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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Colorado avanza con proyectos para conectar a trabajadores agrícolas con servicios de salud mental

KFF Health News Original

Los proyectos de ley en consideración abordarían la creciente necesidad de tratar los problemas de salud mental en áreas rurales, que se han visto exacerbados por los impactos de la pandemia y el cambio climático.

Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million

KFF Health News Original

We’re halfway through the Medicaid “unwinding,” in which states are dropping people from the government health insurance program for the first time since the pandemic began. Millions of people have been dumped from the rolls since April, often for procedural issues like failing to respond to notices or return paperwork. But at the same time, […]

Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say ‘Yes’

KFF Health News Original

States are using their Medicaid programs to offer poor and sick people housing services, such as paying six months’ rent or helping hunt for apartments. The trend comes in response to a growing homelessness epidemic, but experts caution this may not be the best use of limited health care money.

Back From COP28, California Climate Leaders Talk Health Impacts of Warming

KFF Health News Original

Three leading California officials who represented the state at the United Nations climate talks late last year reflect on climate change’s growing threat to human health — and explain what the state is trying to do about it.

Advocates Say a Practice Harms Disabled Children, Yet Congressional Action Is Stalled

KFF Health News Original

In the photos, a 9-year-old boy with autism appears barricaded between cubbies and furniture stacked near the walls of a North Carolina classroom. His mother, Erin McGrail, said her son was physically restrained at least 14 times while in third grade at Morrisville Elementary School. She said she learned details of his seclusion only after […]

Colorado Legal Settlement Would Up Care and Housing Standards for Trans Women Inmates

KFF Health News Original

A soon-to-be-finalized legal settlement would offer transgender women in Colorado prisons new housing options, including a pipeline to the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. The change comes amid a growing number of lawsuits across the country aimed at improving health care access and safety for incarcerated trans people.

Acuerdo legal en Colorado mejoraría estándares de atención y vivienda para reclusas trans

KFF Health News Original

El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos encontró en 2014 que las personas trans en prisión tienen muchas más probabilidades de experimentar violencia sexual tras las rejas tanto del personal como de otros presos.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Struggle Over Who Gets the Last Word

Podcast

As science skepticism pervades politics, the Supreme Court will soon consider two cases that seek to define the power of “experts.” Meanwhile, abortion opponents are laying out plans for how Donald Trump, if reelected as president, could effectively curtail abortion even in states where it remains legal. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a husband and wife who got billed for preventive care that should have been fully covered.

Is the Nation’s Primary Care Shortage as Bad as Federal Data Suggest?

KFF Health News Original

Federal policymakers have been trying for a long time to lure more primary care providers to understaffed areas. The Biden administration boosted funding in 2022 to address shortages and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pushed sweeping primary care legislation in 2023. But when KFF Health News set out last year to map where the primary care workforce shortages really are — and where […]

More ‘Navigators’ Are Helping Women Travel to Have Abortions

KFF Health News Original

After the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion and many states banned the procedure, reproductive health care organizations hired dozens of people to help patients arrange travel and pay for care.

Surge in Syphilis Cases Leads Some Providers to Ration Penicillin

KFF Health News Original

Injectable penicillin is the go-to treatment for syphilis and the only treatment considered safe for pregnant people with the disease. But as rates of syphilis increase across the U.S., a shortage of the injectable has prompted some public health agencies to ration it.

Montana Vows Changes to Avoid Delayed Contracts. Some Health Providers Still Await Back Pay.

KFF Health News Original

The head of Montana’s health department said the agency is catching up on a months-long backlog of contracts with organizations that connect people to medical care that left organizations without pay, halted some services, and triggered job cuts.