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KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Here are the telltale signs to look for in nursing homes to avoid, and resources that can point to better places.
The Biden administration set stringent new federal staffing rules. But for years, nursing homes have failed to meet the toughest standards set by states.
California is in line for more than $4 billion in opioid settlement funds, and local governments are most often spending the first tranche of money on lifesaving drugs. An exclusive KFF Health News analysis also found projects to help police deter youths’ drug use and counsel officers who witness overdoses.
As Donald Trump prepares to be formally nominated as the GOP’s candidate for president next week, the platform he will run on is taking shape. And in line with Trump’s approach, it aims to simultaneously satisfy hard-core abortion opponents and reassure more moderate swing voters. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission takes on pharmacy benefits management firms. Shefali Luthra of The 19th News, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, about the Biden administration’s policies to ensure access to reproductive health care.
Millions of Americans suffer from temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, disorders. The high cost and poor insurance coverage of TMJ care can bury patients in debt even as the treatments do more harm than good.
Colorado defended its high disenrollment rates following the covid crisis by saying that what goes up must come down. Advocates and researchers disagree.
Even with a stockpile of bird flu vaccinations, the federal government is not offering them to those at high risk. Along with testing and measures to prevent spread, vaccinations may protect people and stop the outbreak from becoming a pandemic.
Lead in drinking water is a known danger. But how many of the country’s estimated 9 million lead service lines need to be replaced — and how quickly — is subject to debate. The clock is ticking on two competing plans as the election looms.
With pop-up art shows in Philadelphia and beyond, Zarinah Lomax’s mission is to show what is routinely lost to gun violence in America: “This is somebody’s child. Somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter who was working toward something.”
The story of MitraClip, a device Dr. Oz helped invent to treat faulty heart valves, is a cautionary tale about the science, business, and regulation of medical technology.
An ongoing lawsuit aims to set aside the Affordable Care Act’s requirements that insurers cover preventive care, such as contraception. If that happens, state reproductive health laws — varying across the country — would carry more weight, resuming the “wild West” dynamic from before Obamacare.
In Montana’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Tim Sheehy made the false claim that his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, supports abortion “up to and including the moment of birth.”
In this episode of “The Indicator From Planet Money,” KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, reports on how the medical labor force is changing post-Roe v. Wade and why graduating medical students, from OB-GYNs to pediatricians, are avoiding training in states with abortion bans.
The reproductive rights organization hopes to oust GOP incumbents from key California congressional seats by highlighting the possibility of a national abortion ban. A state Republican official calls it a swing and a miss, noting that, under Democrats, hospitals have closed maternity wards and filed for bankruptcy.
The first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago takes place in November, and abortion is sure to play a key role.
The Supreme Court has issued its final opinions for the 2023-24 term, including decisions affecting abortion access, the opioid epidemic, and how the federal government functions. In this special episode, Sarah Somers , legal director of the National Health Law Program, joins KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss how the justices disposed of the term’s health-related cases and what those decisions could mean going forward.
