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California’s governor is pressuring Oakland to allow more police pursuits as part of a crackdown on crime. But more pursuits mean a greater risk to public health, with more potential injuries and deaths among bystanders. Policies in cities including New York and San Francisco reflect divergent local priorities.
Amid doctor shortages, several states have stopped requiring foreign-trained providers to repeat residencies before they’re fully licensed. Critics say patients could be harmed because of the loosened training requirements.
State lawmakers appear ready to preserve the state’s Medicaid expansion program without knowing what federal changes might be in store.
A state lawmaker wants health insurers to disclose denial rates and explain those denials as anger grows over rising costs and uncovered medical care. If the bill is signed into law, health experts say, it could be one of the boldest attempts in the nation to rein in denials.
Frustrated by spiraling drug costs, California lawmakers want to increase oversight of pharmaceutical industry intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers. It’s unclear whether they can persuade Gov. Gavin Newsom to get on board.
Patients and providers say health insurers’ preapproval requirements lead to delays and denials of needed medical treatments. Insurers argue that prior authorization keeps costs down.
The Montana health department says the Board of Public Assistance is redundant and a bureaucratic hurdle that helps few people. Current and former board representatives say the rare cases in which the panel helps people are important.
State officials say homes should be able to be cooled to a safe indoor air temperature of 82 degrees. The legislature will now take up the report.
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump said the power to make abortion policies “has been returned to the states.” In his first two weeks in office, he’s already gone further to restrict abortion than any president who’s held office since the 1973 “Roe v. Wade” decision, writes Julie Rovner.
The Jan. 28 executive order directs federal regulators to cut insurance coverage for hormonal or surgical treatments that help in young people's gender transitions and cut federal funding for medical professionals or institutions that provide such care. It will likely be challenged in court.
Unsure how to help the troubled psychiatric facility, legislators look to shore up other parts of the state’s mental health system.
California has a few major changes coming to its health policy landscape in 2025. New laws that took effect Jan. 1 ban medical debt from credit reports, allow public health inspections of private immigration detention centers, and ban toxic chemicals in makeup.
Though abortion rights supporters prevailed on ballot measures in seven of the 10 states where abortion was up for a vote on Nov. 5, the state supreme courts voters have elected indicate legal fights to come aren’t clear-cut.
Health is unlikely to be a top priority for the new GOP-led 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. But it’s likely to play a key supporting role, with an abortion bill already scheduled for debate in the Senate. Meanwhile, it’s unclear when and how the new Congress will deal with the bipartisan bills jettisoned from the previous Congress’ year-end omnibus measure — including a major deal to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit managers. In this “catch up on all the news you missed” episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Legislative leaders say the decision whether to renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program this year will loom over behavioral health spending and hospital regulation, among other topics.
After rival hospitals in Terre Haute scuttled plans to merge, a state senator has introduced a bill to forbid similar mergers by repealing a state law he helped write.
A medical resident who listens to “An Arm and a Leg” is pushing for change with the American Medical Association and at the hospital where he works.
Since 2018, readers and listeners sent KFF Health News-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” thousands of questionable bills. Our crowdsourced investigation paved the way for landmark legislation and highlighted cost-saving strategies for all patients.
Donald Trump’s first administration advanced rules forcing hospitals and insurers to reveal prices for medical services. Employers don’t want to risk backtracking during Trump’s second administration.
A new tax on guns and ammunition in Colorado is set to take effect in the spring. Voters approved the tax, with most of the proceeds going to support services for crime victims and other social programs.
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