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For California Farmworkers, Telehealth Visits With Mexican Doctors Fill a Gap

KFF Health News Original

The MiSalud app enables Spanish-speaking users in the U.S. to meet virtually with health professionals in Mexico via a smartphone app. At Taylor Farms in Salinas, California, the novel program has been a hit.

A Program To Close Insurance Gaps for Native Americans Has Gone Largely Unused

KFF Health News Original

Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.

The Growing Inequality in Life Expectancy Among Americans

KFF Health News Original

To deliver on pledges from the new Trump administration to make America healthy again, policymakers will need to close gaps in longevity among racial and ethnic groups.

La creciente desigualdad en la expectativa de vida entre los estadounidenses

KFF Health News Original

La salud de los estadounidenses ha sido desigual durante mucho tiempo, pero un nuevo estudio muestra que la disparidad entre las expectativas de vida de diferentes grupos poblacionales casi se ha duplicado desde el año 2000.

Junk Food Turns Public Villain as Power Shifts in Washington

KFF Health News Original

Some Trump insiders are ready to take on the food industry. It remains to be seen whether their entrée will result in any meaningful change in government oversight of “Big Food” — or in American health.

La comida chatarra es la nueva villana de Washington

KFF Health News Original

Los candidatos a las principales agencias de salud están apuntando a los alimentos ultraprocesados, que representan aproximadamente el 70% del suministro de alimentos de Estados Unidos.

Listen: NPR and KFF Health News Explore How Racism and Violence Hurt Health

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony and Emily Kwong, host of NPR’s podcast “Shortwave,” talk about Black families living in the aftermath of lynchings and police killings.

Stimulant Users Are Caught in Fatal ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic

KFF Health News Original

The migration of fentanyl into illicit stimulants such as cocaine is especially dangerous for people who are not regular opioid users. That’s because they have a low tolerance for opioids, putting them at greater risk of an overdose. They also often don’t take precautions — such as not using alone and carrying the opioid reversal medication naloxone — so they’re unprepared if they overdose.

Incineradores de basura dañan de manera desproporcionada a hispanos

KFF Health News Original

El dilema que se revela en el sur de Florida es indicativo de lo que algunos ven como una tendencia más amplia en la lucha nacional por la justicia ambiental.

Trash Incinerators Disproportionately Harm Black and Hispanic People

KFF Health News Original

Across the country, trash incinerators disproportionately overburden majority-Black and -Hispanic communities. Though the number of incinerators has declined nationwide since the 1980s, Florida offers financial incentives to waste management companies that expand existing facilities or build new ones.

‘Waiting List to Nowhere’: Homelessness Surveys Trap Black Men on the Streets

KFF Health News Original

Homelessness experts and community leaders say vulnerability questionnaires have worsened racial disparities among the unhoused by systematically placing white people in front of the line ahead of Black people. Now places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Austin, Texas, are developing alternative surveys to reduce bias.

Native American Patients Are Sent to Collections for Debts the Government Owes

KFF Health News Original

Federal law says Native Americans aren’t liable for medical bills the Indian Health Service promises to pay. Some are billed anyway as a result of backlogs or mistakes from the agency, financial middlemen, or health systems.

Faltan iniciativas de gobiernos rurales para comunicarse con los residentes que no dominan el inglés

KFF Health News Original

A pesar de la creciente demanda para que los gobiernos rurales locales se comuniquen con los residentes en idiomas distintos al inglés, los legisladores estatales en Nevada excluyeron a los condados más pequeños de una ley estatal de acceso lingüístico que se promulgó recientemente.

Rural Governments Often Fail To Communicate With Residents Who Aren’t Proficient in English

KFF Health News Original

Access to information in languages other than English is protected by various federal, state, and local policies. But researchers tracking them say that as rural America grows more diverse, people not proficient in English face added barriers to critical public health information and services.

Journalists Examine Health Care for Native Americans and Recent Food Recalls

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.