A Paramedic Was Skeptical About This Rx for Stopping Repeat Opioid Overdoses. Then He Saw It Help.
By Lauren Peace, Tampa Bay Times
March 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
For years, addiction response teams have traveled around Florida to connect people who have overdosed with resources and recovery centers. Now, a handful have a new tool in their kit: buprenorphine, which can help prevent the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that lead to more drug use.
A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?
By Molly Castle Work
March 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasn’t medically necessary.
After Appalachian Hospitals Merged Into a Monopoly, Their ERs Slowed to a Crawl
By Brett Kelman and Samantha Liss
March 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Ballad Health was granted the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in 2018. Since then, its emergency rooms have become more than three times as slow.
Journalists Track Efforts to Curb the Opioid Crisis and Put Catholic Hospitals Under the Scope
March 23, 2024
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
En California, la cobertura de salud ampliada a inmigrantes choca con las revisiones de Medicaid
By Jasmine Aguilera, El Tímpano
March 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
El proceso de redeterminación ha afectado de forma desproporcionada a los latinos, que constituyen la mayoría de los beneficiarios de Medi-Cal.
Los hirieron en el desfile del Super Bowl: un mes después se sienten olvidados
By Bram Sable-Smith and Peggy Lowe, KCUR
March 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Durante el primer mes, los líderes comunitarios de Kansas City han discutido cómo atender a las personas que quedaron atrapadas bajo el fuego cruzado y cómo distribuir los más de $2 millones donados a los fondos públicos para las víctimas bajo el doloroso impacto inicial.
Viewpoints: Cost Of TB Test Out Of Reach For Many; Some ACA Workers Cannot Afford Their Own Health Care
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial workers tackle tuberculosis testing, ACA, medical devices, and more.
Medicare To Cover Wegovy For Patients At Risk Of Heart Disease, Stroke
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday that the pricey weight-loss drug Wegovy will be covered for Medicare beneficiaries who have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular problems. Other news related to such medications reports on teens’ use, and a lawsuit alleging harm.
HHS, Other Health Programs Get Flat Funding In Latest Spending Deal
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Lawmakers rush to pass the spending bill that was finalized and released late last night. Funding allocated for federal health agencies and measures remains largely the same as last year’s appropriations. News outlets detail who gets how much, and who lost out.
Majority Of House Republicans Backed Budget Proposal Threatening IVF
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
HuffPost notes it’s a “stunning turnaround” after weeks of vocally supporting IVF access in the wake of the controversial Alabama law. Meanwhile, Catholics are reportedly still often choosing IVF despite church opposition.
Idaho Inmate Recaptured After Escape, Shooting Of Hospital Transport Staff
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
During an ambush two corrections officers were shot as a prisoner, who had injured himself in prison, escaped custody from an unscheduled medical transport. Also in the news, an L.A. hospital is found at fault for a power outage that forced patient evacuations.
FCC Moves Toward Routing 988 Mental Health Calls Based On Location
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
A new rule requires calls to the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline to be routed based on physical location rather than a caller’s area code, to take mobile phone use into account. Separately, researchers found that previously incarcerated people have double the risk for death by suicide.
Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Cigarette Packages’ Graphic Warnings
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
The tobacco industry had challenged, on First Amendment grounds, a federal ruling mandating graphic images depicting the effects of smoking, but an appeals court disagreed. Meanwhile, a new study links belly fat and smoking.
City Of Chicago Sues Glock For Machine Gun-Like Device For Handguns
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
The handgun modification, which can be bought cheaply or even 3D-printed, can convert a popular pistol into a machine gun-like weapon, the city’s lawsuit says. Other news is from Florida, Rhode Island, California, and elsewhere.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on the solar eclipse, asbestos, incest, gambling, and more.
Morning Briefing for Friday, March 22, 2024
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Social Security clawbacks, overdose deaths, Medicare and Wegovy, IVF, pig kidney transplant, and more are in the news. Plus, your weekend reads.
Surgeons Achieve First Pig Kidney Transplant Into Live Patient
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
The groundbreaking xenotransplant happened in Boston and the organ was from a genetically modified pig: so far signs are said to be “promising.” Earlier successful pig kidney transplant trials involved brain-dead human patients.
Record 108,000 Americans Died From Overdoses In 2022: CDC
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes 270,000 overdose deaths from fentanyl are playing a part in the presidential race. Separately, scientists say using GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy to treat addiction is showing “exciting” progress.
First Edition: March 22, 2024
March 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
California’s Expanded Health Coverage for Immigrants Collides With Medicaid Reviews
By Jasmine Aguilera, El Tímpano
Updated March 26, 2024
Originally Published March 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A state policy to extend Medi-Cal to qualified Californians without legal residency is running up against a federal requirement to resume eligibility checks. The redetermination process is causing many Latinos, who make up a majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to be disenrolled.