Under Trump, Number Of Uninsured Kids Rose For First Time This Decade
By Phil Galewitz
November 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
About 276,000 more children are among the uninsured, a new report finds. Though the uptick is statistically small, it is striking because uninsured rates usually decrease during periods of economic growth.
Black Market For Suboxone Gives Some A Glimpse Of Recovery
By Jake Harper, Side Effects Public Media
October 9, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Addiction experts argue that buprenorphine, which drug users buy on the street, actually saves lives because it is used in place of more dangerous substances, like heroin and fentanyl.
Significant Delays, Unanticipated Headaches Throw $16B VA Medical Records Project Off Track
August 23, 2019
Morning Briefing
A host of glitches have surfaced as the massive undertaking to digitize health records for veterans tries to get off the ground. Many critics who have been skeptical of the Trump administration strategy from the start worry that the delays foretell even bigger issues on the horizon. Meanwhile, emails reveal the frustration VA staffers felt over the interference from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago friends.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ See You In Court!
August 16, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about a spate of lawsuits involving the Affordable Care Act, as well as the latest in state and federal efforts regarding the Medicaid program for the poor.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Reading The Tea Leaves In Blue Wave’s Wake
November 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Ollstein of Politico and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News discuss the impact of House Democratic leadership elections and their impact on health policy; as well as efforts by the Trump administration to address high drug prices and ensure the safety of medical devices. Plus, Julie Rovner interviews KHN’s Jay Hancock about the latest “Bill of the Month.”
Congress Targets Misuse Of Hospice Drugs
By Melissa Bailey
October 4, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In the bipartisan opioid bill headed to the president’s desk, hospice workers would be allowed to destroy patients’ unneeded opioids, reducing the risk that families misuse them.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Let’s Talk Politics
July 31, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about health care’s emergence as a possible voting issue in the coming midterm elections. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Emmarie Huetteman about July’s “Bill of the Month”: a transgender woman’s “bait-and-switch” $92,000 surgical bill.
Judge Slashes $2B Jury Verdict In Case Over Roundup’s Possible Link To Cancer
July 26, 2019
Morning Briefing
Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith said the jury’s billion-dollar punitive damages awards were excessive and unconstitutional. Bayer faces Roundup cancer lawsuits by more than 13,400 plaintiffs across the United States.
Health Care Industry ‘Pays Tribute’ To California’s Influential Lawmakers
By Samantha Young
December 15, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The leaders of California’s legislative health committees who wield power over state health policy have been showered with money from the health care sector, with drug companies, health plans, hospitals and doctors providing nearly 40 percent of their 2017-18 campaign funds.
Medicare Cuts Payments To Nursing Homes Whose Patients Keep Ending Up In Hospital
By Jordan Rau
December 3, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The incentive program to discourage nursing homes from discharging patients too quickly will also give bonuses to facilities with fewer rehospitalizations.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Some Things Old, Some Things New
October 4, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner discuss final action on bills in Congress to address the opioid epidemic and fund federal health agencies. They also look at new efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on teen nicotine use.
‘We’re Fighting For Our Lives’: Patients Protest Sky-High Insulin Prices
By Bram Sable-Smith
December 12, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The price of insulin keeps going up. For people with Type 1 diabetes, high prices can be a life-or-death issue. Now a grass-roots movement is pushing for change.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Drug Prices And Unicorns
July 19, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico, and Erin Mershon of Stat News discuss a series of health policy court decisions on everything from prescription drug discounts to soda taxes. Plus, Rovner, interviews health care futurist and consultant Jeff Goldsmith.
Tobacco Tax Battle Could Torch Montana Medicaid Expansion
By Eric Whitney, Montana Public Radio
November 5, 2018
KFF Health News Original
A ballot initiative in Montana would tax cigarettes $2 a pack to help pay for the state’s Medicaid expansion. But the tobacco industry has spent more than $17 million fighting the effort.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ (Almost) Live from Austin!
September 28, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Ollstein of Politico talk about how health issues will play in midterm elections, the Trump administration’s move that could penalize legal immigrants who use government aid programs, and other topics. Due to technical difficulties, the original discussion taped Sept. 27 at the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival could not be broadcast, so the panelists reconvened from Austin and Washington on Sept. 28.
Health Care Simmers On Back Burner In California Heartland’s Hot House Races
By Ana B. Ibarra
June 4, 2018
KFF Health News Original
After rallies and protests in the San Joaquin Valley congressional districts, the urgency over protecting coverage under the ACA seems to have waned — at least in the primaries. Three of four seats in the region are likely to remain red, political forecasters say.
Emergency Medical Responders Confront Racial Bias
By Kristian Foden-Vencil, Oregon Public Broadcasting
January 11, 2019
KFF Health News Original
In a recent study of patients treated by emergency medical responders in Oregon, black patients were 40 percent less likely to get pain medicine than their white peers. Why?
A Jolt To The Jugular! You’re Insured But Still Owe $109K For Your Heart Attack
By Chad Terhune
August 27, 2018
KFF Health News Original
A Texas teacher, 44, faces a “balance bill” of almost twice his annual salary for a heart attack he never expected to have.
The Steep Financial Toll Of Cancer Deaths: Lost Earnings Costs U.S. $94B
July 8, 2019
Morning Briefing
In 2015, 600,000 Americans died of cancer. Compounding the losses to loved ones, the country’s economy also took a hit from the estimated $94.4 billion in lost earnings that year. In other cancer-related news: scientists aim to use “nanobodies” as a potential new treatment against the disease; and new physical activity guidelines for breast cancer survivors.