Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Listen: How Vaping Regulations Are Playing Out In The States

KFF Health News Original

KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s Rob Ferrett on “Central Time” to discuss the latest on vaping bans and what they mean for vaping trends among youth.

En 2020, California planea a lo grande en atención médica

KFF Health News Original

Los proyectos de ley de atención médica y las iniciativas presupuestarias de los políticos están llenas de ideas y dólares, y se oponen a industrias poderosas.

For 2020, California Goes Big On Health Care

KFF Health News Original

California lawmakers are proposing ambitious health care ideas, from creating a state generic drug label to banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette products. Even though Democrats control state government, they’re likely to face pushback from powerful health care industry groups like hospitals. 

Employers’ Dream Of Controlling Health Costs Turns To Workers’ Sleep

KFF Health News Original

Sleep is the latest in an ever-growing list of wellness issues — such as weight loss, exercise and nutrition — that firms are targeting to improve workers’ health and lower medical costs.

No Shield From X-Rays: How Science Is Rethinking Lead Aprons

KFF Health News Original

A number of radiology organizations are trying to end the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation with lead aprons. They say it provides no benefit and might even inadvertently expose people to higher radiation levels. But the policy about-face is moving slowly.

Smokers Need Not Apply: Fairness Of No-Nicotine Hiring Policies Questioned

KFF Health News Original

U-Haul will not hire nicotine users in 21 states where it is legal to do so. Ethicists say such policies disproportionately affect the poor and are a sign of employers becoming overly involved in workers’ lifestyle choices.

Homeless Californians Adapt To Camp Sweeps And ‘The Caltrans Shuffle’

KFF Health News Original

Communities across California, frustrated with the growing number of homeless people living on public property, have tasked police and sanitation workers with dismantling encampments they say pose a risk to health and safety. The routine cleanups have spawned another public health concern: the loss of the displaced people’s personal possessions, including medicines.

Reduce Health Costs By Nurturing The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints

KFF Health News Original

Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.

5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress

KFF Health News Original

California now will pay pediatricians to screen Medi-Cal patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The program is based on research showing that children who endure chronic stress have an increased risk of developing serious health problems. Here are five things to know about the new program.

California: 5 cosas que hay que saber sobre la evaluación a niños por estrés tóxico

KFF Health News Original

A partir de este año, las visitas pediátricas de rutina para millones de niños de California podrían incluir preguntas sobre temas familiares delicados, como el divorcio, el alcohol y la violencia.

In Massachusetts, Minors Need Permission For Abortion, But That Could Change

KFF Health News Original

A parental consent requirement for minors who seek abortions is still on the books in left-leaning Massachusetts, as well as about two dozen other states. But a proposed Massachusetts law seeks to repeal that consent requirement and shore up the right to abortion in case the Supreme Court strikes down the federal right to the procedure.

Fecal Bacteria In California’s Waterways Increases With Homeless Crisis

KFF Health News Original

Some of California’s most prized rivers, bays, beaches and streams are contaminated with levels of fecal bacteria that exceed state limits, threatening human health. While aging sewage infrastructure is largely to blame, homeless encampments are also a probable source of contamination.

Effort To Control Opioids In An ER Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients In Pain

KFF Health News Original

People with sickle cell disease aren’t fueling the opioid crisis, research shows. Yet some ER doctors still treat patients seeking relief for agonizing sickle cell crises as potential addicts.

Coping With Loss Of Hospital, Rural Town Realizes: We Don’t Need A Hospital

KFF Health News Original

It’s been about a year since the hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., closed. The lessons for this community about meeting its residents’ health needs could provide insights for the rest of the country.

Reports Of Patients’ Deaths Linked To Heart Devices Lurk Below Radar

KFF Health News Original

Because of a little-known federal exemption program, death data about heart devices sits in inaccessible FDA files that can take up to two years for the public to see under open-records laws.