Rural Americans Are Way More Likely To Die Young. Why?
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
April 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Three words are commonly repeated to describe rural America and its residents: older, sicker and poorer. Obviously, there’s a lot more going on in the nation’s towns than that tired stereotype suggests. But a new report from the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service gives credence to the “sicker” part of the trope. Rural Americans ages […]
California Pays People With Addiction To Stay Clean — With Feds’ Blessing
By Angela Hart
May 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Led by California, a few states are testing an experimental program that pays people to stop using hard drugs. The Golden State was the first to win approval from the Biden administration to cover the sobriety payments, with Medicaid wrapping it into an ambitious health-care initiative spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to provide the […]
A State-Sanctioned Hospital Monopoly Raises Concerns
By Brett Kelman Samantha Liss
March 28, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Federal Trade Commission has long argued that competition makes the economy better. But some states have stopped the agency from blocking hospital mergers that create local or regional monopolies, and the results have been messy. Two dozen states have at some point passed controversial legislation waiving anti-monopoly laws, allowing rival hospitals to merge and replacing competition […]
Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists
By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, PolitiFact
April 1, 2024
KFF Health News Original
False claims that covid vaccines cause deaths and other diseases are still prevalent despite multiple studies showing the vaccines are safe and saved lives.
Indiana Hospitals Pull Merger Application After Pushback Over Monopoly Concerns
By Samantha Liss
November 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Two Indiana hospital rivals withdrew their application to merge after facing pushback from the Federal Trade Commission and the public.
California pone gafas, guantes y máscaras a 10.000 trabajadores agrícolas para protegerlos de la gripe aviar
By Don Thompson
November 14, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Hasta el momento, se ha confirmado la presencia de gripe aviar en más de 270 granjas lecheras en el centro de California. También detectaron rastros del virus en un sitio de muestreo de aguas residuales en el condado de Los Ángeles.
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.
‘Emergency’ or Not, Covid Is Still Killing People. Here’s What Doctors Advise to Stay Safe.
By Amy Maxmen
January 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Thousands of people are still dying of covid, but government has mostly handed over responsibility to the people to weather the seasonal surges with their own strategies.
California Says It Can No Longer Afford Aid for Covid Testing, Vaccinations for Migrants
By Don Thompson
February 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom is winding down state assistance for health care services to migrants seeking asylum. He’s lobbying the Biden administration to increase aid along the state’s southern border.
Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million
By Phil Galewitz
February 6, 2024
KFF Health News Original
We’re halfway through the Medicaid “unwinding,” in which states are dropping people from the government health insurance program for the first time since the pandemic began. Millions of people have been dumped from the rolls since April, often for procedural issues like failing to respond to notices or return paperwork. But at the same time, […]
Utah Survey Shows Why So Many People Were Dumped From Medicaid
By Phil Galewitz
January 3, 2024
KFF Health News Original
It’s one of the biggest mysteries in health policy: What happened to millions of Americans kicked out of Medicaid last year? A survey conducted for state officials in Utah, obtained by KFF Health News, holds some clues. Like many states, Utah terminated Medicaid coverage for a large share of enrollees whose eligibility was reevaluated in […]
Tennessee Tries To Rein In Ballad’s Hospital Monopoly After Years of Problems
By Brett Kelman
September 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system with the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, serves patients in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules
By Don Thompson
April 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that California prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not providing readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.
Colorado Moves to Connect Agricultural Workers With Mental Health Resources
By Vignesh Ramachandran
February 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Advocates say two bills under consideration could help migrant communities but that more needs to be done.
DeSantis, Newsom to Tangle Over Hot-Button Health Issues
By Angela Hart Daniel Chang
November 30, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Florida’s Republican presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis,and Democratic firebrand Gavin Newsom of California square off today in a contest of governors that can best be described as the debate to determine ¿quién es más macho? — who is more manly — about protecting your freedoms. Both men have led their respective states since 2019, and they’ve […]
California dice que ya no puede costear las pruebas de covid ni las vacunas para los migrantes
By Don Thompson
February 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
El estado mantiene tres centros de recursos sanitarios —dos en el condado de San Diego y uno en el condado de Imperial— que realizan pruebas y vacunaciones contra covid y otros exámenes de salud, y han atendido a más de 300,000 migrantes desde abril de 2021.
Nursing Homes Fell Behind on Vaccinating Patients for Covid
By Sarah Boden
December 4, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Last winter, only 4 in 10 nursing home residents got an updated covid vaccine. The low uptake leaves a fragile population vulnerable. Some industry watchdogs say it could be a sign of eroding trust between nursing home residents and providers.
Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million
By Phil Galewitz
February 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
While more Medicaid beneficiaries have been purged in the span of a year than ever before, enrollment is on track to settle at pre-pandemic levels.
Community Health Workers Spread Across the US, Even in Rural Areas
By Arielle Zionts
November 6, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Community health workers are increasingly common in rural areas, where they help patients overcome barriers to accessing care and staying healthy.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Covid Response Coordinator Speaks
December 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, talks with host Julie Rovner, KHN’s chief Washington correspondent, about where we are in the pandemic and how we should transition out of the public health emergency. This episode was taped on Dec. 20.
