Even As Many Go Hungry, Farmers Dump Crops. Trump Administration Aims For Win-Win Fix With $19B Plan.
April 24, 2020
Morning Briefing
With the usual food distribution chain disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak, farmers are plowing unused produce back into the field. Yet food banks struggle to feed millions of newly unemployed Americans. While a federal plan will throw $19 billion dollars at the problem, it must still overcome the transportation challenges that created it in the first place. Other food supply issues reports on the meat industry, food plant safety and alleged price gouging on eggs.
MDMA, Or Ecstasy, Shows Promise As A PTSD Treatment
By Will Stone, KJZZ
August 21, 2019
KFF Health News Original
MDMA, the psychoactive ingredient in the club drug known as molly or ecstasy, is being tested in combination with therapy as a treatment for severe trauma.
Trump Administration Moves To Make Health Care Costs More Transparent
By Julie Appleby
July 31, 2019
KFF Health News Original
The proposed rules would require hospitals to provide far more detail about the actual prices they charge insurers for patients’ care.
Más dolor de cabeza para oficiales federales por la promoción del vapeo en internet
By Shefali Luthra Chaseedaw Giles
November 14, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Mientras Washington se esfuerza por tomar medidas enérgicas contra la naciente industria del vapeo, los “influencers” de internet tienen su propia agenda.
A Million Californians Don’t Have Clean Drinking Water. Where Do They Live?
By Harriet Blair Rowan
June 28, 2019
KFF Health News Original
More than 10% of residents in 12 California counties don’t have safe drinking water, according to a California Healthline analysis of state water data. State lawmakers have pledged $130 million a year to help bring clean drinking water to Californians who need it.
Federal Appeals Court Takes Up Case That Could Upend U.S. Health System
By Julie Rovner
July 9, 2019
KFF Health News Original
The Affordable Care Act is again being put to the test after a lower court judge ruled the massive health law unconstitutional. Could the case ricochet back to the Supreme Court in the throes of the 2020 presidential campaign season?
UCSF Medical Center Backs Off Plan To Deepen Ties With Dignity Health
By Jenny Gold
May 28, 2019
KFF Health News Original
The University of California’s flagship San Francisco hospital system cut off negotiations with the Catholic-run health care system in the face of heated opposition from UCSF faculty and staff.
Has Your Doctor Asked You About Climate Change?
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
July 19, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Some physicians say connecting the consequences of climate change — heat waves, more pollen and longer allergy seasons — to health helps them better care for patients.
‘This Should Not Be About Politics’: House Overwhelmingly Passes $8.3B Coronavirus Funding Bill
March 5, 2020
Morning Briefing
The bill includes about $7.7 billion in new discretionary spending to bolster vaccine development, research, equipment stockpiles and state and local health budgets, as government officials and health workers fight to contain the outbreak. The House moved unusually quick in a rare sign of bipartisanship in a highly divided Congress. It next goes to the Senate.
Hospitals Say $100B Allocated From Stimulus Package Is Woefully Inadequate–And They Can’t Even Get Those Funds
April 17, 2020
Morning Briefing
Only about $30 billion has been distributed thus far from a pot of $100 billion earmarked for hospitals and health-care providers. In addition to that, the distribution of the relief money didn’t take hot spots into account, so the places that in most need say they are getting shortchanged.
West Virginia Reaches Opioid Settlement Deal With Most Drug Companies For $1.25B
March 3, 2020
Morning Briefing
This would be the first deal among about 3,000 lawsuits that exist nationwide. Details must still be resolved on payments to local, state groups as well as hospitals and others. The plan also does not apply to two key drugmakers, Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt. News on the national drug epidemic is from California, as well.
Caen en picada las nuevas inscripciones en Covered California
By Ana B. Ibarra
January 30, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Las nuevas inscripciones cayeron casi un 24% para los planes de 2019. Algunos expertos dicen que esta baja no es una sorpresa.
New Covered California Sign-Ups Plummet
By Ana B. Ibarra
January 30, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Even though the number of people renewing their Covered California health plans increased this year, new enrollment plunged by nearly a quarter compared with last year, posting a bigger drop than the federal health insurance exchange, healthcare.gov, which saw a 16 percent decrease. Officials largely blame the elimination of the federal tax penalty for people without insurance.
Why You Should Take A Peek At Your Doctor’s Notes On Your Health
By Victoria Knight
June 19, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Some patient advocates say your doctor’s notes offer insights you might never hear from your physician, putting patient and provider on the same page.
Proveedores de medicamentos en el mercado negro enfocan en inmigrantes
By John M. Glionna
September 16, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Inmigrantes, no sólo de países hispanos, sino de todo el mundo, y algunos no inmigrantes también, están comprando una amplia gama de medicamentos ilegales en todo el país,
Exemptions Surge As Parents And Doctors Do ‘Hail Mary’ Around Vaccine Laws
By Barbara Feder Ostrov
April 5, 2019
KFF Health News Original
In California, medical exemptions to skip childhood vaccinations are on the rise. The trend underlines how hard it is to get parents to comply with vaccination laws meant to protect public safety when a small but adamant population of families and physicians seems determined to resist.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ States Race To Reverse ‘Roe’
May 16, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the new abortion bans passed in Alabama and Georgia; bipartisan congressional efforts to end “surprise” out-of-network medical bills; and a new public option health insurance plan soon to be available in Washington state.
$1.25B Opioid Settlement Date Set In West Virginia Where Death Rate Is Highest
March 6, 2020
Morning Briefing
The Aug. 31 trial date serves as a deadline for the proposed settlement, the nation’s first as businesses consider thousands of other lawsuits. Other news on the epidemic comes from Missouri, Vermont and Kansas.
I’m A CPAP Dropout: Why Many Lose Sleep Over Apnea Treatment
By Victoria Knight
July 17, 2019
KFF Health News Original
An estimated 18 million American adults have sleep apnea. The go-to treatment — a CPAP machine — offers a healthy restful night’s sleep, but many people struggle to use it. As many as 50% of patients stop using the device.
Lawmakers Barrel Toward $7.5B Emergency Funding Plan With Unusual Speed For Divided Congress
March 3, 2020
Morning Briefing
Negotiators worked through the weekend to try to finalize the spending bill, which is looking like it will far exceed the amount President Donald Trump requested. But disagreement over provisions intended to ensure affordability of vaccines and other medications may hold up agreement. Meanwhile, local and state health departments, already stretched to their limits, are eager to get the aid.
