Latest KFF Health News Stories
Use Of Psychiatric Drugs Soars In California Jails
A combination of factors has led to an “astronomical” increase in mentally ill inmates, followed by increased efforts to identify those who need prescriptions. Some say the meds are underprescribed; others, that they are given inappropriately, without the benefit of comprehensive treatment.
Weak Oversight Blamed For Poor Care At California Nursing Homes Going Unchecked
The scathing report cites a significant increase in cases of poor care — especially ones with the potential to cause serious injuries or death. A state lawmaker called the findings “very, very disturbing.”
‘A Persistent Puzzle’: Californians Embrace Medicaid — But Food Stamps? Not So Much.
The Golden State ranks near the bottom in its enrollment of eligible people in the food assistance program known as SNAP. Now state officials want to tap its robust Medicaid rolls to boost SNAP signups.
California Lawmakers Seek Reparations For People Sterilized By The State
More than 20,000 Californians were sterilized at state homes and hospitals from 1909 to 1979, most of them women, people with disabilities and immigrants. Now, a state lawmaker wants to provide reparations to the roughly 800 living survivors, many of whom never consented to the procedures or did so under pressure.
Choice Of Bay Area For AIDS Conference Exposes Tension Among Activists
Numerous advocacy groups oppose the recent decision to hold the 2020 International AIDS conference in San Francisco and Oakland, and some argue it shouldn’t be in the U.S. at all. Those who support the decision say the predominantly liberal politics of the region make it an ideal venue for sending a message about the Trump administration’s perceived retreat from leadership on AIDS.
Calif. Leads Nation In Pushing Back Against Trump Administration Health Policies
In the face of federal efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, policymakers in the largest state are proposing laws and other changes to counter them. Beyond that, they’re aggressively pushing measures to expand health coverage beyond what the ACA envisioned.
Safety Violations Compound Pain Of Painkiller Shortages
California and federal officials have cracked down on a major compounding pharmacy they say posed a threat to public safety, but their actions are worsening shortages of medications that doctors rely on to keep their patients out of pain.
Dialysis Patients Sign Up For November Ballot Fight
Frustrated by dialysis centers they call dirty and understaffed, patients and health care workers rallied across California Thursday before delivering more than 600,000 signatures to election offices in support of a ballot initiative intended to improve patient care.
Psychiatrist Stays Close To Home And True To Her Childhood Promise
Yamanda Edwards is the only psychiatrist at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, caring for residents in South Los Angeles, a community with a shortage of mental health care.
California Takes On Health Giant Over High Costs
The lawsuit is a bold move against Northern California’s dominant hospital chain, whose prices have drawn complaints for years. It has disputed such allegations in the past.
Calif. Bill Targets Profiteering In Addiction Treatment, Dialysis Industries
The legislation is intended to curb schemes in which some treatment providers sign patients up for private plans, pay their premiums and then rake in profits from inflated claims.
Thousands Mistakenly Enrolled During California’s Medicaid Expansion, Feds Find
California health officials do not dispute most of the findings, saying they have already made improvements in determining eligibility.
The Juul’s So Cool, Kids Smoke It In School
The teenage smoking sensation appearing on high school campuses across the country is an easy-to-hide, high-nicotine device called the Juul. Educators and health care advocates fear that vulnerable young people may become addicted.
The Dream Among ‘Dreamers’ To Become A Doctor Now ‘At The Mercy’ Of Courts
In September, the Trump administration announced its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, setting off an ongoing political and legal battle that could doom the dreams of immigrant doctors in training.
Are There Risks From Secondhand Marijuana Smoke? Early Science Says Yes.
Scientists are finding that, just as with secondhand smoke from tobacco, inhaling secondhand smoke from marijuana can make it harder for arteries to expand to allow a healthy flow of blood.
Docs Worry There’s ‘Nowhere To Send’ New And Expectant Moms With Depression
California’s legislature will soon take up a bill that would require doctors to screen pregnant women and new mothers for mental health problems. Many doctors oppose the idea, and laws elsewhere haven’t increased the number of moms treated.
A Battered Doctor, A Slain Patient And A Family’s Quest For Answers
An addiction-treatment physician fatally shot a troubled ex-Marine after the man pummeled him inside his California office, police records show. The tragedy illustrates how the limited number of clinics available to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug that all but erases opioid withdrawal, can become crowded, chaotic and dangerous.
Black Men’s Blood Pressure Is Cut Along With Their Hair
A new study shows that educational sessions about high blood pressure at African American barbershops, coupled with prescribing and helping to manage medication, reduced hypertension rates significantly.
How Medicaid Became A Go-To Funder For Schools
Begun as a health care safety net for children and low-income families, Medicaid increasingly underwrites a range of services in America’s public schools.
Campus Voices: Should Student Health Centers Offer Abortion Pills?
California lawmakers are considering a bill that would require student health centers at all of the state’s four-year public universities to carry the abortion pill. Students at campuses across the state sounded off on the proposal.
