White House Asks For $10B More To Battle Covid
November 16, 2022
Morning Briefing
The money is sought by the end of the year to go to new vaccines and treatments. But on Tuesday Senate lawmakers voted to end the federal covid emergency declaration. NBC News’ data analysis finds covid hospitalizations and deaths are falling in the U.S.
Next Year’s Medicare Part B Premiums Will Drop 3%
September 28, 2022
Morning Briefing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that 2023 Medicare Part B premiums would drop 3% — the first time in a decade that has happened. The Biden administration says the decrease is primarily due to expected savings on prescription drugs with Medicare now able to negotiate some costs and limited coverage of Aduhelm.
No hay que sufrir efectos secundarios con la vacuna contra covid para estar protegido
By Arthur Allen
April 28, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Si bien los síntomas muestran que el sistema inmune está respondiendo a la vacuna y que protegerá contra la enfermedad, las personas con pocos o ningún síntoma también estaban protegidas.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Dancing Under the Debt Ceiling
April 27, 2023
Podcast
House Republicans passed their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, along with major cuts to health (and other domestic) programs. Unlikely to become law, it calls for new work requirements for adults on Medicaid. Meanwhile, state efforts targeting trans people bear a striking resemblance to the fight against abortion rights. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Renuka Rayasam, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a specialist’s demand to be paid as much as $15,000 before treating a woman’s serious pregnancy complication.
CDC To Award Over $3B To Reinforce Public Health System
November 30, 2022
Morning Briefing
The money is aimed at strengthening the public health work force and infrastructure after the stresses of the pandemic, Reuters reports. In other news, a study found that covid screenings at hospital entries weren’t very helpful despite the considerable cost.
Covid Vaccine Makers Decline To Refund Covax $1.4B For Canceled Orders
February 1, 2023
Morning Briefing
The New York Times reports that Gavi, the global foundation that tried to increase access to covid vaccines to the world’s poor via its Covax program, is trying to negotiate with companies to get back some of the prepayments for vaccine orders that were ultimately canceled. The manufacturers involved made $13.8 billion on the vaccines distributed through Covax.
Grupos de base lideran el camino para cerrar la brecha de mortalidad infantil en Colorado
By Rae Ellen Bichell
June 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Aunque Colorado se encuentra entre los estados más saludables del país, las disparidades en salud entre distintos grupos raciales y étnicos son visibles. Y un indicador clave es la mortalidad infantil.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How to Avoid a Big Bill for Your COVID Test
By Dan Weissmann
November 30, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Tests for the coronavirus are supposed to be free. And, usually, they are. But sometimes … things happen. Here’s how to avoid getting a surprise bill for a test.
Democrats’ Plans to Expand Medicare Benefits May Pinch Advantage Plans’ Funding
By Michelle Andrews
October 28, 2021
KFF Health News Original
As lawmakers weigh new spending provisions to cover dental, hearing and vision services for Medicare beneficiaries, a group supporting Medicare Advantage plans is airing commercials that raise concerns about the funding for those private plans.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Our 200th Episode!
June 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The federal approval of a controversial drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease has reignited the debate over drug prices and the way the Food and Drug Administration makes decisions. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden seeks to gain goodwill overseas as he announces the U.S. will provide 500 million doses of covid vaccine to international health efforts. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And to mark the podcast’s 200th episode, the panelists discuss what has surprised them most and least over the past four years.
Biden Is Caught in the Middle of Polarizing Abortion Politics
By Julie Rovner
July 12, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The president, one of the last of a disappearing group of politicians who sought moderate compromises on abortion policy, is frustrating supporters. They wanted faster changes in federal rules. But abortion opponents — including Catholic bishops— are also taking him to task.
Research Finds Catching Covid Offers Protection Like Vaccines Do
February 17, 2023
Morning Briefing
“Natural immunity” from a covid infection provides strong, lasting protection against severe outcomes, new research says — on a par with two doses of an mRNA vaccine. Separately, a study showed that for adults hospitalized with omicron, the death rate is 1.5 times that of influenza A or B.
New FDA-Approved Hemophilia Gene Therapy Is World’s Priciest Medicine
November 23, 2022
Morning Briefing
Drugmaker CSL Bering says the $3.5 million price tag for its Hemgenix treatment is justified because it would ultimately reduce long-term health care costs associated with treating patients living with hemophilia B.
Despite Restraints, Democrats’ Drug Pricing Plan Could Still Aid Consumers
By Michael McAuliff
November 5, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A last-minute agreement among lawmakers restored a provision seeking to hold down rising costs of prescription medicines. Although details on which drugs will be targeted remain sketchy, the legislation would help patients buying insulin and cap Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year.
Old TB Vaccine Doesn’t Work On Covid, But It May Have Other Benefits
April 27, 2023
Morning Briefing
The tuberculosis vaccine, known as B.C.G., was being tested on health care workers in 2020. But the rapid development of mRNA covid vaccines made it impossible to complete the trial because health care workers were first in line to get the newly available mRNA shots, The New York Times says.
What Do We Really Know About Vaccine Effectiveness?
By Julie Appleby
November 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Reports of waning effectiveness and mixed messages about booster shots fuel the politicization of vaccination.
Organ Centers to Transplant Patients: Get a Covid Shot or Move Down on Waitlist
By JoNel Aleccia
October 8, 2021
KFF Health News Original
At issue is whether transplant patients who refuse the shots are not only putting themselves at greater risk for serious illness and death from covid-19, but also squandering scarce organs that could benefit others.
Study: Millennials Using More Health Services Than Other Generations
March 10, 2023
Morning Briefing
A new study found that Millennials are seeking more help for health matters than ever. In other startling news, Newsweek says data show murder-suicides have reached a record high in the country. Hepatitis B, Havana Syndrome, treating obesity in children, and more are among other subjects in the news.
An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare Machines
By Dan Weissmann
April 10, 2024
Podcast
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.
Student Nurses Who Refuse Vaccination Struggle to Complete Degrees
By Michelle Andrews
October 4, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration is requiring workers at health care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. For the minority of nursing students who have refused a shot, the new policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.