Out for Blood? For Routine Lab Work, the Hospital Billed Her $2,400
By Rachana Pradhan
November 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Convenient as it may be, beware of getting your blood drawn at a hospital. The cost could be much higher than at an independent lab, and your insurance might not cover it all.
Trump Is Wrong in Claiming Full Credit for Lowering Insulin Prices
By Jacob Gardenswartz
July 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.
Abortion Ballot Measures Won’t Automatically Undo Existing Laws
By Bram Sable-Smith
June 28, 2024
KFF Health News Original
On Tuesday, a judge in Michigan blocked some of the state’s lingering restrictions on abortion access, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period. The ruling comes 19 months after voters added abortion rights to the state constitution in November 2022. Michigan was one of the first states to protect abortion access at the ballot box after […]
A Government Video Would Explain When Abortion Is Legal in South Dakota
By Arielle Zionts
February 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
South Dakota allows doctors to terminate a pregnancy only if a patient’s life is in jeopardy. Lawmakers say a government-created video would clarify what that exception actually means.
Payback: Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash
April 20, 2023
Page
Featured Story Localize the Data If you are a journalist who wants to investigate opioid settlement transparency data for your area, here’s how you can do that. Share Your Settlement Story Do you have concerns about how your state or locality is using the opioid settlement funds? Are they doing something effective that other places […]
How National Political Ambition Could Fuel, or Fail, Initiatives to Protect Abortion Rights in States
By Bram Sable-Smith Rachana Pradhan
March 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
As money flows to abortion rights initiatives in states, some donors focus on where anger over the “Dobbs” ruling could propel voter turnout and spur Democratic victories up and down the ballot, including in key Senate races and the White House.
Schools, Sheriffs, and Syringes: State Plans Vary for Spending $26B in Opioid Settlement Funds
By Aneri Pattani
November 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The cash represents an unprecedented opportunity to derail the opioid epidemic, but with countless groups advocating for their share of the pie, the impact could depend heavily on geography and politics.
Dodging the Medicare Enrollment Deadline Can Be Costly
By Susan Jaffe
December 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As open enrollment ends, many people are tuning out. They could wind up with a surprise next year: higher costs and less access to health care providers.
Readers Issue Rx for Clogged ERs and Outrageous Out-of-Pocket Costs
June 3, 2024
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Employers Haven’t a Clue How Their Drug Benefits Are Managed
By Arthur Allen
October 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Big Three pharmacy benefit managers say they return nearly all the rebates they get from drugmakers to the employers and insurers who hire them. But most employers seem to doubt that.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
By Julie Appleby
October 16, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Las clínicas de abortos, y sus pacientes, se movilizan a medida que cambian las leyes estatales
By Bram Sable-Smith
September 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
El fallo de la Corte dejó en manos de los estados las políticas sobre el aborto. Desde entonces, 14 estados promulgaron prohibiciones a la práctica que contemplan unas pocas excepciones, mientras que otros han restringido el acceso.
Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.
By Bram Sable-Smith
November 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Ohio is the latest state where voters have directly weighed in on abortion, and the next wave of such ballot measures is in the works in at least 11 other states, including Missouri.
GOP’s Tim Sheehy Revives Discredited Abortion Claims in Pivotal Senate Race
By Matt Volz
July 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
In Montana’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Tim Sheehy made the false claim that his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, supports abortion “up to and including the moment of birth.”
A Legal Battle Over Herring Fishing Has Big Implications for Health Care
By Julie Rovner
January 30, 2024
KFF Health News Original
What do herring fishing and health policy have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out, owing to a case now before the Supreme Court. If the justices rule as expected, based on this month’s oral arguments, they could dramatically change the way federal health agencies operate. “The upheaval caused … would be immense,” argues […]
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health
By Amy Maxmen
March 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Framed in the rhetoric of choice, Tennessee’s new law governing childhood vaccinations is among more than a dozen recently passed or pending nationwide that set parental freedom against community and children’s health.
Trump Doesn’t Need Congress To Make Abortion Effectively Unavailable
By Julie Rovner
November 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail not to sign a nationwide abortion ban. But he wouldn’t need to do so to make abortion difficult, or illegal, writes KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner.
12 States Promised To Open the Books on Their Opioid Settlement Funds. We Checked Up on Them.
By Aneri Pattani
November 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Victims of the opioid crisis, health advocates, and public policy experts have repeatedly called on state and local governments to transparently report how they’re using the funds they are receiving from settlements with opioid makers and distributors.
Silence in Sikeston: Racism Can Make You Sick
By Cara Anthony
September 10, 2024
Podcast
The “Silence in Sikeston” podcast explores what it means to live with racism and violence, then charts the toll on health — from hives and high blood pressure to struggles with mental health. The deaths of two Black men killed nearly 80 years apart in the same Missouri community anchor a conversation about the public health consequences of systemic bias.
Republicans Once Championed Public Health. What Happened?
By Julie Rovner
December 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans were all-in on boosting public health spending. “The highest investment priority in Washington should be to double the federal budget for scientific research,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in a 1999 op-ed in The Washington Post. Big spending increases for the National Institutes of Health soon […]
