Latest KFF Health News Stories
Heat And Violence Pose Twin Threats For Asylum-Seekers Waiting At Border
For Central American migrants who follow U.S. government rules for pursuing asylum, conditions on the Mexican side of the border are sweltering, filled with anxiety and illness. Few people have a clear timetable for when it will get any better.
For Civilians, Finding A Therapist Skilled In PTSD Treatments Is A Tough Task
Many therapists are not familiar with two key treatment options for trauma recommended by the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
‘Stonewall Generation’ Confronts Old Age, Sickness — And Discrimination
For a generation of LGBTQ people who lived through unprecedented social change, getting older poses new challenges — lack of services, discrimination, neglect and even abuse.
Did The ACA Create Preexisting Condition Protections For People In Employer Plans?
Not exactly. We found that protections for preexisting conditions for most people with job-based insurance predated the Affordable Care Act by more than a decade.
Facebook Live: Inclusive Care at the End of Life: The LGBTQ+ Experience
For a generation of LGBTQ+ people who lived through unprecedented social change, getting older poses new challenges. When it comes to seeking elder care, concerns about lack of services, discrimination, neglect and even abuse threaten to reverse recent progress.
Hidden Reports Masked The Scope Of Widespread Harm From Faulty Heart Device
The Food and Drug Administration allowed one company to send 50,000 reports of harm or malfunctions to an internal database even as patients worried about faulty defibrillators lodged in their hearts.
A Medical Sanctuary For Migrant Farmworkers
A former farmworker, now a doctor, runs two clinics in California’s Central Valley providing care — often free of charge — for migrants who don’t have money and are deeply worried about the federal government’s hard-line stance on immigration.
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Military Medical Malpractice Case
Justices won’t alter the rule that prevents active-duty military members from suing the government for negligence. The challenge came from the family of Navy nurse Lt. Rebekah “Moani” Daniel, who died in 2014 after bleeding to death following childbirth.
Opioid Prescriptions Drop Sharply Among State Workers
New data from the California agency that manages health benefits for 1.5 million public employees, retirees and their families shows that doctors are writing far fewer opioid prescriptions, reflecting a national trend of physicians cutting back on the addictive drugs.
Escalating Workplace Violence Rocks Hospitals
Incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Listen: After Its Hospital Closes, A Pioneer Kansas Town Searches For What Comes Next
Deep questions underlie what is happening in Fort Scott, Kan.: Do small communities like this one need a traditional hospital at all? And, if not, what health care do they need?
As ER Wait Times Grow, More Patients Leave Against Medical Advice
Crowded emergency rooms are likely to blame. In 2017, the median ER wait time for patients before admission as inpatients to California hospitals was 336 minutes — or more than 5½ hours.
‘Sham’ Sharing Ministries Test Faith Of Patients And Insurance Regulators
Officials in Washington and other states are cracking down on companies that avoid health insurance regulations by masquerading as faith-based care.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ States Race To Reverse ‘Roe’
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the new abortion bans passed in Alabama and Georgia; bipartisan congressional efforts to end “surprise” out-of-network medical bills; and a new public option health insurance plan soon to be available in Washington state.
Trump’s Talk On Preexisting Conditions Doesn’t Match His Administration’s Actions
The administration’s position on a pending lawsuit to get the Affordable Care Act is one of the reasons experts said there’s cause for skepticism.
Walmart Charts New Course By Steering Workers To High-Quality Imaging Centers
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is recommending that employees and dependents use one of 800 imaging centers identified as providing trustworthy care.
Dealing With Hospital Closure, Pioneer Kansas Town Asks: What Comes Next?
After depending on the local hospital for more than a century, Fort Scott residents now are trying to cope with life without it.
Eric Swalwell’s Tweet About Georgia’s New Abortion Restriction Only Slightly Off-Key
The claim by Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell is correct but could use more context and clarification.
Newsom Changes Course On Plan To Pay For Immigrant Health Coverage
California’s governor Friday scuttled his plan to siphon public health money from four counties to help provide health coverage for unauthorized immigrants ages 19 through 25.
How Obamacare, Medicare And ‘Medicare For All’ Muddy The Campaign Trail
A talking point used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to all three of these distinct concepts in a way that could magnify public misperceptions.
