Ohio Six-Week Abortion Ban Forces Some To Bulk-Buy Plan B
July 5, 2022
Morning Briefing
The Columbus Dispatch reports on how Ohioans are considering reproductive care options under the new abortion ban, with some stocking up on Plan B, and one woman describes how she’s considering sterilization as an option. Also: more on Plan B, employer abortion aid, and impacts on doctors.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Walz Record
August 8, 2024
Podcast
Vice President Kamala Harris this week officially became the Democratic nominee for president and named Minnesota governor and former U.S. congressman Tim Walz as her running mate. Meanwhile, a new study finds the number of abortions taking place since the overturn of “Roe v. Wade” continued to rise into early this year, despite the imposition of abortion bans around the country. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Morning Briefing for Friday, September 30, 2022
September 30, 2022
Morning Briefing
Friday’s roundup covers the FDA, suicide rates, Hurricane Ian, covid, 340B payments, Medicaid, and spies (!) Plus, weekend reads.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP
May 8, 2025
Podcast
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
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.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': End-of-Year Chaos on Capitol Hill
December 19, 2024
Podcast
Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate successfully negotiated an enormous end-of-Congress health package, including bipartisan efforts to address prescription drug prices — only to see it blown up at the last minute after Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump applied pressure. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court accepted its first abortion-related case of the term, and the attorney general of Texas sued a doctor in New York for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas patient. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman about what happened in health policy in 2024 and what to expect in 2025.
Covid Vaccine Makers Decline To Refund Covax $1.4B For Canceled Orders
February 1, 2023
Morning Briefing
The New York Times reports that Gavi, the global foundation that tried to increase access to covid vaccines to the world’s poor via its Covax program, is trying to negotiate with companies to get back some of the prepayments for vaccine orders that were ultimately canceled. The manufacturers involved made $13.8 billion on the vaccines distributed through Covax.
Conservative Justices Seem Poised to Overturn Roe’s Abortion Rights
By Julie Rovner
December 1, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A majority of the members of the Supreme Court seemed sympathetic Wednesday during arguments to Mississippi’s assertion that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized the procedure throughout the country, was wrongly decided.
Covid ‘Doesn’t Discriminate by Age’: Serious Cases on the Rise in Younger Adults
By Will Stone
May 4, 2021
KFF Health News Original
With older adults vaccinated, doctors say a growing share of their covid patients are in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, as more contagious variants circulate among people who remain unvaccinated.
Old TB Vaccine Doesn’t Work On Covid, But It May Have Other Benefits
April 27, 2023
Morning Briefing
The tuberculosis vaccine, known as B.C.G., was being tested on health care workers in 2020. But the rapid development of mRNA covid vaccines made it impossible to complete the trial because health care workers were first in line to get the newly available mRNA shots, The New York Times says.
La catarata de información sobre la inscripción a Medicare no explica bien las opciones de Medigap
By Harris Meyer
November 9, 2021
KFF Health News Original
En parte porque las políticas sobre el acceso y los costos de Medigap cambian dependiendo del estado, o por la información confusa, muchos beneficiarios no eligen lo que más les conviene.
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.
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.
Research Finds Catching Covid Offers Protection Like Vaccines Do
February 17, 2023
Morning Briefing
“Natural immunity” from a covid infection provides strong, lasting protection against severe outcomes, new research says — on a par with two doses of an mRNA vaccine. Separately, a study showed that for adults hospitalized with omicron, the death rate is 1.5 times that of influenza A or B.
¿Por qué Medicare no paga por las pruebas caseras para covid?
By Michelle Andrews
January 24, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Las mismas leyes del programa para los adultos mayores previenen que puedan comprar medicamentos de venta libre y obtener este tipo de pruebas sin una orden médica.
This Dental Device Was Sold to Fix Patients’ Jaws. Lawsuits Claim It Wrecked Their Teeth.
By Brett Kelman Anna Werner, CBS News
March 1, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A dental device called AGGA has been used on about 10,000 patients without FDA approval or proof that it works. In lawsuits, patients report irreparable harm. The AGGA’s inventor and manufacturer have denied all liability in court.
Behind The Byline: Finding a ‘Superstar’ to Interview
By Jenny Gold
June 1, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Check out KHN’s video series — Behind The Byline: How the Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.
Study: Millennials Using More Health Services Than Other Generations
March 10, 2023
Morning Briefing
A new study found that Millennials are seeking more help for health matters than ever. In other startling news, Newsweek says data show murder-suicides have reached a record high in the country. Hepatitis B, Havana Syndrome, treating obesity in children, and more are among other subjects in the news.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion Heats Up Presidential Race
August 1, 2024
Podcast
The elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the presumed Democratic presidential ticket is newly energizing the debate over abortion, while former President Donald Trump attempts to distance himself from more sweeping proposals in the “Project 2025” GOP blueprint put together by his former administration officials and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” about a preauthorized surgery that generated a six-figure bill.
West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats’ Plan for Seniors’ Dental Care
By Phil Galewitz
December 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
In West Virginia, older residents often go without dental care, and a quarter of people 65 and older have no natural teeth, the highest rate of any state in the country. But a powerful senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has rebuffed efforts to add a dental benefit to Medicare.
