Latest KFF Health News Stories
This Rural, Red Southern County Was a Vaccine Success Story. Not Anymore.
Meigs County in Tennessee reported one of the highest covid-19 vaccination rates in the South for much of the past year. But those reports were wrong because of a data error that has surfaced in other states, such as West Virginia and Montana, as well.
New Covered California Leader Urges Renewal of Enhanced Federal Aid for Health Premiums
Jessica Altman took over in March as executive director of California’s health insurance marketplace, which serves 1.8 million people. She warns that if Congress does not renew the tax credit enhancements that have made health plans more affordable, consumers will face significantly higher premiums, which could cause many to forgo coverage.
Why So Slow? Legislators Take on Insurers’ Delays in Approving Prescribed Treatments
Insurers say prior authorization requirements are intended to reduce wasteful and inappropriate health care spending. But they can baffle patients waiting for approval. And doctors say that insurers have yet to follow through on commitments to improve the process.
States Have Yet to Spend Hundreds of Millions of Federal Dollars to Tackle Covid Health Disparities
A year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded states and local health departments $2.25 billion to help people of color and other populations at higher risk from covid. But a KHN review shows public health agencies across the country have been slow to spend it.
After the Pandemic Hit Nursing Homes Hard, California Lawmakers Push to Tighten Licensing Rules
Legislators are proposing an overhaul of California’s licensing system for nursing homes that would make it the most stringent in the country. They argue that disreputable and unlicensed owners and operators have harmed residents. The industry describes the proposed requirements as excessive.
No Prison Time for Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Fatal Drug Error
Hundreds of nurses gathered outside a Nashville courthouse to protest RaDonda Vaught’s prosecution for a medical mistake, and cheered when her probation sentence was announced.
Few Eligible Families Have Applied for Government Help to Pay for Covid Funerals
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse many families up to $9,000 in funeral expenses for loved ones who died of covid-19. But fewer than half of eligible families have applied, while others have run into application problems.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Invisible Pandemic
Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom seem to want to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the fallout over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion continues even as the Senate fails — again — to muster the votes to write abortion rights into law. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Is Paxlovid, the Covid Pill, Reaching Those Who Most Need It? The Government Won’t Say
Many public health workers are unable to see how many doses of Pfizer’s antiviral treatment are shipped to their communities and cannot tell whether vulnerable residents are filling prescriptions as often as their wealthier neighbors.
Census Undercount Threatens Federal Food and Health Programs on Reservations
The 2020 census undercounted people living on Native American reservations. The money for many needed federal aid programs is tied to those population numbers.
Ripple Effects of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care for Miscarriages
In Texas, where anyone can face a hefty fine of at least $10,000 if they abet an abortion, medical professionals on the front lines face tough quandaries when treating patients who have a miscarriage, a scenario that could soon play out around the country if abortion restrictions tighten.
1931 State Law Makes Abortion a Felony if ‘Roe’ Falls, Warns Michigan Attorney General
Dana Nessel, the Democratic attorney general of Michigan, said she would not have the authority to keep county prosecutors from enforcing the old law. Nessel also discussed the “selective reduction” abortion she had when pregnant with triplets.
Una generación de insectos de laboratorio podría ser una herramienta eficaz para eliminar al mosquito que causa enfermedades que pueden resultar mortales.
Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry
Travel nurse contracts that were plentiful and paid the temporary nurses far more than hospital staff nurses are vanishing. Hospitals nationwide are turning their energies to recruiting full-time people.
Rural California Hatches Plan for Engineered Mosquitoes to Battle Stealthy Predator
Tulare County officials hope the region will soon be a testing ground for a new generation of technology in a centuries-old war: Human vs. Mosquito.
National Addiction Treatment Locator Has Outdated Data and Other Critical Flaws
Three years after a government site launched to connect Americans to treatment, finding addiction care is still a struggle.
The Families of Trans Kids in Texas Consider Their Options Amid Crackdown on Care
After Texas limited transgender medical care for young people, patients are trying to figure out what’s next.
Journalists Recap News on Reproductive Health, From the Abortion Debate to C-Sections
KHN 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.
¿Puede una inyección mensual frenar la adicción a opioides? Expertos dicen que sí
Una opción inyectable mensual para el tratamiento de la adicción a opioides no logra llegar a todos los que la necesitan por las trabas burocráticas para obtener el medicamento.
Can a Monthly Injection Be the Key to Curbing Addiction? These Experts Say Yes
In California, where overdose deaths are on the rise, physicians say administering anti-addiction medication as a monthly injection holds tremendous potential. So, why aren’t more patients getting it?
