Fearing the Worst, Schools Deploy Armed Police To Thwart Gun Violence
Officials reason that vigilance and familiarity with campuses would speed responses to shootings. But there is scant research about armed police in schools — and some studies suggest that racial bias in policing offers cause for caution.
Journalists Give Rundown on Bird Flu Risks, HIV Rates, and the Fate of Shuttered Hospitals
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on state and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
As Record Heat Sweeps the US, Some People Must Choose Between Food and Energy Bills
An increasing number of Americans struggle with energy poverty, the inability to adequately heat or cool one’s dwelling. Health officials and climate experts are sounding the alarm as record-breaking heat sweeps the nation.
Thanks to Reddit, a New Diagnosis Is Bubbling Up Across the Nation
Social media has helped spread the word about a treatment that involves getting Botox in the neck. It’s for a condition that’s gaining awareness but still often dismissed: the inability to burp.
Boom, Now Bust: Budget Cuts and Layoffs Take Hold in Public Health
State leaders are cutting public health spending and laying off workers hired during a pandemic-era grant boom. Public health officials say the bust will erode important advancements in the public health safety net, particularly in rural areas.
Errors in Deloitte-Run Medicaid Systems Can Cost Millions and Take Years To Fix
As states wait for Deloitte to make fixes in computer systems, Medicaid beneficiaries risk losing access to health care and food.
Public Voices Often Ignored in States’ Opioid Settlement Money Decisions
In many places, victims of the opioid epidemic are silenced in decision-making about how to use opioid settlement money, a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by KFF Health News and Spotlight PA found.
An Arm and a Leg: Don’t Get ‘Bullied’ Into Paying What You Don’t Owe
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Caitlyn Mai, a woman in Oklahoma who received a six-figure bill for a surgery her insurance promised to cover. This episode is an extended version of the “Bill of the Month” series, produced in partnership with NPR.
The New Covid Vaccine Is Out. Why You Might Not Want To Rush To Get It.
Although public health officials recommend the newly approved covid vaccine for everyone 6 months and older, it may make more sense to wait until closer to the holiday season.
A Teen’s Murder, Mold in the Walls: Unfulfilled Promises Haunt Public Housing
For years, federal lawmakers have failed to deliver the money needed to fix derelict public housing, leaving tenants — mostly people of color and families with low incomes — living with mold and gun violence that has had lasting health consequences.
Biden Administration Blocks Two Private Sector Enrollment Sites From ACA Marketplace
Regulators have been under the gun to curb unauthorized Obamacare enrollment and switching of plans. Separately, a pending lawsuit was amended with additional defendants and new allegations regarding tactics to garner greater ACA sales commissions.
Inside the Political Fight To Build a Rural Georgia Hospital
Political drama involving a rural Georgia county reflects how state regulations that govern when and where hospitals can be built or expanded are evolving.
Bipartisan Effort Paves Way for Reviving Shuttered Hospitals in Georgia
“Certificate of need” laws, largely supported by the hospital industry, limit health facility construction in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Georgia lawmakers decided its law was complicating the reviving of two hospitals critical to their communities.
Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding
The end of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections coincided with changes in more than a dozen states to expand coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women, and the incarcerated.
Most Black Hospitals Across the South Closed Long Ago. Their Impact Endures.
Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, was established to exclusively admit Black patients during a time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients. Its closure underscores how hundreds of Black hospitals in the U.S. fell casualty to social progress.
Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?
Millions of dollars from national opioid settlements are pouring into Mississippi. The state and localities haven’t spent much yet. In many cases, how the money will be used is up in the air.
The Politics Holding Back Medicaid Expansion in Some Southern States
Ten states have not expanded Medicaid, leaving 1.5 million people ineligible for the state and federal insurance program and also unable to afford private insurance. Seven of those states are in the South, where expansion efforts may have momentum but where lawmakers say political polarization is holding them back.
Small-Town Patients Face Big Hurdles as Rural Hospitals Cut Cancer Care
For rural patients, getting cancer treatment close to home has always been difficult. And now chemotherapy deserts are expanding across the United States as hospitals winnow services to save money, creating financial and logistical hurdles for people seeking lifesaving care.
Treating the Shortage of Black Doctors
A few months ago, I visited Jackson, Miss., to attend African American Visit Day at the University of Mississippi’s School of Medicine. High school and college students from across the state spent time that Saturday morning with Black medical students and administrators, finding out what they needed to do to become a doctor. The annual […]
Urgent Care or ER? With ‘One-Stop Shop,’ Hospitals Offer Both Under Same Roof
Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.
