Category: Audio

Current, Former CDC Staff Warn Against Slashing Support to Local Public Health Departments

Public health and science researchers are concerned about the Trump administration’s cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reductions in staff and budgets could undermine the nation’s ability to respond to threats, they say.

Workers Prep To Meet ICE Officials at the Health Clinic Door

Recent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in northern Virginia have put immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on alert. Health clinics that serve those communities say they are working to continue to care for patients amid detention and arrest fears.

Your Neighbor Has Backyard Chickens. Should You Be Worried?

The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers, and killed at least one person in the U.S. KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen explains why scientists are worried.

Health Clinic Workers Brush Up on Constitutional Protections as Immigration Raids Loom

Clinic administrators describe anxiety about President Donald Trump’s move to allow immigration arrests inside health centers.

Sports Betting Is Coming to Missouri. A Fund To Help Prevent Problem Gambling Will Follow.

Can a $5 million compulsive-gambling fund help Missouri avoid the mistakes of other states that have legalized sports betting?

Long-Covid Patients Are Frustrated That Federal Research Hasn’t Found New Treatments

The federal government has allocated $1.15 billion to long-covid research without any new treatments yet brought to market. Patients and scientists say it’s time to push harder for breakthroughs.

Dogs Paired With Providers at Hospitals Help Ease Staff and Patient Stress

Some hospitals are bringing in dogs to spend entire shifts with doctors and nurses. The trained canines help staffers cope with the stress of their work amid high levels of burnout.

Listen: NPR and KFF Health News Explore How Racism and Violence Hurt Health

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony and Emily Kwong, host of NPR’s podcast “Shortwave,” talk about Black families living in the aftermath of lynchings and police killings.

Stimulant Users Are Caught in Fatal ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic

The migration of fentanyl into illicit stimulants such as cocaine is especially dangerous for people who are not regular opioid users. That’s because they have a low tolerance for opioids, putting them at greater risk of an overdose. They also often don’t take precautions — such as not using alone and carrying the opioid reversal medication naloxone — so they’re unprepared if they overdose.

‘Bill of the Month’: The Series That Dissects and Slashes Medical Bills

Since 2018, readers and listeners sent KFF Health News-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” thousands of questionable bills. Our crowdsourced investigation paved the way for landmark legislation and highlighted cost-saving strategies for all patients.