Texas Archives

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Spending? Only Congress Knows

Top negotiators in Congress have agreed to a framework for government spending into next year, but there are details to iron out before a vote — such as the scheduled Medicare payment cuts that have providers worried. Also, the Biden administration reopens its program allowing Americans to request free covid-19 home tests, as hopes for pandemic preparedness measures from Congress dim. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Dec. 15, 2022

A photo shows John Lites posing for a photo outdoors. He's standing by a fence.

Mass Shootings Reopen the Debate Over Whether Crime Scene Photos Prompt Change or Trauma

After almost every mass shooting, a debate is renewed over whether to publish the photos of the carnage the guns have inflicted.

By Lauren Sausser

Dec. 15, 2022

A photo shows petri dishes arranged in a row over scans of DNA and RNA.

Patients for Profit: How Private Equity Hijacked Health Care

The Business of Clinical Trials Is Booming. Private Equity Has Taken Notice.

Private equity-backed Headlands Research heralded its covid-19 vaccine trials as a chance to boost participation among diverse populations, then it shuttered multiple sites that conducted them.

By Rachana Pradhan

Dec. 2, 2022

A photo illustration shows four images separated by bars. The first image is of money and a Medicare card, the second is an older man sitting in a chair, the third is a closeup of money, the fourth is of a spreadsheet of overpayments totalling over $8 million.

Audits — Hidden Until Now — Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges

Taxpayers had to foot the bills for care that should have cost far less, according to records released after KHN filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. The government may seek to recover up to $650 million as a result.

By Fred Schulte and Holly K. Hacker

Nov. 21, 2022

How Optimism Can Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap

Low-income residents in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid are in a tough spot: They don’t qualify for the subsidies that people with slightly higher incomes get to buy marketplace plans because of a glitch in the federal health law. But a court decision last year makes it easier for them to make good-faith estimates of a pay increase, and there is no financial penalty if they don’t hit that figure.

By Phil Galewitz and Daniel Chang

Nov. 16, 2022

Patients for Profit: How Private Equity Hijacked Health Care

Sick Profit: Investigating Private Equity’s Stealthy Takeover of Health Care Across Cities and Specialties

Private equity firms have shelled out almost $1 trillion to acquire nearly 8,000 health care businesses, in deals almost always hidden from federal regulators. The result: higher prices, lawsuits, and complaints about care.

By Fred Schulte

Nov. 14, 2022

A photo shows a poster warning of the dangers of fentanyl use in a high school hallway.

Fentanyl in High School: A Texas Community Grapples With the Reach of the Deadly Opioid

The first fentanyl-related deaths of students in an area south of Austin, Texas, were reported over the summer. The school district, parents, and students are trying to deal with the aftermath.

By Colleen DeGuzman

Nov. 10, 2022

KHN & PolitiFact HealthCheck

Ad Goes Too Far With Claim That Joe Biden Promotes Surgery for Trans Teens

Even some medical experts who are skeptical of gender-affirming care say the White House is not promoting breast removal and genital surgery for teens. But that’s not what an ad, funded by a group led by a former adviser to President Donald Trump, would have you believe.

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio

Nov. 9, 2022

Two photos are shown side by side. The left is of a woman's hands holding a sign telling voters to vote "no" on Proposition 3, with text under that reads, "Pure Michigan or Pure Evil." The right is of a stack of door knob signs that read, "Vote yes on Prop 3 to restore Roe v. Wade & stop the 1931 abortion ban."

Listen: With Abortion Rights on the Ballot in Michigan, Women Tell Their Stories

Women who need abortion care come to Michigan from surrounding states that already have banned the procedure. A clinic in suburban Detroit allowed a reporter to interview patients, doctors, and nurses to understand what is at stake as voters decide whether to guarantee abortion access in the Michigan Constitution.

By Kate Wells, Michigan Public

Nov. 8, 2022

A photo shows Jennifer Smithfield standing on her porch outside her home.

Hospital Giant HCA Fends Off Accusations of Questionable Inpatient Admissions

The nation’s largest private health system, HCA Healthcare, has faced years of scrutiny over its share of emergency room patients who are admitted to the hospital. And now U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat from New Jersey, is calling for a federal investigation, prompting an escalating defense by the hospital system, based in Nashville, Tennessee.

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio

Nov. 4, 2022

A photo shows a nurse's legs walking through a hospital corridor while pushing a gurney.

Hospital Investigated for Allegedly Denying an Emergency Abortion After Patient’s Water Broke

Federal officials have ordered the probe after reports that a woman whose water broke at 18 weeks could not get medical care recommended by her doctors to end the pregnancy because hospital officials were concerned about Missouri’s strict abortion law.

By Harris Meyer

Nov. 1, 2022

A photo shows staff from the Brownsville Independent School District participating in an active shooter drill.

Texas Revamps ‘Active-Shooter’ Drills at K-12 Schools to Minimize Trauma

School lockdown drills are designed to prepare students for violent threats. But for some students, especially those with special needs, the drills can trigger or exacerbate mental health problems. Texas is taking a step toward balancing safety and mental health with new regulations around how the drills are conducted. “If some kids are coming away traumatized or we’re magnifying existing trauma, we’re not moving in the right direction,” one expert says.

By Renuka Rayasam and Colleen DeGuzman

Oct. 21, 2022

A photo shows a pair of hands holding Sony's new CRE-C10 hearing aids.

Say What? Hearing Aids Available Over-the-Counter for as Low as $199, and Without a Prescription

The cheaper over-the-counter aids are for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss — a market of tens of millions of people, many of whom have until now been priced out because prescription devices can cost thousands of dollars.

By Phil Galewitz

Oct. 17, 2022

A mother with dark brown hair and a yellow sweater sits on a couch and watches her young daughter, about one year old, play with a toy.

Patients For Profit: How Private Equity Hijacked Health Care

Baby, That Bill Is High: Private Equity ‘Gambit’ Squeezes Excessive ER Charges From Routine Births

Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.

By Rae Ellen Bichell

Oct. 13, 2022

A photo shows the exterior of the Washoe Tribe's health center. Hedges line the exterior.

Climate Change Magnifies Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke in Care Deserts

Smoke- and ash-filled air can trigger or exacerbate severe respiratory conditions. But the medical specialists who treat these illnesses are often scarce where they are most in need.

By Julie Appleby and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez

Oct. 12, 2022

A photo shows a woman wearing a hospital gown and sitting at the edge of a hospital bed.

$80,000 and 5 ER Visits: An Ectopic Pregnancy Takes a Toll Despite NY’s Liberal Abortion Law

If an embryo has implanted in a fallopian tube, ending the pregnancy is imperative to protect the patient’s life. Women’s health advocates have raised concerns that the needed treatment may be hampered by restrictive abortion laws in some states. Yet women seeking treatment in states with more liberal abortion laws may still find the process expensive and harrowing.

By Michelle Andrews

Oct. 5, 2022

A man in a checkered shirt sits on a brown couch in a living room.

Diagnosis: Debt

Few Places Have More Medical Debt Than Dallas-Fort Worth, but Hospitals There Are Thriving

Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.

By Noam N. Levey

Sept. 28, 2022

A photo shows the exterior of Audrain Community Hospital.

Patients for Profit: How Private Equity Hijacked Health Care

Buy and Bust: After Platinum Health Took Control of Noble Sites, All Hospital Workers Were Fired

Two Missouri towns are without operating hospitals after private equity-backed Noble Health left both facilities mired in debt, lawsuits, and federal investigations. The hospitals’ new operator, Platinum Health, agreed to buy them in April for $2 and laid off the last employees in early September.

By Sarah Jane Tribble

Sept. 22, 2022

A photo shows J.R. Chester standing beside a window to the left. She is looking out the window.

Texas, Battling Teen Pregnancy, Recasts Sex Education Standards

As Texas adjusts to a near-total abortion ban, Texas schools are redoubling efforts to end teen pregnancies by enacting new standards for sexual health education. Beyond focusing on abstinence, they are teaching middle schoolers about contraceptives and preventing sexually transmitted infections. But parents must opt in for their children to get the lessons.

By Emmarie Huetteman

Sept. 20, 2022

A photo shows a judge's gavel resting on a surface surrounded by shadows.

Centene to Pay $166 Million to Texas in Medicaid Drug Pricing Settlement

Texas is at least the 12th state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs.

By Andy Miller and Samantha Young

Sept. 19, 2022

Trump 2.0

Public Health

Audio Reports

Special Reports

More Topics

Texas