Latest KFF Health News Stories
Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say ‘Yes’
States are using their Medicaid programs to offer poor and sick people housing services, such as paying six months’ rent or helping hunt for apartments. The trend comes in response to a growing homelessness epidemic, but experts caution this may not be the best use of limited health care money.
Congressman Off-Base in Ad Claiming Fauci Shipped Covid to Montana Before the Pandemic
Facts don’t support claims by a likely Republican Senate candidate that a federal research laboratory in Montana infected bats with a coronavirus from China before the covid-19 outbreak.
Journalists Catch Up on Top Issues Facing 2024 Voters, From Obamacare to Opioids
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Advocates Say a Practice Harms Disabled Children, Yet Congressional Action Is Stalled
In the photos, a 9-year-old boy with autism appears barricaded between cubbies and furniture stacked near the walls of a North Carolina classroom. His mother, Erin McGrail, said her son was physically restrained at least 14 times while in third grade at Morrisville Elementary School. She said she learned details of his seclusion only after […]
Possibility of Wildlife-to-Human Crossover Heightens Concern About Chronic Wasting Disease
A response is ramping up to a potential spillover of the neurological disease to humans from deer, elk, and other animals.
Colorado Legal Settlement Would Up Care and Housing Standards for Trans Women Inmates
A soon-to-be-finalized legal settlement would offer transgender women in Colorado prisons new housing options, including a pipeline to the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. The change comes amid a growing number of lawsuits across the country aimed at improving health care access and safety for incarcerated trans people.
Acuerdo legal en Colorado mejoraría estándares de atención y vivienda para reclusas trans
El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos encontró en 2014 que las personas trans en prisión tienen muchas más probabilidades de experimentar violencia sexual tras las rejas tanto del personal como de otros presos.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Struggle Over Who Gets the Last Word
As science skepticism pervades politics, the Supreme Court will soon consider two cases that seek to define the power of “experts.” Meanwhile, abortion opponents are laying out plans for how Donald Trump, if reelected as president, could effectively curtail abortion even in states where it remains legal. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a husband and wife who got billed for preventive care that should have been fully covered.
Is the Nation’s Primary Care Shortage as Bad as Federal Data Suggest?
Federal policymakers have been trying for a long time to lure more primary care providers to understaffed areas. The Biden administration boosted funding in 2022 to address shortages and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pushed sweeping primary care legislation in 2023. But when KFF Health News set out last year to map where the primary care workforce shortages really are — and where […]
Médicos deben racionar la penicilina por el dramático aumento de casos de sífilis
A nivel nacional, las tasas de sífilis están en su punto más alto en 70 años. Entre 2018 y 2022, las tasas de esta enfermedad de transmisión sexual subieron alrededor del 80%.
More ‘Navigators’ Are Helping Women Travel to Have Abortions
After the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion and many states banned the procedure, reproductive health care organizations hired dozens of people to help patients arrange travel and pay for care.
Surge in Syphilis Cases Leads Some Providers to Ration Penicillin
Injectable penicillin is the go-to treatment for syphilis and the only treatment considered safe for pregnant people with the disease. But as rates of syphilis increase across the U.S., a shortage of the injectable has prompted some public health agencies to ration it.
Montana Vows Changes to Avoid Delayed Contracts. Some Health Providers Still Await Back Pay.
The head of Montana’s health department said the agency is catching up on a months-long backlog of contracts with organizations that connect people to medical care that left organizations without pay, halted some services, and triggered job cuts.
Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health a ‘Wild West’ for Doctors and Patients
Ketamine, approved by the FDA as an anesthetic in 1970, is emerging as a major alternative mental health treatment, and there are now more than 500 ketamine clinics around the country. But with little regulation and widely varying treatment protocols, it’s a medical “wild West.”
¿Dónde están los proveedores de atención primaria del país? La respuesta no es fácil
Expertos en el tema sienten una frustración persistente: es difícil saber si alguna política está funcionando porque los datos que recopila el gobierno federal sobre las áreas de escasez de atención primaria no han sido fidedignos durante mucho tiempo.
Where Are the Nation’s Primary Care Providers? It’s Not an Easy Answer
Politicians keep talking about fixing primary care shortages. But flawed national data leaves big holes in how to evaluate which policies are effective.
How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics — And What It Means in 2024
Opposition to vaccines and other public health measures backed by science has become politically charged. That makes dangerous misinformation much harder to fight.
Records Show Publix Opioid Sales Grew Even as Addiction Crisis Prompted Other Chains’ Pullback
As national prescription drug distributors and pharmacies restricted the flow of oxycodone and other painkillers in response to the growing opioid crisis, Florida’s most popular grocery store ramped up its sales and distribution of the highly addictive drugs, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data.
A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites
There were nearly 50,000 emergency room visits for dog bites in California in 2022. The rate of such visits per capita is up about 70% since 2005.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Health Enters the Presidential Race
New Hampshire voters have spoken, and it seems increasingly clear that this November’s election will pit President Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump. Both appear to be making health a key part of their campaigns, with Trump vowing (again) to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and Biden stressing his support for contraception and abortion rights. Meanwhile, both candidates will try to highlight efforts to rein in prescription drug prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sarah Somers of the National Health Law Program about the potential consequences for the health care system if the Supreme Court overturns a key precedent attempting to balance executive vs. judicial power.
