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During the pandemic, shelters are having to change the way they do things to prevent the virus from spreading among the vulnerable homeless population. Now, as winter weather moves in, there’s less room at the shelters for those in need — threatening to leave many, literally, out in the cold.
A KHN review found more than 20 states either don’t count or have incomplete data on the use of COVID-19 antigen tests, leaving the public in the dark about the true scope of the pandemic.
Inspections for lead hazards and blood testing for lead have dropped significantly just as kids are spending more time in the places where their exposure to the poisonous metal is highest: their homes.
Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to ease the coronavirus crisis. A joint KHN and AP investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing.
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.
Experts estimate local and state health departments will have to hire 100,000 to 300,000 people as contact tracers to get the economy back on track. Many states are trying hard to hire from the racial and ethnic minority communities hit hardest by the virus.
Under a program enacted in Washington state this spring, workers can get up to $36,500 to help pay for long-term health care and services such as installing grab bars in the shower or respite care for family caregivers.
New programs, known as ACOs, reward hospitals and physician groups that hold down costs by keeping enrollees healthy. The health care providers are asked to address social issues — such as homelessness, lack of transportation and poor nutrition — that can cause and exacerbate health problems.
President Donald Trump’s decision to stop paying cost-sharing reduction subsidies means the federal government will reduce its funding of the Basic Health Program that provides low-cost coverage to more than 800,000 low-income people in those two states.
States aren't getting nearly as much federal money this year to explain and campaign for Affordable Care Act policies. Some are trying to make up the shortfall; others lack the cash or political will.
The federal health law includes a provision that allows states to alter some of its rules if they can think of a better way to provide health care to their residents, but it’s not clear how far outside the box states can go.
Some health plans are beginning to offer free maintenance care for people with chronic health problems, hoping that spending a little more early on will save a lot of money in the long run.
In a letter to all governors, HHS Secretary Tom Price invited them to consider seeking federal help to set up reinsurance funds that would help cover losses that insurers have because of high numbers of sick patients.
Minnesota had one of the most successful high-risk insurance pools in the country, and GOP leaders are eyeing this special insurance for sick people as an Obamacare replacement. But analysts say costs were high and many people in need were left out.
The state passed a bailout to make ACA plans more affordable, defeated a plan to offer bare bones insurance and is floating a state-sponsored public option.
Investigators claim drugmaker employees met in secret at restaurants, golf outings and at “Girls Night Out” to raise generic drug prices.
The medical device industry is enjoying a two-year moratorium on a tax that was created to support the Affordable Care Act. Are firms using their savings to create more jobs, as many claim?
A relatively obscure category of health insurance -- "critical illness" insurance -- is catching on because, increasingly, conventional health plans have consumers paying a lot of out-of-pocket costs. Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio explains the pros and cons of critical care insurance in this story that aired on NPR's Morning Edition.
Both states are offering “basic health programs” that provide policies to consumers with low monthly premiums and copayments, and low or no deductibles.
Even though Medicaid enrollees are more likely to be smokers than the general public, a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs examined state data from 2010 to 2013 and found wide differences in funding of cessation efforts.
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