Latest KFF Health News Stories
Catholic Hospital Offered Bucket, Towels to Woman It Denied an Abortion, California AG Said
In California, where abortion rights are guaranteed, there’s a loophole. The growth of Catholic hospital systems, which restrict reproductive health care, has left patients with no other option for care. That will be the case for pregnant women in Northern California, with a hospital set to close its birth center.
Harris Correct That Trump Fell Short on Promise To Negotiate Medicare Drug Prices
The former president instead favored a temporary model that could’ve brought down prices of some prescription drugs, but it was blocked by the courts.
Doctors Urging Conference Boycotts Over Abortion Bans Face Uphill Battle
A famed breast cancer surgeon has created a California alternative to a major Texas event. Yet many doctors believe boycotting medical conferences in states that criminalize abortion accomplishes nothing and can be harmful.
Some Employers Test Arrangement To Give Workers Allowance for Coverage
Employers are showing interest in a type of health reimbursement account that gives workers a contribution to choose and buy their own plans, rather than participating in group plans.
Setting the Record Straight on the FDA’s Authority Over Drug Ads
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
The Medicare Advantage Influence Machine
New court filings and lobbying reports reveal an industry drive to tamp down critics — and retain billions of dollars in overcharges.
A Few Rural Towns Are Bucking the Trend and Building New Hospitals
A remote Wyoming community hoped for years to have more access to health care. Now, after receiving federal funding, it is bucking dismal closure trends throughout the rural U.S. and building its own hospital. And it’s not the only one.
Nursing Aides Plagued by PTSD After ‘Nightmare’ Covid Conditions, With Little Help
A KFF Health News investigation reveals that employers and the government have offered nursing aides little assistance for PTSD and other ongoing maladies triggered by hazardous work during the pandemic.
States’ Efforts To Alter Arcane Hospital Rules Mix Politics With Drama
Georgia is one of dozens of states that require health-care facilities to ask for permission to build or expand by obtaining “certificates of need.” Basically, state regulators get to decide whether a town needs a new hospital or long-term care center. If the need is deemed real, they’re granted a “CON.” The intent of the […]
How North Carolina Made Its Hospitals Do Something About Medical Debt
State officials threatened to withhold public money from hospitals, pioneering a strategy that could become a national model.
Fighting Staff Shortages With Scholarships, California Bill Aims To Boost Mental Health Courts
A new bill would create a scholarship program for students who agree to work with specialized courts in California to get patients into treatment, but some people argue the state shouldn’t restrict scholarship aid to a new, untested program given broader behavioral health workforce shortages.
Abortion Clinics — And Patients — Are on the Move as State Laws Shift
Last month, Planned Parenthood Great Plains opened its newest clinic in Pittsburg, Kan., a city of about 21,000 people mere minutes from the borders of both Missouri and Oklahoma. It’s the second new clinic the regional affiliate has opened in Kansas in a little over two years, to accommodate the growing number of patients coming […]
Cyberattacks Plague the Health Industry. Critics Call Feds’ Response Feeble and Fractured.
Health care weathered more ransomware attacks last year than any other sector, and that was before a debilitating February hack of payments manager Change Healthcare. Executives, lawyers, and policymakers are worried the federal government’s response is underpowered, underfunded, and too focused on hospital security.
Unpacking the FDA’s Non-Recall Recalls
When the Agriculture Department posted a recall of chicken nuggets that might be contaminated, it directed consumers to return them or throw the stuff away. When the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that poorly designed baby loungers could suffocate babies, it warned consumers to immediately stop using them. But when it comes to medical devices, […]
Arkansas’ Governor Says Medicaid Extension for New Moms Isn’t Needed
Federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days after delivery. Arkansas has not expanded what’s called postpartum Medicaid coverage, an option that gives poor women uninterrupted health insurance for a year after they give birth.
California May Regulate and Restrict Pharmaceutical Brokers
California lawmakers are moving to rein in the pharmaceutical middlemen they say drive up costs and limit consumers’ choices. The bill sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom would require pharmacy benefit managers to be licensed in California and would ban some business practices. Newsom vetoed a previous effort three years ago.
Tennessee Tries To Rein In Ballad’s Hospital Monopoly After Years of Problems
Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system with the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, serves patients in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
Décadas de programas nacionales contra el suicidio no han frenado estas muertes
Durante los últimos 20 años, funcionarios federales han lanzado tres estrategias nacionales de prevención del suicidio, incluida una anunciada en abril.
Decades of National Suicide Prevention Policies Haven’t Slowed the Deaths
Despite years of national strategies to address the suicide crisis in the U.S., rates continue to rise. A chorus of researchers and experts say the interventions will work — but that they’re simply not being adopted by state and local governments.
Forget Repeal and Replace. The Next Big ACA Fight Will Be Over Subsidies.
Forget repeal and replace. Critics of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, have a new target: key parts of the law that they say are too costly and provide incentive for fraud. Topping that list are the ACA’s enhanced subsidies, put in place during the coronavirus pandemic as part of economic recovery legislation and set to […]
