Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
Health Care Revamped At L.A. County Jails
The effort, overseen by the county’s health services department, aims to improve care for a population with high rates of chronic disease, mental illness and drug addiction.
States Strive To Curb Costs For A Crucial — But Exorbitant — Hemophilia Treatment
Saving the lives of people with the bleeding disorder can require high doses of expensive blood-clotting factor. Taxpayers foot much of the bill as manufacturers profit enormously.
User-Friendly Or Error-Ridden? Debate Swirls Around Website Comparing Nursing Homes
State says its new site is easier to navigate, though it remains a work in progress. Advocates for nursing home patients call it “a huge step in the wrong direction” that could endanger people’s lives.
State Pay Cut For Dental Hygienists Who Serve The Poor Was Illegal, Court Finds
California officials should have obtained federal approval before they cut reimbursement rates for dental hygienists who serve frail Californians living in nursing homes and board-and-care facilities, a judge has ruled.
Cartoon Mascot Masks Nasty Health Care Feud
California’s health insurers trotted out a heart-healthy character with an ulterior motive — taking a dig at drugmakers.
Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead
When President Donald Trump signed the nation’s new tax law, he also killed the Affordable Care Act’s tax penalty — but not until 2019. Despite widespread confusion, experts caution that consumers still need to pay the tax penalty if they were uninsured last year or will be this year.
At Some California Hospitals, Fewer Than Half Of Workers Get The Flu Shot
Vaccinations rates have climbed significantly among hospital workers in recent years, to 83 percent. But that rate masks wide variation among facilities and types of workers. Nationally, the rules are far from uniform or ironclad.
Couple Makes Millions Off Medicaid Managed Care As Oversight Lags
How a California health plan’s CEO and her husband, an executive consultant, got rich off the taxpayer-funded program for the poor. Critics see a conflict of interest, the plan doesn’t, and the state has no rules either way.
Reducing Red Tape For Traveling Nurses
A multistate nursing agreement allows nurses to work in numerous states without the hassle and expense of obtaining licenses in each one. More than half of states have signed onto an upgraded version of the agreement — but not California.
