Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Hoping to Clear the Air in Casinos, Workers Seek to Ban Tobacco Smoke

KFF Health News Original

Casinos in several states are fighting efforts to ban smoking, and trying to roll back existing anti-smoking laws. One planned facility even moved outside a city’s limits because of voter-approved smoking restrictions.

Delays in State Contracts Leave Montana Health Providers Strapped

KFF Health News Original

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is months behind in paying organizations contracted to connect people to care. The interruption is likely to have lasting effects, even after the state catches up.

Delicate Labor-Industry Deal in Flux as Newsom Revisits $25 Minimum Health Wage

KFF Health News Original

In spite of labor concern about any rollback, Gov. Gavin Newsom is revisiting California’s planned $25 minimum wage for health workers less than three months after approving the measure despite an uncertain price tag. The projected $4 billion first-year cost forms part of the state’s estimated $38 billion deficit.

California Offers a Lifeline for Medical Residents Who Can’t Find Abortion Training

KFF Health News Original

Abortion restrictions in 18 states have curtailed access to training in skills that doctors say are critical for OB-GYN specialists and others. A new California law makes it easier for out-of-state doctors to get experience in reproductive medicine.

Will CMS Crack Down on Prior Authorization?

KFF Health News Original

There’s the Idaho doctor whose infant daughter developed a brain tumor. A woman in Southern California who waited months for an MRI before dying in the hospital. And a North Carolina patient who has trigeminal neuralgia — a condition so painful it’s commonly called the “suicide disease.” They all have something in common, aside from […]

These Patients Had to Lobby for Correct Diabetes Diagnoses. Was Their Race a Reason?

KFF Health News Original

Adults who develop one autoimmune form of diabetes are often misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Those wrong diagnoses make it harder to get the appropriate medications and technology to manage their blood sugar. Many Black patients wonder if their race plays a role.

States Begin Tapping Medicaid Dollars to Combat Gun Violence

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration is allowing states to use money from the insurance program for low-income and disabled residents to pay for gun violence prevention. California and six other states have approved such spending, with more expected to follow.

Listen to ‘Tradeoffs’: How the Loss of a Rural Hospital Compounds the Collapse of Care

KFF Health News Original

Six years ago, the hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas, shuttered, leaving residents in the small community without a cornerstone health care institution. In the years since, despite new programs meant to save small hospitals, dozens of other communities have watched theirs close.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': New Year, Same Abortion Debate

Podcast

Some Supreme Court justices were wrong if they assumed overturning “Roe v. Wade” would settle the abortion issue before the high court. At least two cases are awaiting consideration, and more are in the legal pipeline. Meanwhile, Congress once again has only days until the next temporary spending bill runs out, with no budget deal in sight. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, about how public health can regain public trust.

Doctors Are as Vulnerable to Addiction as Anyone. California Grapples With a Response.

KFF Health News Original

The Medical Board of California, which licenses MDs, is developing a program to evaluate, treat, and monitor doctors with alcohol and drug problems. But there is sharp disagreement over whether those who might volunteer for the program should be subject to public disclosure and over how much participants should pay.

California protegerá a trabajadores del calor extremo en interiores

KFF Health News Original

Sólo otros dos estados, Minnesota y Oregon, han adoptado normas sobre el calor para las personas que trabajan en interiores, según la Administración de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional (OSHA).

Utah Survey Shows Why So Many People Were Dumped From Medicaid

KFF Health News Original

It’s one of the biggest mysteries in health policy: What happened to millions of Americans kicked out of Medicaid last year? A survey conducted for state officials in Utah, obtained by KFF Health News, holds some clues. Like many states, Utah terminated Medicaid coverage for a large share of enrollees whose eligibility was reevaluated in […]

Patients With Narcolepsy Face a Dual Nightmare of Medication Shortages and Stigma

KFF Health News Original

It’s been more than a year since the FDA declared a national shortage of Adderall, and it’s affecting more than just patients with ADHD. Those with narcolepsy, a much rarer condition, are often treated with the same medication. Without it, they’re often unable to drive or function as usual.

California Is Poised to Protect Workers From Extreme Heat — Indoors

KFF Health News Original

Only a few states have rules to protect workers from the growing threat of extreme heat, either indoors or outdoors. California is expected to adopt heat standards for indoor workers in spring, even as federal legislation has stalled.