Latest Morning Briefing Stories
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect immediately — before an even more sweeping, six-week ban replaces it in May. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is doubling down on his administration’s health care accomplishments as he kicks off his general election campaign. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health care analyst Jeff Goldsmith about the growing size and influence of UnitedHealth Group in the wake of the Change Healthcare hack.
End of Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Households Threatens Telehealth Access
A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon. The end of the subsidy launched earlier in the pandemic could have profound impacts on health care access.
Feds Join Ranks of Employers with Generous Fertility Benefits
Starting this year, federal employees can choose plans that cover a broad menu of fertility services, including up to $25,000 annually for in vitro fertilization procedures. At the same time, politics around IVF and reproductive health have become a central issue in the current election-year debate.
The GOP Keeps Pushing Medicaid Work Requirements, Despite Setbacks
Work requirements in Medicaid expansion programs are back on the agenda in many statehouses — despite their lackluster track record. In Mississippi, the idea has momentum from GOP lawmakers advancing legislation to expand Medicaid. In Kansas, the Democratic governor proposed work requirements to try to soften Republican opposition to expansion. (She’s had little luck, so […]
Attacks on Emergency Room Workers Prompt Debate Over Tougher Penalties
In California, assaulting paramedics or other emergency medical workers in the field carries stiffer fines and jail time than assaulting emergency room staffers. State lawmakers are considering a measure that would standardize the penalties.
Medical Debt Affects Much of America, but Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard
Colorado is ahead of the curve on policies to prevent medical debt, but the gap between the debt load in places inhabited primarily by people of color versus non-Hispanic white residents is greater than the national average.
La deuda médica afecta a gran parte de EE.UU., pero en especial a inmigrantes en Colorado
Las luchas del área reflejan una paradoja sobre Colorado. En general, la carga de deuda médica del estado es más baja que la de la mayoría. Pero las disparidades raciales y étnicas son más amplias.
Heat Protections for California Workers Are in Limbo After Newsom Abandons Rules
Proposed rules to protect millions of workers from potentially dangerous heat inside workplaces are dead after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration refused to sign off. Labor advocates and state regulators are calling for emergency regulations before temperatures soar this summer.
More Patients Are Losing Their Doctors — And Trust in the Primary Care System
A shortage of primary care providers is driving more people to seek routine care in emergency settings. In Rhode Island, safety-net clinics are under pressure as clinicians retire or burn out, and patients say it’s harder to find care as they lose connections to familiar doctors.
California Universities Are Required to Offer Abortion Pills. Many Just Don’t Mention It.
One year after California became the first state to require public universities to provide abortion pills to students, LAist found that basic information for students to obtain the medication is often nonexistent.
Track Opioid Settlement Payouts — To the Cent — In Your Community
Want to know how much opioid settlement money your city, county, or state has received so far? Or how much it’s expecting in the future? Use our new searchable database to find out.
ACA Plans Are Being Switched Without Enrollees’ OK
Insurance agents say it’s too easy to access consumer information on the Affordable Care Act federal marketplace. Policyholders can lose their doctors and access to prescriptions. Some end up owing back taxes.
Hospitals Cash In on a Private Equity-Backed Trend: Concierge Physician Care
Hospitals are increasingly stretching a velvet rope, offering “concierge service” to an affluent clientele. Critics say the practice exacerbates primary care shortages.
For-Profit Companies Open Psychiatric Hospitals in Areas Clamoring for Care
State institutions and community hospitals have closed inpatient mental health units, often citing staffing and financial challenges. Now, for-profit companies are opening psychiatric hospitals to fill the void.
Journalists Dig Into Measles, Abortion Access, and Medicaid Expansion
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court this week heard its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, about an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. But while it seems likely that this case could be dismissed on a technicality, abortion opponents have more challenges in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health issues are heating up on the campaign trail, as Republicans continue to take aim at Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act — all things Democrats are delighted to defend. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who wrote a KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about Medicare and a very expensive air-ambulance ride. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
A State-Sanctioned Hospital Monopoly Raises Concerns
The Federal Trade Commission has long argued that competition makes the economy better. But some states have stopped the agency from blocking hospital mergers that create local or regional monopolies, and the results have been messy. Two dozen states have at some point passed controversial legislation waiving anti-monopoly laws, allowing rival hospitals to merge and replacing competition […]
Históricamente, las enfermedades vinculadas al abuso del alcohol han afectado más a los hombres. Pero datos actuales de los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) muestran que las tasas de muerte por esta causa están aumentando más rápido entre las mujeres que entre los hombres.
More Women Are Drinking Themselves Sick. The Biden Administration Is Concerned.
Historically, alcohol use disorder has disproportionately affected men. But targeted advertising and changes in societal norms over the past 50 years have led to an upsurge in alcohol-related diseases and deaths among women. “It’s a very taboo topic,” one expert said.
California Is Expanding Insurance Access for Teenagers Seeking Therapy on Their Own
A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parents’ consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the state’s culture wars.
