The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in September, fueled in part by anger over his pandemic policies. The health care industry has ponied up more than $4.8 million so far to defend the first-term Democrat.
Health plans’ coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy — which has a $1,300-a-month price tag — is not a sure thing.
Using detailed maps that show vaccination rates down to the ZIP code or census tract level, health departments highlight areas of greater Denver where vaccinations lag behind state or county averages, then partner with community organizations to overcome barriers. Can this be a model for President Joe Biden’s “neighborhood by neighborhood” approach?
The state says it will look at the levels of disease-fighting antibodies among nursing home residents vaccinated against covid, which could help indicate whether they need a booster shot.
The summer that promised to let Americans resume a relatively normal life is turning into another summer of anxiety and face masks, as the delta variant drives covid caseloads up in all 50 states. Meanwhile, the Americans with Disabilities Act turns 35, and the Missouri Supreme Court orders the state to expand Medicaid after all. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Samantha Young, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about an Olympic-level athlete with an Olympic-size medical bill.
A bicyclist from California competed in a Pennsylvania race that could have landed him in this month’s Tokyo Olympics. Instead, a crash on the velodrome track landed him in two hospitals where his out-of-state, out-of-network surgeries garnered huge bills.
Pharmaceutical companies routinely cover the cost of patient copays for expensive drugs under private insurance. A federal judge could make the practice legal for millions on Medicare as well.
Each year, people in pain travel to Montana and pay to sit amid radon gas, which is pitched as therapy for a long list of health issues. While low-dose radiation therapy is getting another look amid the pandemic, experts say that treatment is different than sitting in a tunnel of radioactive gas.
Scientists are trying to piece together why the delta variant so readily infects unvaccinated Americans, spewing 1,000 times more virus particles.
Brexanolone is a promising new treatment for postpartum depression. But one insurer’s requirement that women try four other drugs and electroconvulsive therapy before the infusion means it is out-of-reach for millions of women.
The most recent covid relief law offered federal funding to pay insurance premiums for workers who lost their jobs and opted to keep their workplace insurance through COBRA. But the window to take advantage of the subsidized coverage is closing: Many workers would need to enroll in the program by July 31.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) introduced a bill to do away with a health insurance rule that dictates which parent’s plan becomes a new baby’s primary insurer. This could save some parents from unexpected, sometimes massive medical bills. Davids took up the issue after a KHN/NPR Bill of the Month story on one family’s unexpected $207,455 NICU bill.
In a suburb of Denver, a doctor runs a clinic that finds creative solutions to treat a large refugee and immigrant population, sometimes to the dismay of the medical establishment.
At a pop-up vaccine clinic in a McDonald’s parking lot in the city of San Bernardino, fewer than two dozen people agreed to get a shot, offering a snapshot of the faltering vaccination effort.
Patients seem to like remote visits, and health care providers now depend on them. But outages, freezing and other glitches cost time and money, and compromise quality of care.
Missouri is the last state to create a monitoring program to help spot the misuse of prescription drugs. But some public health experts warn that the nation’s programs are forcing people addicted to opioids to seek deadlier street options.
While covid is generally mild in children, doctors report a growing number of long-haul covid symptoms and MIS-C cases, particularly among Black and Latino children.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
The landmark federal health law required most commercial health plans to cover a comprehensive list of birth control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration free of charge to female patients. But health plans don’t have to cover every option, and newer methods are not included in the federal list of covered services.
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
