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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Thousands of Children Got Tested for Lead With Faulty Devices: What Parents Should Know

KFF Health News Original

Faulty lead test kits made by Magellan Diagnostics may have been used as late as 2021 to test children for exposure to the toxic metal. The company agreed to pay $42 million to settle criminal charges that it concealed malfunctions.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: Nursing Home Staffing Rules Prompt Pushback

Podcast

The nursing home industry — as well as a healthy number of Congress members — are all pushing back on the Biden administration’s new rules on nursing home staffing. Industry officials say that there are not enough workers to meet the requirements and that the costs would be prohibitive. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to force Republicans to explain their exact positions on assuring access to contraceptives and in vitro fertilization. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a free cruise that turned out to be anything but.

Biden Wants Hospitals To Report Data on Gunshot Wounds

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration is enlisting America’s doctors to help combat gun violence. About 160 health-care executives and officials have been invited to the White House today and Friday to promote public health solutions to the epidemic. A top priority, I’m told: The White House wants hospital emergency departments to collect more data about gunshot injuries […]

White House Enlists Doctors and Hospitals To Combat Gun Violence

KFF Health News Original

As Congress remains deadlocked on gun policy, the Biden administration is calling on hospital leaders and doctors to gather more data about gunshot injuries and deaths and step up their violence prevention work.

Health Worker for a Nonprofit? The New Ban on Noncompete Contracts May Not Help You

KFF Health News Original

Provider groups are disappointed that the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule may not protect those who work for nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities, which employ the largest number of medical professionals.

California Becomes Latest State To Try Capping Health Care Spending

KFF Health News Original

California is the ninth state to set annual health spending targets for the industry. Already hospitals and doctors are voicing resistance to the fledgling Office of Health Care Affordability, even as they avoid overtly opposing its goals.

Watch: Anthony Fauci Defends Feds’ Covid Response, Calling Lawmakers’ Accusations ‘Preposterous’

KFF Health News Original

At a June 3 congressional hearing that underscored the nation’s deep political divide over the coronavirus pandemic response, the longtime National Institutes of Health official addressed the agency’s controversies head-on.

Urged on by LGBTQ+ Activists, California Cities Weigh Stricter Smoking Rules

KFF Health News Original

High rates of smoking in the LGBTQ+ community, and the ease with which young people can buy a range of nicotine products, is leading several Northern California cities to consider new restrictions on cigarettes, vapes, and cigars.

‘So Much Death’: Lawmakers Weigh Stricter Speed Limits, Safer Roads for Pedestrians

KFF Health News Original

New York and Michigan recently passed laws allowing local jurisdictions to lower speed limits, and Los Angeles voters backed safer road designs, but enforcement often meets political resistance. The number of pedestrians killed or injured on the road remains high.

The Chicken and Egg Problem of Fighting Another Flu Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

The spread of an avian flu virus in cattle has again brought public health attention to the potential for a global pandemic. Fighting it would depend, for now, on 1940s technology that makes vaccines from hens’ eggs.

El problema del huevo y la gallina en la lucha contra otra pandemia de gripe

KFF Health News Original

La propagación de un nuevo virus entre múltiples especies en un área geográfica amplia eleva la amenaza de que más mutaciones puedan producir un virus que se propague de humano a humano a través de la transmisión aérea.