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California Floats Extending Health Insurance Subsidies to All Adult Immigrants - KFF Health News
The legislature is considering taking the first steps to make Covered California plans available to immigrants without permanent legal status. The state has already extended Medi-Cal coverage to low-income immigrants.
Abortion Access Changing Again in Florida and Arizona - KFF Health News
A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this week, dramatically restricting access to the procedure not just in the nation’s third-most-populous state but across the South. Patients from states with even more restrictive bans had been flooding in since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Meanwhile, the CEO of the health behemoth UnitedHealth Group appeared before committees in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers grilled him about the February cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare and how its ramifications are being felt months later. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
In Oregon, Medicaid Is Buying People Air Conditioners - KFF Health News
Oregon has started providing air conditioners, air purifiers and power banks to help some of its Medicaid recipients cope with soaring heat, smoky skies and other dangers of climate change. It’s a first-in-the-nation experiment that expands a Biden administration strategy to take Medicaid beyond traditional medical care and into the realm of social services. “Climate change is […]
‘Breaking a Promise’: California Deficit Could Halt Raises for Disability Workers - KFF Health News
Families of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is reneging on an expected pay increase for care workers. If the delay goes through, it could impede services and invite legal challenges from advocates.
WHO Overturns Dogma on Airborne Disease Spread. The CDC Might Not Act on It. - KFF Health News
After grave missteps in the covid pandemic, the World Health Organization revisited the science and now confirms that many respiratory viruses are inhaled as airborne particles. The new framework implies that stopping transmission relies on costly measures like ventilation and masking.
La OMS confirma cómo se propagan los virus por el aire. Los CDC tal vez miren para otro lado - KFF Health News
La OMS concluyó que la transmisión aérea ocurre cuando las personas enfermas exhalan patógenos que quedan suspendidos en el aire, contenidos en pequeñas partículas de saliva y moco que, a su vez, son inhaladas por otros.
AC, Power Banks, Mini Fridges: Oregon Equips Medicaid Patients for Climate Change - KFF Health News
Oregon is giving Medicaid patients air conditioners and other equipment to help them cope with soaring heat, smoky skies, and other dangers of climate change. Oregon health officials hope to show other states and the federal government that they can save lives and money.
The Neglected U.S. Victims of Agent Orange - KFF Health News
The Department of Veterans Affairs has long given Vietnam veterans disability compensation for illness connected to Agent Orange, widely used to defoliate Southeast Asian battlefields during the U.S. war. Less well known: The powerful herbicide combination was also routinely used to kill weeds at domestic military bases. Those exposed to the chemicals at the bases are still waiting for the same […]
En Colorado, reevalúan leyes formuladas para proteger a los menores - KFF Health News
Hay esfuerzos en Colorado y otros estados para revertir las leyes que obligan a informar sobre sospechas de abuso o negligencia, argumentando que el resultado ha sido demasiados informes infundados, que perjudican desproporcionadamente a las familias que son pobres, negras, indígenas o tienen miembros con discapacidades.
Una prueba genética podría salvar la vida de cientos de pacientes en quimioterapia - KFF Health News
Estos tipos de quimioterapia comunes son difíciles de tolerar en general, pero para los pacientes que tienen deficiencia de una enzima que metaboliza la droga, puede ser una tortura o causar la muerte.
Sign Here? Financial Agreements May Leave Doctors in the Driver’s Seat - KFF Health News
Agreeing to an out-of-network doctor’s own financial policy — which generally protects their ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing insurance and legal jargon — can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing.
Toxic Gas Adds to a Long History of Pollution in Southwest Memphis - KFF Health News
People across the nation claim cancer-causing emissions from local sterilizing plants are making them sick. It’s an example of environmental racism, say residents of one predominantly Black area in southwest Memphis, Tennessee, where life expectancy is much shorter than county and state averages.
Exposed to Agent Orange at US Bases, Veterans Face Cancer Without VA Compensation - KFF Health News
The Department of Veterans Affairs has long given vets who served in Vietnam disability compensation for illness connected to Agent Orange harm. But those exposed at U.S. bases are still waiting for the same benefits.
What Florida’s New 6-Week Abortion Ban Means for the South, and Traveling Patients - KFF Health News
Florida has served as a haven for Southern pregnant women with little or no access to abortions. But the Florida Supreme Court upheld a six-week abortion restriction that begins in May — so now women across much of the South seeking abortions will have to look farther afield.
Whatever Happened to Biden’s Public Option? - KFF Health News
In the 2020 elections, then-candidate Joe Biden and many of his congressional colleagues loudly advocated for a federal “public option” health insurance plan. It was framed, at the time, as part of his incoming administration’s response to the pandemic. “Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost to them, though […]
Journalists Drill Down on Bird Flu Risks, Opioid Settlement Payouts, and Fluoride in Drinking Water - KFF Health News
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media over the past two weeks to discuss recent stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Abortion — Again — At the Supreme Court - KFF Health News
For the second time in as many months, the Supreme Court heard arguments in an abortion case. This time, the justices are being asked to decide whether a federal law that requires emergency care in hospitals can trump Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. Meanwhile, the federal government, for the first time, will require minimum staffing standards for nursing homes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Biden’s Election-Year Play to Further Expand Obamacare - KFF Health News
The Biden administration wants to make it easier for Americans to get dental care. But don’t try booking an appointment just yet. A new regulation out this month allows states to include adult dental care as a benefit that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. Following record ACA enrollment this year, the proposal represents an […]
California Is Investing $500M in Therapy Apps for Youth. Advocates Fear It Won’t Pay Off. - KFF Health News
California launched two teletherapy apps as part of the governor’s $500 million foray into health technology with private companies. But the rollout has been so slow that one company has yet to make its app available on Android, and social workers worry youths who need clinical care won’t get referrals.
Medicare Stumbles Managing a Costly Problem — Chronic Illness - KFF Health News
Nearly a decade ago, Medicare launched a program to help the two-thirds of beneficiaries with chronic conditions by paying their doctors an additional monthly fee to coordinate their care. The strategy has largely failed to live up to its potential; only about 4 percent of potentially eligible beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare program are enrolled, […]
Genetics Studies Have a Diversity Problem That Researchers Struggle To Fix - KFF Health News
Researchers in Charleston, South Carolina, are trying to build a DNA database of 100,000 people to better understand how genetics affects health risks. But they’re struggling to recruit enough Black participants.
Para frenar las muertes por fentanilo, reparten kits para revertir las sobredosis puerta por puerta - KFF Health News
En Philadelphia, funcionarios esperan que este enfoque proactivo transforme a la naloxona en un artículo que esté en los botiquines, para evitar que las personas mueran por sobredosis, especialmente los residentes negros.
Neumáticos tóxicos están matando a los peces. ¿Qué pasa con los humanos? - KFF Health News
Durante décadas, las preocupaciones sobre la contaminación automovilística se han centrado en lo que sale del tubo de escape. Ahora, investigadores y reguladores dicen que se necesita prestar más atención a las emisiones tóxicas de los neumáticos mientras los vehículos circulan por las carreteras.
Tire Toxicity Faces Fresh Scrutiny After Salmon Die-Offs - KFF Health News
Tires emit huge volumes of particles and chemicals as they roll along the highway, and researchers are only beginning to understand the threat. One byproduct of tire use, 6PPD-q, is in regulators’ crosshairs after it was found to be killing fish.
Unsheltered People Are Losing Medicaid in Redetermination Mix-Ups - KFF Health News
Some of the nearly 130,000 Montanans who have lost Medicaid coverage as the state reevaluates eligibility are homeless. That’s in part because Montana kicked more than 80,000 people off the program for technical reasons rather than because of income ineligibility. For unhoused people who were disenrolled, getting back on Medicaid can be extraordinarily difficult.
Rural Jails Turn to Community Health Workers To Help the Newly Released Succeed - KFF Health News
To reduce recidivism, some rural counties are hiring community health workers or peer support specialists to connect people leaving custody to mental health resources, substance use treatment, medical services, and jobs.
Medical Providers Still Grappling With UnitedHealth Cyberattack: ‘More Devastating Than Covid’ - KFF Health News
Medical providers say they're still coping with the Change Healthcare cyberattack disclosed in February even though parent company UnitedHealth Group reported that much is back to normal and its revenue is up over last year.