As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them
By Harris Meyer
February 12, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The measures would impose taxes on increases in the price of drugs that don’t reflect improved clinical value and set the rates paid by state-run and commercial health plans to a benchmark based on prices in Canada.
In Search of the Shot
February 25, 2021
KFF Health News Original
KHN readers detail their frustrations and successes as they hunt for a scarce covid-19 vaccine.
‘All You Want Is to Be Believed’: The Impacts of Unconscious Bias in Health Care
By April Dembosky, KQED
October 21, 2020
KFF Health News Original
One woman shares her experience trying to get care in a Bay Area hospital for COVID symptoms. At nearly every turn, a doctor dismissed her complaints. Is bias part of why people of color are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus?
Proposed 340B Rule Retracted That Would Have Jolted Community Clinics
October 1, 2021
Morning Briefing
The Health Resources and Services Administration pulled back a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would have required community health clinics to pass savings from reduced 340B pricing on insulin and Epi-Pens directly to patients instead of reinvesting in local services.
HHS Enforcement Of 340B Program Up In Air With Conflicting Court Rulings
November 8, 2021
Morning Briefing
As hospitals and pharmaceutical companies fight in court over the prescription drug discount program, the oversight power of the Health Resources and Services Administration is also at issue.
Is A Second Wave Of Coronavirus Coming?
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
June 23, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Some experts say the United States is arguably still in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and history tells us that the 1918 influenza pandemic came in at least three waves. But that’s not necessarily a template for how the coronavirus pandemic will play out, because the coronavirus doesn’t have the same degree of seasonality that influenza does.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A Little Good News and Some Bad on COVID-19
October 22, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Glimmers of hope are beginning to appear in the fight against the coronavirus, such as a decreasing death rate. But there’s not-so-good news, too, including a push for “herd immunity,” which could result in millions more deaths. Meanwhile, the Trump administration doubles down on work requirements for Medicaid. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
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.
Stop Blaming Tuskegee, Critics Say. It’s Not an ‘Excuse’ for Current Medical Racism.
By April Dembosky, KQED
March 25, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Tuskegee syphilis study is often cited as a reason Black Americans might hesitate to take the covid-19 vaccine. But many people say that current racism in health care and lack of access deserve more attention to move more Black Americans toward vaccine protection.
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.
Study Finds A Cancer Drug Could Help Quash HIV Infections
January 27, 2022
Morning Briefing
Pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda, may be able to flush out HIV from immune cells in people who’ve controlled their infections. Among other news, a Gilead anti-cancer drug may have hit a serious safety snag in trials, and out-of-pocket expenses for hepatitis B drugs have been rising.
B.1.1.7 Is Now ‘Alpha’: WHO To Rename Covid Variants
June 1, 2021
Morning Briefing
The current series of complex numbers and letters makes it hard to keep B.1.351 straight from B.1.671.2. So the World Health Organization is set to unveil a new naming convention that uses the Greek alphabet instead. Experts also hope that the change will alleviate location stigmas associated with virus variants.
Listen: Battling The Coronavirus While Reopening The Economy
April 17, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN’s Julie Rovner discusses the Trump administration’s blueprint for reopening the economy and its effect on public health on WBUR’s “On Point.”
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats May Lose on SCOTUS, But Hope to Win on ACA
October 15, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Barring something unexpected, Democrats in the Senate appear to lack the votes to block the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. So, instead they used the high-profile confirmation hearings to hammer on Republicans for again putting the Affordable Care Act in peril. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Shefali Luthra of The 19th and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, about public health challenges in dealing with COVID-19.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Financial Self-Defense School Is Now in Session
By Dan Weissmann
August 10, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Starting in August 2020, a new episode every other week. No time like a pandemic to learn more about how to fight the high cost of health care.
Listen: Why It Takes So Long To Get COVID-19 Test Results
April 1, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN’s Julie Appleby talks about the behind-the-scenes steps that can add time to the process of testing for the coronavirus.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Trump vs. COVID
October 8, 2020
KFF Health News Original
President Donald Trump is one of at least two dozen people tied to the White House who have tested positive for COVID-19. Negotiations on the next round of COVID relief are off again — maybe. And the FDA and CDC continue to fight for scientific credibility. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Erin Mershon of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog about what the Supreme Court might do with the latest case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole
By Sarah Varney
June 30, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn’t get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus — which is hard when you live with elders.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: It’s Scandal Week
September 17, 2020
KFF Health News Original
President Donald Trump this week issued a prescription drug pricing order unlikely to lower drug prices, and he contradicted comments by his director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the need for mask-wearing and predictions for vaccine availability. Meanwhile, scandals erupted at the CDC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration. And the number of people without health insurance grew in 2019, reported the Census Bureau, even while the economy soared. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
