US to Cover HIV Prevention Drugs for Older Americans to Stem Spread of the Virus
By Michael Scaturro
November 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The government has proposed that Medicare fully cover preexposure prophylaxis drugs that prevent HIV, a change that could help America catch up with nations in Europe and Africa that are on track to end new infections decades before the U.S. under its current approach.
Are You an Optimist? Could You Learn to Be? Your Health May Depend on It.
By Judith Graham
December 13, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Multiple studies show a strong association between higher levels of optimism and healthy aging. We ask some dedicated optimists what might explain the connection.
Southern Lawmakers Rethink Long-Standing Opposition to Medicaid Expansion
By Daniel Chang Andy Miller
February 16, 2024
KFF Health News Original
While many Republican state lawmakers remain firmly against Medicaid expansion, some key leaders in holdout states are showing a willingness to reconsider. Public opinion, financial incentives, and widening health care needs make resistance harder.
Early Detection May Help Kentucky Tamp Down Its Lung Cancer Crisis
By Charlotte Huff
February 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
After a decade of work, a Kentucky program launched to diagnose lung cancer earlier is beginning to change the prognosis for residents by catching tumors when they’re more treatable.
A New Covid Booster Is Here. Will Those at Greatest Risk Get It?
By Amy Maxmen
September 15, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The CDC says everyone over 6 months old should get the new covid booster. But the emergency response mechanisms that supported earlier vaccine campaigns are gone. As one expert wonders: How to get boosters to people beyond Democrats, college graduates, and those with high incomes?
Where Are the Nation’s Primary Care Providers? It’s Not an Easy Answer
By Rae Ellen Bichell
January 30, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Politicians keep talking about fixing primary care shortages. But flawed national data leaves big holes in how to evaluate which policies are effective.
How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics — And What It Means in 2024
By Amy Maxmen
January 29, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Opposition to vaccines and other public health measures backed by science has become politically charged. That makes dangerous misinformation much harder to fight.
Thousands of Experts Hired to Aid Public Health Departments Are Losing Their Jobs
By Lauren Weber
November 14, 2022
KFF Health News Original
As the covid-19 pandemic raged, an independent nonprofit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hired an army of seasoned professionals to fill the gaps in the country’s public health system. Now, the money has largely run out, and state and local health departments are again without their expertise.
What’s Indoor Air Quality Like in Long-Term Care Facilities During Wildfires? Worse Than You’d Think.
By Kylie Mohr
January 23, 2024
KFF Health News Original
As climate change-driven wildfires increasingly choke large parts of the United States with smoke each summer, new research shows residents in long-term care facilities are being exposed to dangerously poor air, even those who don’t set foot outside during smoke events.
In This Oklahoma Town, Most Everyone Knows Someone Who’s Been Sued by the Hospital
By Mitchell Black Noam N. Levey
January 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Hospitals nationwide face growing scrutiny over how they secure payment from patients, but at one community hospital, the debt collection machine has been quietly humming along for decades.
Did a Military Lab Spill Anthrax Into Public Waterways? New Book Reveals Details of a US Leak
By Alison Young
April 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
“Pandora’s Gamble” describes how 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of wastewater potentially containing anthrax, Ebola, and other deadly pathogens spilled from an Army facility in Frederick, Maryland, in 2018.
Why It’s So Tough to Reduce Unnecessary Medical Care
By Markian Hawryluk
November 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Treatments that don’t help patients, and may even harm them, are difficult to eliminate because they can be big sources of revenue.
California’s Proposed Flavored Tobacco Ban Gives Hookah a Pass
By Rachel Scheier
November 3, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Californians will decide Nov. 8 whether to approve a statewide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. But the measure, known as Proposition 31, exempts hookah tobacco. Anti-smoking activists criticize the carve-out, calling it the latest example of businesses using identity politics to profit from a deadly product.
New Alzheimer’s Drug Raises Hopes — Along With Questions
By Judith Graham
August 11, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Clinics serving Alzheimer’s patients are working out the details of who will get treated with the new drug Leqembi. It won’t be for everyone with memory-loss symptoms.
How Measles, Whooping Cough, and Worse Could Roar Back on RFK Jr.’s Watch
By Arthur Allen
December 6, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Inoculation campaigns that protect children and adults from dangerous diseases rely on a delicate web of state and federal laws and programs. If senior officials cast doubt on vaccine safety, the whole system might collapse, especially in red states.
Pandemia eleva el número de beneficiarios de Medicaid a más de 80 millones
By Phil Galewitz
June 18, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Las últimas cifras de inscripción al Medicaid muestran que creció de 71,3 millones de miembros en febrero de 2020, cuando la pandemia comenzaba en los Estados Unidos, a 80,5 millones en enero, según un análisis de KFF de datos federales.
Survey Finds Nearly 80% Dissatisfied With Cost Of Health Care In US
December 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
In the lowest marks in over two decades, a Gallup poll finds that only 19% of Americans are satisfied with the costs of health care in 2024. Quality ratings suffer as well, with less than a majority of people giving “good” or “excellent.” And a separate survey looks at Medicare Advantage plans.
California Confronts Overdose Epidemic Among Former Prison Inmates
By Don Thompson
May 10, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Individuals newly released from prison are 40 times as likely to die of opioid overdoses than members of the general population, researchers say. In response, California corrections officials aim to arm departing inmates with an antidote that can be used to reverse the effects of opioid poisoning.
Pfizer’s Covid Cash Powers a ‘Marketing Machine’ on the Hunt for New Supernovas
By Arthur Allen
November 8, 2022
KFF Health News Original
While sales of its covid vaccines are falling, Pfizer plans to triple the price of the shots and use its bonanza from government contracts to buy and develop new blockbusters.
El altísimo costo de tener una enfermedad autoinmune en Estados Unidos
By Andy Miller
November 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A pesar de ser muy frecuentes, encontrar ayuda para muchas enfermedades autoinmunes puede resultar frustrante y costoso.
