States

Latest KFF Health News Stories

This Rural, Red Southern County Was a Vaccine Success Story. Not Anymore.

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Few Eligible Families Have Applied for Government Help to Pay for Covid Funerals

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Ripple Effects of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care for Miscarriages

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry

KFF Health News Original

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.

Can a Monthly Injection Be the Key to Curbing Addiction? These Experts Say Yes

KFF Health News Original

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?