of the year to go to new vaccines and treatments. But on Tuesday Senate lawmakers voted to end the federal covid emergency declaration. NBC News’ data analysis finds covid hospitalizations and deaths are falling in the U.S.
Sen. Wyden: $3.5T Budget May Have to Trim but It Can Set a Path to ‘Ambitious Goals’
By Michael McAuliff
July 20, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is helping to negotiate the health care spending framework for the Democrats’ budget plan, said lawmakers may have to settle for very basic versions of programs deployed in the package. But the key, he added, is to get the “architecture of these changes, bold changes,” started and show people what is possible.
Readers and Tweeters Diagnose Greed and Chronic Pain Within US Health Care System
January 19, 2023
KFF Health News Original
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Some Illinois Prisoners Remain In Jail Despite New Medical Release Law
September 5, 2023
Morning Briefing
AP reports that although it’s been over a year since the Coleman Act went into effect, an investigation found fewer prisoners have been released than expected, thereby remaining in jail even though they are dying or disabled. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker defended the numbers in a press conference.
Many Women Mistreated By Medical Staff During Pregnancy, Survey Finds
August 23, 2023
Morning Briefing
Of about 2,400 women polled, 20% reported that they had been verbally abused, had their requests for help go unanswered, had their physical privacy infringed upon, or received threats to withhold treatment, the CDC survey found. Plus, news on breast cancer, Plan B, abortion in Illinois, and more.
CMS Releases Final Rule That Would Cut Doctor And Hospital Pay Next Year
November 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
The final regulation is in line with proposed payment cuts that were published over the summer. Many doctors can expect to see a decrease in their reimbursements, unless Congress steps in. CMS also released another Medicare rule that moves forward with a plan to claw back funds from some hospitals to compensate for 340B overpayments.
Biden Releases a New Plan to Combat Covid, but Experts Say There’s Still a Ways to Go
By Victoria Knight and Julie Appleby
September 15, 2021
KFF Health News Original
There’s agreement that the plan includes important action items but also elements that will trigger political opposition.
HHS’ $5B ‘Project NextGen’ Aims To Develop New Coronavirus Shots, Drugs
May 12, 2023
Morning Briefing
Axios reports that the majority of that funding will go to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for public-private partnerships — similar to the Operation Warp Speed model — to create next generation covid treatments and “pan-coronavirus vaccines.”
‘An Arm and a Leg’: She Tangled With Health Insurers for 25 Years — And Loved It
By Dan Weissmann
September 8, 2020
KFF Health News Original
When people had a health insurance headache, these two words were a relief: “Call Barbara.” No problem was too big, or too small, she’d fix it.
CDC To Award Over $3B To Reinforce Public Health System
November 30, 2022
Morning Briefing
The money is aimed at strengthening the public health work force and infrastructure after the stresses of the pandemic, Reuters reports. In other news, a study found that covid screenings at hospital entries weren’t very helpful despite the considerable cost.
Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How to Get Good Advice.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
November 24, 2020
KFF Health News Original
It’s a complex program with many options — as well as confusing rules and nuances. Here’s how to get reliable guidance.