No-Go On Drunken Driving: States Deploy Breathalyzers In Cars To Limit Road Deaths
By Ana B. Ibarra
January 4, 2019
KFF Health News Original
On New Year’s Day, California joined the majority of U.S. states that require people convicted of drunken driving to install ignition-linked breathalyzers in their vehicles. If the devices detect alcohol above a predetermined level, the cars don’t start.
Federal Grants ‘A Lifesaver’ In Opioid Fight, But States Still Struggle To Curb Meth
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez Elizabeth Lucas Orion Donovan-Smith
June 17, 2019
KFF Health News Original
The federal government has doled out at least $2.4 billion in state grants since 2017 to address the opioid epidemic, which killed 47,600 people in the U.S. that year alone. But local officials note that drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance.
This Year’s Flu Is Hitting Children Especially Hard, And Experts Stay It’s Still Not Too Late To Get Vaccine
February 4, 2020
Morning Briefing
The CDC reports influenza B, which causes more significant illness in children than in adults, is the dominate strain of flu this year. Public health news is on liver transplants, pain sensitivity, autism, primary care, Alzheimer’s disease, and emergency room care.
Providers Walk ‘Fine Line’ Between Informing And Scaring Immigrant Patients
By Ana B. Ibarra
January 15, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Some doctors and clinics are proactively informing patients about a proposed policy that could jeopardize the legal status of immigrants who use public benefit programs such as Medicaid. Others argue that because this “public charge” proposal isn’t final — and may never be adopted — disseminating too much information could create unnecessary alarm and cause some patients to drop benefits.
A ‘No-Brainer’? Calls Grow For Medicare To Cover Anti-Rejection Drugs After Kidney Transplant
By JoNel Aleccia
July 17, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Banking on new cost estimates, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is poised to try — once again — to end a three-year limit on coverage for lifesaving medication required to keep the organs functioning.
Brechas profundas: fronteras estatales resaltan la enorme disparidad en Medicaid
By Laura Ungar
October 2, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Las fronteras estatales se han convertido en líneas divisorias arbitrarias entre los que tienen Medicaid y los que no, y los pacientes con problemas financieros similares enfrentan destinos de salud muy diferentes.
Why It’s So Hard To Predict How Much Funding 9/11 First Responders Need
By Michael McAuliff
July 23, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Eighteen years ago, most first responders were not thinking about their future health when they spent hours searching “The Pile” for the remains of terror victims. Today, their illnesses are a slow-moving epidemiological nightmare that has been as difficult for scientists to study as it has been easy for politicians to overlook.
White House Relents In Face Of Lawmakers’ Pleading, Requests $1.25B In New Funding To Fight Coronavirus
February 25, 2020
Morning Briefing
The emergency spending request also includes accessing $535 million previously earmarked to fight Ebola and money from allocated to other federal agencies, for a package totaling $2.5 billion. “To this point, no agency has been inhibited in response efforts due to resources or authorities. However, much is still unknown about this virus and the disease it causes,” acting White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote to congressional leaders. Democrat were quick to slam the funding request as too small for the scope of the outbreak. Meanwhile, Republicans were worried about potential drug shortages as fallout from the virus continues.
White House Gets Cold Feet Over $1B Price Tag For Ventilators From GM Even As Hospitals Plead For Supplies
March 27, 2020
Morning Briefing
The White House had been planning to announce a venture that would lead to the production of as many as 80,000 ventilators. Then the bill came. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he didn’t believe hospitals need as many ventilators as they say they do, even as New York approved a risky policy of sharing the equipment between patients and New Jersey starts making plans on how to ration care.
Trump Signs Robust $8.3B Emergency Coronavirus Funding Bill That Congress Sent Through With Unusual Speed
March 6, 2020
Morning Briefing
Lawmakers from both parties have stressed that Congress is “going to watch where the money goes.” Each state will be getting at least $4 million in assistance and HHS has also been ordered to use $3.1 billion of its quota on medical supplies, vaccine-making and ensuring health systems are up to handling the outbreak. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry was able to secure a win on vaccine price controls but progressives are still pushing the issue.
NO a manejar ebrio: estados imponen alcoholímetros para prevenir muertes
By Ana B. Ibarra
January 4, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Los alcoholímetros son dispositivos que se colocan en el volante y evitan que el auto arranque si se detecta aliento etílico en el conductor.
Americans Cross Border Into Mexico To Buy Insulin At A Fraction Of U.S. Cost
By Bram Sable-Smith, Side Effects Public Media
February 12, 2019
KFF Health News Original
For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal?
Cancer’s Complications: Confusing Bills, Maddening Errors And Endless Phone Calls
By Anna Gorman
February 27, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Carol Marley has pancreatic cancer — and dealing with its financial toll has become her full-time job.
Public Health Experts Say Trump Administration Response Has Improved But Still Falling Short: They’re ‘At A C Now’
May 5, 2020
Morning Briefing
The officials driving the Trump administration’s coronavirus response have expanded testing and helped revamp medical supply chains. “I think the administration is at a C now because they’re at least meeting the needs in a pandemic,” said a former Trump administration official. “But they’re not an A or B yet because we’re not getting ahead of the problem.” In other news from the administration: a top FEMA leader to depart and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticizes the White House for not allowing task force members to testify in front of Congress.
A Proposal To Make It Harder For Kids To Skip Vaccines Gives Powerful Voices Pause
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
June 14, 2019
KFF Health News Original
California lawmakers are debating whether to tighten the rules on childhood vaccinations and give the ultimate say to state public health officials. But questions are emerging from unexpected quarters: the state medical board and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ New Year, New Health Proposals
January 10, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Democratic governors and mayors are unveiling new ideas to control costs and expand coverage. The federal government shutdown has spared most health agencies, but not all. And learn the latest on that lawsuit out of Texas, which is threatening the Affordable Care Act once again. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and, for “extra credit,” provide their favorite health policy stories of the week. Rovner also interviews KHN’s Jordan Rau about the latest “Bill of the Month.”
CMS Axes New York’s Plan To Extend Its Medicaid Reform Program After State Asked For $8B In Funding
February 26, 2020
Morning Briefing
In denying New York’s request, the federal government is refusing to support the way the state is trying to change its delivery system to care for people in community medical facilities rather than in hospitals. It is rejecting the application but not eliminating funding that was already promised. Other Medicaid news comes from Minnesota and West Virginia.
Doughnut Hole Is Gone, But Medicare’s Uncapped Drug Costs Still Bite Into Budgets
By Michelle Andrews
March 29, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Beneficiaries pay 25 percent of the price of their brand-name drugs until they reach $5,100 in out-of-pocket costs. After that, their obligation drops to 5 percent. But it never disappears.
Health Care Industry Spends $30B A Year Pushing Its Wares, From Drugs To Stem Cell Treatment
By Liz Szabo
January 8, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Critics say patients are often misled by ads that advocate high-priced drugs or genetic tests.
El año del “vapeo”: dramático aumento del uso de cigarrillos electrónicos en jóvenes
By Ana B. Ibarra
December 18, 2018
KFF Health News Original
El “vaping” va en contra de la tendencia: el consumo de alcohol, de tabaco tradicional y de marihuana están bajando. El cigarrillo electrónico crece.
