Study Predicts Over 50% More Deaths From Liver Cancer By 2040
October 7, 2022
Morning Briefing
Analysis suggests cases of Hepatitis B and C, more alcohol usage, higher body weight, and more diabetes will be to blame. Separately, a slight drop in food poisonings from salmonella and listeria is reported, but pandemic restrictions are thought to have played a part in the fall.
Judge: HHS Must Restore Full 340B Drug Payments Until 2023
September 30, 2022
Morning Briefing
Modern Healthcare reports on a decision from District of Columbia Judge Rudolph Contreras, who found that a Health and Human Services Department lower reimbursement rate was “defective.” Meanwhile, Michigan joins efforts to crimp costs from contract travel nurses.
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.
Biden Releases a New Plan to Combat Covid, but Experts Say There’s Still a Ways to Go
By Victoria Knight 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.
An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 2)
By Dan Weissmann
December 28, 2023
Podcast
Why do hospitals sue patients who can’t afford to pay their medical bills? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann investigates such lawsuits and covers new laws and regulations that may change this practice.
Funcionarios advierten sobre sitios de pruebas para covid de dudosa calidad
By Michelle Andrews
January 18, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Lo sitios de pruebas de covid han proliferado en casi todas las grandes ciudades. Pero no todos ofrecen un servicio de calidad. Cómo detectarlos.
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.
In Unusual Move, EU Blocks $7B Merger Of 2 American Biotech Firms
September 7, 2022
Morning Briefing
A U.S. judge had already approved the merger of Illumina, headquartered in San Diego, and Grail, which is based in Menlo Park, California. The European Union says the deal would stifle innovation in an emerging market for early cancer-detection blood tests, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Biden Admin To Give $1.5B To States, Tribes To Help Fight Opioid Crisis
September 26, 2022
Morning Briefing
Along with the new funding, the Biden administration published new guidance to facilitate greater access to naloxone products, which treat opioid overdoses, and guidance for employers to create “Recovery-Ready Workplaces,” The Hill reported.
Court Reinstates Tennessee’s 6-Week Abortion Ban
June 29, 2022
Morning Briefing
As Indiana and Iowa also look to roll back abortion access, Wisconsin’s attorney general is challenging the state’s 173-year-old ban. And birth control and Plan B controversy takes root in Missouri.
‘Not Quite on Board’: Parents Proving a Tough Sell on Covid Vax for Teens
By Jenny Gold Samantha Young
November 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California offers a lens on the challenges officials face in persuading parents to embrace covid shots for young children. While the state has a strong showing in overall vaccination rates, just 59% of kids 12 to 17 — eligible for a shot since May — are fully vaccinated.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access
April 11, 2024
Podcast
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.
Watch: Young Man Faces Medical Bankruptcy — Even With Insurance
October 2, 2020
KFF Health News Original
“CBS This Morning” tells the story of Matthew Fentress, a young man who has had serious heart disease for six years. It’s the latest story in the ongoing crowdsourced Bill of the Month investigation.
‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester Jenny Gold
February 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California’s largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
B6 Linked With Lowered Anxiety; FDA Approves Opzelura For Vitiligo Treatment
July 20, 2022
Morning Briefing
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN’s Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 7: After a Rural Town Loses Hospital, Is a Health Clinic Enough?
By Sarah Jane Tribble
November 10, 2020
KFF Health News Original
In Fort Scott, Kansas, the Community Health Center’s big green-and-white sign replaced Mercy Hospital’s name on the front of the town’s massive medical building. In the final chapter of Season One: “No Mercy,” we have an appointment to see what’s inside.
After Pandemic Ravaged Nursing Homes, New State Laws Protect Residents
By Susan Jaffe
August 20, 2021
KFF Health News Original
This year, 23 states passed more than 70 pandemic-related provisions affecting nursing homes, including measures setting minimum staffing levels, expanding visitation protections and limiting owners’ profit margins.
What Happened When the Only ER Doctor in a Rural Town Got COVID
By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio
December 4, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Hospitals across the country are struggling as staffers get infected with the coronavirus. It’s especially tough for small, rural hospitals, where even one doctor out sick can upend patient capacity.
Bill Gates Injects $20B Into His Foundation To Help Global Recovery
July 14, 2022
Morning Briefing
The massive donation is aimed at curbing suffering caused by global issues like covid, AP reports. Gates says the foundation plans to spend $9 billion yearly in aid by 2026. Meanwhile, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital boosted investment in its plan to study and combat pediatric diseases.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Let the General Election Commence
August 23, 2024
Podcast
Abortion and reproductive health issues headlined the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as expected. But what Vice President Kamala Harris has in mind for other health policies as the Democratic nominee remains something of a mystery. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump says he would not use the 19th-century Comstock Act to impose, in effect, a national ban on abortion, which angered his anti-abortion backers. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a woman who fought back after being charged for two surgeries despite undergoing only one.
