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Latest KFF Health News Stories

How To Fight ‘Scary’ Superbugs? Cooperation — And A Special Soap

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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’

KFF Health News Original

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.

The Blame Game: Everyone And No One Is Raising Insulin Prices

KFF Health News Original

During Wednesday’s House subcommittee hearing on insulin price hikes, drug makers and benefits managers pointed fingers at each other for the last decade’s 300% price increase, frustrating congressional representatives.

Can Someone Tell Me What A PBM Does?

KFF Health News Original

The Senate Finance Committee’s third drug-pricing hearing focused on pharmacy benefit managers, and was more of a fact-finding mission on how these companies operate than a debate about policy proposals.

Big Soda Pours Big Bucks Into California’s Capitol

KFF Health News Original

The soda industry spent $11.8 million to influence policy statewide in 2017 and 2018. As politicians once again consider bills that would tax and label sugary drinks, more big money is expected to flow.

On The Border, Volunteer Doctors Struggle To Provide Stopgap Care To Immigrants

KFF Health News Original

As recent arrivals are released from detention with severe medical problems ranging from diarrhea to gaping wounds, a makeshift health system of volunteers is overwhelmed. The work is taking a financial and emotional toll.

Exemptions Surge As Parents And Doctors Do ‘Hail Mary’ Around Vaccine Laws

KFF Health News Original

In California, medical exemptions to skip childhood vaccinations are on the rise. The trend underlines how hard it is to get parents to comply with vaccination laws meant to protect public safety when a small but adamant population of families and physicians seems determined to resist.

Popular Weed Killer’s Alleged Link To Cancer Spreads Concern

KFF Health News Original

The main ingredient in numerous popular herbicides has been implicated by two juries in the cancers of frequent users, but major public health agencies disagree over whether it is a carcinogen. Can you use it safely in your garden? Here are some answers to questions you may have about the weed killer glyphosate.

Finding Homeless Patients A Place To Heal

KFF Health News Original

California hospitals must comply with a new state law that requires them to try to find a safe place for homeless patients upon discharge. But hospitals say doing so isn’t as easy as calling a shelter and securing a cot.

California Hospitals See Massive Surge In Homeless Patients

KFF Health News Original

Homeless patients accounted for about 100,000 visits to California hospitals in 2017, marking a 28% increase from just two years earlier. Health officials attribute the surge to the overall rise in California’s homeless numbers and the large proportion of people living on the streets with mental illness.

CMS Ignores Federal Judge Ruling To Approve Medicaid Work Rules in Utah

KFF Health News Original

Work helps make people healthier, CMS chief Seema Verma said in approving Utah’s waiver request to tie government health benefits to employment or volunteer work. But Judge James Boasberg has said that isn’t the goal of Medicaid.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Health Care’s Back (In Court)

KFF Health News Original

It’s been a wild week for health policy, mostly because of developments surrounding two different legal cases. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to sort it out with a discussion of a setback for Medicaid work requirements and the Trump administration’s decision to back a lawsuit claiming the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Also, Rovner interviews filmmaker Mike Eisenberg about his movie “To Err Is Human: A Patient Safety Documentary.”

Federal Judge Again Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements

KFF Health News Original

The decision applies only to Kentucky and Arkansas, and many experts expect the administration and other conservative states to continue to move forward on rules that would limit coverage for people who don’t work.