The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Covered California and Medi-Cal share a computer system for eligibility and enrollment. Nearly a decade since the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage options in the state, enrollees can be diverted to the wrong program 鈥 or dropped altogether 鈥 if erroneous information gets into the system.
Some foster children with complex mental, behavioral, and physical health needs without a foster placement are having to stay in hotel rooms and even office buildings, a practice called 鈥渉oteling.鈥
Conservative states are moving to severely restrict abortions, and many are pressing for bans that provide no exception for cases of rape or incest or even to save the life of the mother. But public opinion polls suggest those limits could cause blowback.
California has embarked on an ambitious five-year initiative to improve the health of its sickest Medicaid patients by introducing nontraditional services. In the Inland Empire, where many residents have diabetes, one health plan is diving into the experiment by delivering healthy, prepared meals to those lucky enough to get them.
Montana, one of about a dozen states still managing its own Medicaid programs, has a new Medicaid director who championed handing the management of the program to private companies in Iowa and Kansas.
Preventive care, like screening colonoscopies, is supposed to be free of charge to patients under the Affordable Care Act. But some hospitals haven鈥檛 gotten the memo.
Although identifying long covid in older adults can be tricky, experts say there are good strategies for getting medical advice and fighting the impact of the virus.
Even in deep-blue California, Democratic lawmakers pulled their proposed covid vaccine requirements before they had a vote. The lawmakers blamed the ebbs and flows of the coronavirus, the public鈥檚 short attention span, and opposition from public safety unions.
An aging population in need of regular cancer screenings has driven private equity companies, seeking profits, to invest in many gastroenterology practices and set up aggressive billing practices. Steep prices on routine tests are one consequence for patients.
In California and beyond, physician trainees working long hours for what in some states amounts to little more than minimum wage are organizing to seek better pay, benefits, and working conditions. More than 1,300 of them at three L.A. County public hospitals will vote May 30 on whether to strike.
Private equity companies are the house-flippers of the investment world, and they鈥檝e found their way into many areas of our lives 鈥 including your local gastroenterologist’s office.
Two mass shootings in two weeks 鈥 one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers 鈥 have reignited the 鈥済uns-as-public-health-problem鈥 debate. But political consensus seems as far away as ever. Meanwhile, the FDA is in the congressional hot seat over its handling of the infant 51视频 shortage. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. Richard Baron, head of the American Board of Internal Medicine, about how doctors should discipline colleagues who spread medical misinformation.
After years of failure, the Maryland company aims to attract the vaccine-hesitant with an alternative to mRNA shots. But will it find a market?
KHN checks back in with Dr. Taison Bell to pinpoint changes in health care equity since the rollout of the covid-19 vaccines.
A covid outbreak on a field trip. Another at prom. Yet administrators are reluctant to expose their schools to legal challenges by again requiring masks for students and staffers. That leaves parents fretful and confused.
A building slated to become the site of Wyoming鈥檚 sole provider of procedural abortions caught fire early Wednesday. Investigators suspect arson at the site that has been the focus of weekly rallies.
A Wyoming clinic slated to open this summer would be the only one in the state to provide procedural abortions and the closest option for some people in surrounding states. But its fate is uncertain now that the Supreme Court looks poised to strike down Roe v. Wade.
The deadly synthetic opioid has spread across the nation during the pandemic, and the problem is disproportionately affecting Native Americans.
The Mashkiki Waakaa鈥檌gan Pharmacy in downtown Minneapolis gives Native Americans an economical option for filling prescriptions while being sensitive to tribal traditions and expectations.
Research has long shown that doctors are less likely to respect patients who are overweight or obese 鈥 terms that now apply to nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. The Association of American Medical Colleges plans to roll out new diversity, equity, and inclusion standards aimed at teaching doctors, among other things, how to treat patients who are overweight with respect.
