Michigan’s Outbreak Worries Scientists. Will Conservative Outposts Keep Pandemic Rolling?
By Julie Appleby
April 23, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The covid outbreak in Michigan stands out on the U.S. contagion map, but odds are it will be repeated elsewhere. How vaccine hesitancy, relaxed restrictions and a coronavirus variant combined to create the worst outbreak in the country.
Oklahoma House Passes Anti-Abortion Bill Like Texas’, Only Stricter
May 20, 2022
Morning Briefing
Under the new law, “fertilization” is defined as the moment egg and sperm meet, and it also prohibits medicine-induced abortions (beyond when Plan B pills work). The bill moved to the desk of Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it. For more longer-read stories about abortion and the current threat to reproductive health in the U.S., scroll down to our Weekend Reading section.
Becerra Tells Medicare To Review Premiums After Aduhelm Price Drop
January 11, 2022
Morning Briefing
The demand from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is “highly unusual,” Stat reports. Becerra’s actions could lead to lower Medicare Part B costs — after standard premiums jumped 15% for 2022.
Consejos para inscribirse bien en Medicare durante la complicada inscripción abierta
By Bernard J. Wolfson
November 24, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Medicare se reduce fundamentalmente a dos alternativas: la tarifa por servicio del Medicare Tradicional o el enfoque de atención administrada de Medicare Advantage.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 3: Patchwork of Urgent Care Frays After a Rural Hospital Closes
By Sarah Jane Tribble
October 13, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Fort Scott, Kansas, went without an ER for 18 days, after the local hospital shut down. Documenting local trauma during that “dark period” helped investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble unravel some of the complications that come after a rural hospital closes.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 2: Unimaginable, After a Century, That Their Hospital Would Close
By Sarah Jane Tribble
October 6, 2020
KFF Health News Original
After Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble traveled to Kansas and spent time with former hospital president Reta Baker and City Manager Dave Martin — to understand what their town lost.
They Tested Negative for Covid. Still, They Have Long Covid Symptoms.
By Lydia Zuraw
April 9, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Despite a negative covid test, people could have been infected with the coronavirus anyway. And some of them might face lingering health issues.
How One Indie Artist Used Her Pandemic Lockdown to Create an Album With Global Collaborators
By Chaseedaw Giles
April 6, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only increased the demand for music-streaming services. This independent singer wrote, recorded and produced an album with musicians around the world during the pandemic’s rolling stay-at-home mandates.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 4: So, 2 Nuns Step Off a Train in Kansas … A Hospital’s Origin Story
By Sarah Jane Tribble
October 20, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Mercy Hospital and the people of Fort Scott, Kansas, have a long, tangled history. To understand what the town lost when the hospital shut its doors, we rewind the story to 1886.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Biden Budget Touches All the Bases
March 10, 2023
Podcast
Very little in the proposed budget released by the Biden administration is likely to become law, particularly with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House. Still, the document is an important statement of the president’s policy priorities, and it’s clear health programs are among those he feels are important. Meanwhile, five women who were denied abortions when their pregnancies threatened their lives are suing Texas. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Harris Meyer, who reported and wrote the two latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” features. Both were about families facing unexpected bills following childbirth.
Sex Abuse Survivors Reject Boy Scouts’ $2.7B Payout Offer
January 5, 2022
Morning Briefing
Seventy-five percent of the nearly 54,000 claimants in the case needed to approve the payout, but just 73% did. Meanwhile, as the surprise medical billing law comes into effect, some lawmakers are already pushing for changes to the process, to “line up” with what they say was Congress’ intent.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Year-End Bill Holds Big Health Changes
January 5, 2023
Podcast
The year-end spending bill passed by Congress in late December contains a wide array of health-related provisions, including a structure for states to begin to disenroll people on Medicaid whose coverage has been maintained through the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is taking steps to make the abortion pill more widely available. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Mark Kreidler, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a billing mix-up that took about a year to sort out.
Geography Is Destiny: Dentists’ Access to Covid Shots Depends on Where They Live
By Phil Galewitz
January 15, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A handful of states are making dentists a lower priority than other health professionals for inoculations, even though they have their hands in people’s mouths and are exposed to aerosols that spray germs in their faces.
Watch: Are Administration Medical Experts Muzzled?
June 18, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins a panel of health journalists on CNN to discuss the lack of public briefings on coronavirus by key medical experts in the Trump administration.
2022 Medicare Advantage Sign Ups Jump 9% On Last Year
January 18, 2022
Morning Briefing
Reports say that there’s been an 8.8% rise in Medicare Advantage enrollments, as of Jan. 1, over the same period last year. But while most beneficiaries in Parts A and B are expected to join Advantage plans by next year, the spending may still outpace traditional paid health costs.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Plans To Add $3.4B For Health Care Research
December 8, 2021
Morning Briefing
The Facebook founder and his wife are adding the money to their charitable foundation over 15 years. In other health industry news, United Healthcare loses a $60 million lawsuit, and Centene settles with the state of Kansas with a $28 million payment.
Watch: When a Surprise Helper During Surgery Is Out-of-Network
July 27, 2020
KFF Health News Original
“CBS This Morning” features the July installment of KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month about a surgical assistant’s out-of-network bill for helping during knee surgery.
Adults Under 60 Should Get Hepatitis B Vaccine, CDC Panel Recommends
November 4, 2021
Morning Briefing
Tens of millions of people, mainly in the 30 to 59 age group, may be advised to get hepatitis B shots (with people below 30 largely covered, after a 1991 decision to vaccinate kids). Separately, scientists uncover why some people have Alzheimer’s-risk brain chemistry, but no dementia.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Transition Interrupted
November 12, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Former Vice President Joe Biden is now the president-elect nearly everywhere but inside the Trump administration, where the president refuses to concede and has ordered officials not to begin a formal transition. That is a particular problem for health care as the COVID-19 pandemic surges. Meanwhile, there’s good news on the vaccine front, but it’s unlikely one will arrive by winter. And the ACA was back before the Supreme Court — again. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Shefali Luthra of the 19th News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Listen: Tough Talk On Capitol Hill
By Julie Rovner
May 15, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN’s Julie Rovner joined other journalists on Friday’s ‘On Point’ broadcast to talk about health news, including states relaxing their stay-at-home orders and Capitol Hill hearings featuring testimony before Congress by Drs. Anthony Fauci and Rick Bright.
