Latest KFF Health News Stories
Preventive Care May Be Free, but Follow-Up Diagnostic Tests Can Bring Big Bills
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers cannot charge consumers for various preventive services that have been recommended by experts. But if those screenings indicate more testing is needed to determine whether something is wrong, patients may be on the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars for diagnostic services.
As Biden Fights Overdoses, Harm Reduction Groups Face Local Opposition
The Biden administration’s latest plan to address opioid overdose deaths includes $30 million for harm reduction measures, but many conservative states don’t allow them.
Race Is Often Used as Medical Shorthand for How Bodies Work. Some Doctors Want to Change That.
Physicians have long believed it’s good medicine to consider race in health care. But recently, rather than perpetuate the myth that race governs how bodies function, a more nuanced approach has emerged: acknowledging that racial health disparities often reflect the effects of generations of systemic racism, such as lack of access to stable housing or nutritious food.
States Fight Student Mental Health Crisis With Days Off
In early 2022, Illinois joined a growing number of states where lawmakers and school leaders are trying to combat the ongoing student mental health crisis by granting days off for mental health needs.
Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools
Researchers say the billions in pandemic funding available for ventilation upgrades in U.S. schools provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat covid-19, as well as making air more breathable for students living with allergies, asthma, and chronic wildfire smoke.
Journalists Delve Into Vaccine Mandates and Surprise Billing
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.
Long Wait for Justice: People in Jail Face Delays for Mental Health Care Before They Can Stand Trial
People in jail who have serious mental illness and cannot stand trial because of their condition are waiting months, or even more than a year, to get into their state psychiatric hospitals.
Medicaid Weighs Attaching Strings to Nursing Home Payments to Improve Patient Care
The Biden administration is considering whether Medicaid, which pays the bills for 62% of nursing home residents, should require that most of that funding be used to provide care, rather than for maintenance, capital improvements, or profits.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Taking a Shot at Gun Control
The U.S. House passed a package of bills seeking to keep some guns out of the hands of children and teenagers, but its fate in the Senate remains a big question mark. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission takes on drug and hospital prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Cori Uccello of the American Academy of Actuaries about the most recent report from Medicare’s trustees board.
Children’s Vision Problems Often Go Undetected, Despite Calls for Regular Screening
Eye exams for children are required under federal law to be covered by most private health plans and Medicaid, and many states mandate school vision screenings. But a federal survey finds that a quarter of children and teens are still not getting the recommended tests.
Lawmaker Takes on Insurance Companies and Gets Personal About His Health
State Sen. Scott Wiener opens up about a weeklong stint in the hospital last year and what it’s like to live with Crohn’s disease. The San Francisco Democrat is pushing a bill that would require insurance companies to cover certain medications while patients appeal denials.
A Deep Dive Into the Widening Mortality Gap Across the Political Aisle
Research out this week examines how an area’s political environment can affect its mortality rate.
Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor but Find Health Plans Standing in the Way
Despite a consensus that patients should be able to get mental health care from primary care doctors, insurance policies and financial incentives may not support that.
Some People in This Montana Mining Town Worry About the Dust Next Door
Residents of a Butte neighborhood are concerned about the dust from a nearby open-pit mine that can coat their homes and vehicles. In a city where past mining left a legacy of soil and water pollution, is the air unsafe, too?
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Good News for Your Credit Report
In July, credit reporting bureaus will start taking paid medical debt off people’s credit reports. Here’s what you need to know.
Misinformation Clouds America’s Most Popular Emergency Contraception
At a moment when half of U.S. states stand poised to outlaw or sharply curtail abortion services, the nation’s most popular emergency contraception brand rests in the unlikely stewardship of two private equity firms.
They Thought They Were Buying Obamacare Plans. What They Got Wasn’t Insurance.
Some consumers who think they are signing up for Obamacare insurance find out later they actually purchased a membership to a health care sharing ministry. But regulators and online advertising sites don’t do much about it.
California Wants to Slash Insulin Prices by Becoming a Drugmaker. Can It Succeed?
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed spending $100 million to make insulin affordable to millions of people with diabetes under a new state generic drug label, CalRx. But state officials haven’t said how much the insulin will cost patients or how the state will deal with distribution and other challenges.
With its latest venture into primary care clinics, is America’s leading organization for seniors selling its trusted seal of approval?
Immigration Bureaucracy Threatens 11-Year-Old’s Spot on Transplant Lists
Julia Espinosa is a U.S. citizen who needs high-tech care and three transplants. But if the federal government won’t let her father work here, she could lose her insurance.
