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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry

KFF Health News Original

Travel nurse contracts that were plentiful and paid the temporary nurses far more than hospital staff nurses are vanishing. Hospitals nationwide are turning their energies to recruiting full-time people.

Guía para entender a las subvariantes de ómicron

KFF Health News Original

¿Qué tan diferentes son estas subvariantes entre sí? ¿Puede la infección por una subvariante proteger a alguien de la infección por otra? Y, ¿qué tan bien funcionan contra estas variantes las vacunas que se desarrollaron antes de la aparición de ómicron?

Can a Monthly Injection Be the Key to Curbing Addiction? These Experts Say Yes

KFF Health News Original

In California, where overdose deaths are on the rise, physicians say administering anti-addiction medication as a monthly injection holds tremendous potential. So, why aren’t more patients getting it?

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Leaked Abortion Opinion Rocks Washington’s World

KFF Health News Original

The unprecedented early leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling Roe v. Wade has heated the national abortion debate to boiling. Meanwhile, the FDA, after years of consideration, moves to ban menthol flavors in cigarettes and cigars. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Shefali Luthra of the 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a family whose medical debt drove them to seek care south of the border.

As Overdoses Soar, More States Decriminalize Fentanyl Testing Strips

KFF Health News Original

Georgia may soon join a growing list of states decriminalizing the use of fentanyl testing strips. Bans of the strips — on the books in about half of states, experts say — stem from laws criminalizing drug paraphernalia adopted decades ago. But the testing devices are now recommended to help prevent overdose deaths.

Sex Education Update in Texas Still Lacking, Say Some Students and Educators

KFF Health News Original

The last time Texas updated its sex education curriculum was in the ’90s. Students will now learn about contraception and STIs — but not gender or consent. And parents must opt in to the classes for their children.

Even When IVF Is Covered by Insurance, High Bills and Hassles Abound

KFF Health News Original

Only 15 states require insurance to cover in vitro fertilization, a common path to parenthood for people who have trouble getting pregnant. And even for those whose insurance covers IVF, the expensive procedures and required drugs can lead to unexpected bills.

What’s Next if ‘Roe v. Wade’ Falls? More Than Half of States Expected to Ban or Restrict Abortion

KFF Health News Original

If the Supreme Court affirms the leaked draft decision and overturns abortion rights, the effects would be sweeping in states where Republican-led legislatures have been eagerly awaiting the repudiation of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.