States

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Can a $10 Billion Climate Bond Address California’s Water Contamination Problem?

KFF Health News Original

California voters will decide in November whether to approve a $10 billion climate bond that supporters say is needed to jump-start water system repairs for residents without safe drinking water. Opponents say those repairs should be prioritized in the state budget, not put on a credit card.

‘A Pressure Campaign’: Beverly Hills Settles After Allegedly Blocking Abortion Clinic

KFF Health News Original

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Beverly Hills after finding city officials pressured the landlord to cancel DuPont Clinic’s lease. It’s the state’s first enforcement action under Proposition 1, which enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.

For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises the Stakes

KFF Health News Original

Medications such as methadone can cut the risk of a fatal opioid overdose in half. Medicaid covers the medication. But as state Medicaid programs reevaluated coverage of each enrollee following a pause in disenrollments during the covid-19 pandemic, some patients lost a crucial pillar of their sobriety.

Post-Helene, Patients Who Rely on IV Nutrition Face Severe Shortages

KFF Health News Original

Hurricane Helene, which struck North Carolina last month, wrecked a Baxter International factory that produced 60 percent of the country’s IV fluids, according to the American Hospital Association. The company is rationing its products, and some hospitals have delayed or canceled surgeries that require large amounts of IV hydration. Among the worst-hit patients are those […]

‘Dreamers’ Can Enroll in ACA Plans This Year — But a Court Challenge Could Get in the Way

KFF Health News Original

Nineteen states are seeking to stall a Biden administration rule that would allow recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in ACA coverage and qualify for subsidies. DACA provides work authorization and temporary deportation protection to people brought to the U.S. as children without immigration paperwork.

Vance Wrongly Blames Rural Hospital Closures on Immigrants in the Country Illegally

KFF Health News Original

Experts disputed the claim by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, noting that a range of other issues — from low reimbursement rates to declining patient use — combine to cause these facilities to shutter.

How a Proposed Federal Heat Rule Might Have Saved These Workers’ Lives

KFF Health News Original

Laborers have suffered in extreme heat triggered by climate change. Deaths aren’t inevitable, researchers say: Employers can save lives by providing ample water and breaks.

California Mental Health Agency Director To Resign Following Conflict of Interest Allegations

KFF Health News Original

Toby Ewing, executive director of California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, is resigning amid an investigation into his conduct and revelations that he traveled to the U.K. courtesy of a vendor as he sought to protect state funding for its contract.

Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu

KFF Health News Original

Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals.

PBM Math: Big Chains Are Paid $23.55 To Fill a Blood Pressure Rx. Small Drugstores? $1.51.

KFF Health News Original

Criticism of prescription drug middlemen has intensified recently in the wake of a federal agency’s actions and legislative reform attempts. Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, though, vetoed a related bill that would have helped independent pharmacies, citing the unfunded cost of the move.

A California Official Helped Save a Mental Health Company’s Contract. It Flew Him to London.

KFF Health News Original

The director of a California state mental health agency traveled to the U.K. courtesy of Kooth, a digital mental health company with a $271 million contract to build a therapy app for the state’s youth. Weeks earlier, he pressed key legislative staffers to restore a proposed cut to Kooth’s funding.

Crackdown on Homeless Encampments Raises Public Health Questions

KFF Health News Original

As states turn to the health-care system to help address homelessness, experiments with housing and other social services aimed at getting people healthier and off the streets are running up against new, aggressive crackdowns — with some cities ratcheting up enforcement of existing anticamping laws and others passing new restrictions. From Florida to California, elected […]

Residentes de Maryland votarán por un amplio “derecho a la libertad reproductiva”

KFF Health News Original

En Maryland, donde el aborto es legal, una enmienda propuesta consagraría en la constitución estatal un derecho “a tomar y hacer efectivas decisiones para prevenir, continuar o terminar el propio embarazo”.