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Latest KFF Health News Stories

How Measles Detectives Work To Contain An Outbreak

KFF Health News Original

Across the nation, public health departments are redirecting scarce resources to try to control the spread of measles. Their success relies on shoe-leather detective work that is one of the great untold costs of the measles resurgence.

Mini-Biographies Help Clinicians Connect With Patients

KFF Health News Original

Some Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country use writers to record patients’ life stories, then place a short biography in each vet’s medical record. The My Life, My Story program gives clinicians another way to get to know their patients.

FAQ: How Does New Trump Fetal Tissue Policy Impact Medical Research?

KFF Health News Original

The scientific use of tissue from aborted fetuses has frequently been a hot point of contention between anti-abortion forces and researchers. It heats up again as federal officials announced this week they were ending NIH research using the tissue.

Why Some CEOs Figure ‘Medicare For All’ Is Good For Business

KFF Health News Original

While national business groups fight the single-payer concept, the founder and CEO of a large Pennsylvania picture frame manufacturer tries to convince other employers that it’s the only way to control costs and fix the U.S. health system.

Payroll Tax Is One State’s Bold Solution To Help Seniors Age At Home

KFF Health News Original

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.

Social Security Error Jeopardizes Medicare Coverage For 250,000 Seniors

KFF Health News Original

The problem affects private drug policies and Medicare Advantage plans that provide both medical and drug coverage and substitute for traditional government-run Medicare. It could leave plan members without coverage.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Fetal Tissue Research Is Latest Flashpoint In Abortion Debate

KFF Health News Original

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail federally funded research using fetal tissue, the backlash from former Vice President Joe Biden’s support for the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment and how health policy intersects with both trade and immigration policy.

Keeping Kids Healthy And Sane In A Digital World

KFF Health News Original

Children are spending more time on their devices than ever before, despite evidence that excessive screen time puts their minds and bodies at risk. Parents should set limits and stick to them — and also change their own online behavior, experts say.

Illinois Clamps Down On Nursing Homes In Wake Of KHN-Chicago Tribune Investigation

KFF Health News Original

In reaction to an investigation by Kaiser Health News and the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois legislature has passed a new law to impose fines on nursing homes that fail to meet minimum staffing requirements.