Latest KFF Health News Stories
Will Ties To A Catholic Hospital System Tie Doctors’ Hands?
Doctors at the University of California’s flagship San Francisco hospital are sharply divided over a proposal to join forces with a Catholic-run system that restricts care on the basis of religious doctrine — part of a broader public debate as Catholic hospitals expand their reach.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Hurricane Maria’s Legacy: Thousands Of Puerto Rican Students Show PTSD Symptoms
A survey of more than 96,000 students finds that 7.2% reported “clinically significant” symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
Patients Caught In Middle Of Fight Between Health Care Behemoths
A legal battle in Pennsylvania is testing the boundaries of health care competition and government action to oversee and regulate it.
States Weigh Banning A Widely Used Pesticide Even Though EPA Won’t
The pesticide chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental problems in children. Some state and federal lawmakers want the chemical banned, but federal regulators are fighting to keep it on the market.
Association Insurance Pushes On Despite Court Ruling
Judge cited an attempted “end-run” around the Affordable Care Act in rejecting large chunks of a new rule expanding access to such plans for small businesses and single proprietors.
Pain Clinics’ Doctors Needlessly Tested Hundreds Of Urine Samples, Court Records Show
Whistleblower lawsuits accuse Tennessee chain of bilking millions from Medicare for unnecessary urine drug tests.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The Abortion Wars Rage On
Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about women’s reproductive health policy and the latest skirmish in the debate over “Medicare-for-all”: how hospitals should be paid.
Amid Opioid Prescriber Crackdown, Health Officials Reach Out To Pain Patients
After dozens of health care workers were charged with illegally prescribing opioids in Appalachia, local health agencies are trying to make sure chronic pain patients don’t fall through the cracks.
The Homeless Are Dying In Record Numbers On The Streets Of L.A.
Deaths of homeless people in Los Angeles County have jumped 76% in the past five years, outpacing the growth of the homeless population, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the coroner’s data. Experts say drug and alcohol abuse are significant factors.
Cancer Is Especially Dangerous For Immigrants In South Texas. Here’s Why.
When an undocumented immigrant in a Texas border county gets a cancer diagnosis, it can be a death sentence because of a lack of public hospitals.
Destination Limbo: Health Suffers Among Asylum Seekers In Crowded Border Shelter
Asylum seekers from Mexico and Central America, housed in migrant shelters in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico, are often sick and exhausted from their long journeys. Volunteer health workers from Southern California recently sent a mobile clinic to one of those shelters and spent a day tending to its inhabitants.
Liver Illness Strikes Latino Children Like A ‘Silent Tsunami’
Potentially deadly fatty liver disease, linked to overconsumption of sugar in drinks and food, often starts in childhood. The goal: Get children to change their habits.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ You Have Questions, We Have Answers
Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to answer listener questions about the fate of the Affordable Care Act, “Medicare-for-all“ and how to talk about health care costs. Also, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite “extra credit” stories of the week.
Planned Parenthood’s ‘Risky Strategy’ To Update Its Image
The nation’s largest reproductive health services provider is in the midst of a high-stakes effort to showcase what it considers its vital role in providing community health care.
Workplace Wellness Programs Barely Move The Needle, Study Finds
New research published in JAMA detected some changes in healthy behavior like weight and stress, but little overall impact in workers’ health status or employer health care spending.
Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees
The Adelanto ICE Processing Center houses nearly 2,000 people in California. Federal, state and watchdog reviews say the Florida-based firm that runs the facility fails to provide adequate health care.
How To Fight ‘Scary’ Superbugs? Cooperation — And A Special Soap
Hospitals and nursing homes in California and Illinois hope that regional cooperation — and a special soap — will help them gain the upper hand against deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Heavy Rains, End Of Drought Could Help Keep West Nile Virus Subdued — For Now
Scientists say drought can spur transmission of the disease and that wetter winters since 2015 have helped reduce the number of infections in California. In the long term, however, climate change could mean more drought — and more infections.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Still More ‘Medicare-For-All’
Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest version of a “Medicare-for-all” bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a presidential hopeful, and Democratic and Republican reactions to it. They also discuss the latest on congressional efforts to rein in drug prices and another state effort to expand Medicaid — but not exactly in the way voters wanted. Also, Rovner interviews Ceci Connolly of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.
