KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Who Will Pay For COVID-19 Care?
April 9, 2020
KFF Health News Original
The spread of COVID-19 is prompting changes in pricing, coverage and other health care issues that have been subjects of political debate for years. But the politics remain polarized. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week that they think you should read, too.
Farmworkers, Firefighters and Flight Attendants Jockey for Vaccine Priority
By Rachel Bluth and Phil Galewitz
December 11, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Everyone — from toilet paper manufacturers to patient advocates — is lobbying state advisory boards, arguing their members are essential, vulnerable or both — and, thus, most deserving of an early vaccine.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Senators Have Mental Health Crises, Too
February 23, 2023
Podcast
When U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of depression this month, he got an unusual reaction from his colleagues in Congress: compassion. It’s a far cry from how politicians once kept their mental health issues under wraps at all costs. Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is stirring up controversy by proposing that all politicians over age 75 be required to pass a mental competency test to hold office. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Highly Contagious California Variant Might Evade Vaccines, Experts Warn
February 24, 2021
Morning Briefing
Scientists raise concerns that if B.1.427/B.1.429 combines with the variant identified in the United Kingdom, that mutation could be an even more dangerous strain.
Ever Heard of a Surgical Assistant? Meet a New Boost to Your Medical Bills
By Markian Hawryluk
July 22, 2020
KFF Health News Original
A college student’s bill for outpatient knee surgery is a whopper — $96K — but the most mysterious part is a $1,167 charge from a health care provider she didn’t even know was in the operating room.
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.
Congressional Candidates Go Head-To-Head On Health Care — Again
By Ana B. Ibarra
February 24, 2020
KFF Health News Original
The California Democratic members of Congress who flipped seven Republican seats two years ago made health care a major campaign issue, criticizing their opponents for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As the Democrats defend their seats in this year’s elections, they are coming back to health care — but the issues are different.
The State of Vaccine Supply: ‘Opaque.’ Unpredictable. ‘Hard to Pin Down.’
By Julie Appleby
February 5, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Americans’ frustrations surrounding the amount of available covid vaccine hinges on several factors — not the least of which is that demand far exceeds supply.
Epidemia de obesidad en los Estados Unidos amenaza la eficacia de una vacuna contra COVID
By Sarah Varney
August 6, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Otras vacunas han demostrado ser menos efectivas en adultos obesos que en la población general, dejándolos más vulnerables a infecciones y enfermedades.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in Array (For Now)
August 20, 2020
KFF Health News Original
In a highly produced, made-for-TV political convention, Democrats papered over their differences on a variety of issues, including health care, to show a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to complicate efforts to get students back to school, and a federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Un sistema de salud pública devastado enfrenta más recortes en medio del virus
By Lauren Weber and Laura Ungar and Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press and Hannah Recht and Anna Maria Barry-Jester
July 1, 2020
KFF Health News Original
El sistema de salud pública de los Estados Unidos ha subsistido en la precariedad durante décadas y carece de los recursos necesarios para enfrentar la peor crisis de salud en un siglo.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All Coronavirus All The Time
April 2, 2020
KFF Health News Original
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing changes to the U.S. health system that were previously unthinkable. Yet some fights ― including over the Affordable Care Act and abortion — persist even in this time of national emergency. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Liz Szabo about the latest installment of KHN-NPR’s “Bill of the Month.”
Watch: Thinking Big in Public Health, Inspired by the End of Smallpox
September 18, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A conversation about how the lessons from the victory over smallpox could be applied to public health challenges today.
Listen: The Hard-Knock Health Law Turns 10 Amid Pandemic
By Julie Rovner
March 23, 2020
KFF Health News Original
On the 10th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Kaiser Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner and Kaiser Family Foundation Executive Vice President Larry Levitt put the law in perspective.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Alabama’s IVF Ruling Still Making Waves
February 29, 2024
Podcast
Lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are scrambling to react to the ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization are legally children. Abortion opponents are divided among themselves, with some supporting full “personhood” for fertilized eggs, while others support IVF as a moral way to have children. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews University of Pittsburgh law professor Greer Donley, who explains how a 150-year-old anti-vice law that’s still on the books could be used to ban abortion nationwide. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Newsom Touts California’s ‘Public Option.’ Wait — What Public Option?
By Ana B. Ibarra
February 11, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state already has a public option: Covered California, the state health insurance exchange. While there is no single definition of a public option, some health care experts say that’s a stretch.
Maine Voters Consider U-Turn On Vaccine Exemptions
By Patty Wight, Maine Public Radio
March 3, 2020
KFF Health News Original
States tried to tighten vaccine requirements last year in the midst of measles outbreaks, but a backlash against a tougher law in Maine put a referendum on the ballot there. Voters weigh in on Super Tuesday.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Health Care Takes A Financial Hit In The Midst Of Pandemic
By Dan Weissmann
May 11, 2020
KFF Health News Original
In the first quarter of 2020, half the country’s economic devastation happened in the health care sector. Much of the slowdown came after hospitals postponed elective surgeries and as Americans skipped routine doctor’s office visits.
When Green Means Stop: How Safety Messages Got So Muddled
By Nina Feldman, WHYY
August 4, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Philadelphia is in the “restricted green” reopening phase. What does that mean? And why does the U.S. have so many different pandemic safety rules?
Will Labor Day Weekend Bring Another Holiday COVID Surge?
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
September 4, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Epidemiologists are having a hard time predicting whether Labor Day will be like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when celebrations fanned the flames in coronavirus hot spots around the South and West.