Category: children’s health

This Doctor Thought She Could Navigate US Health Care. Then Her Autistic Son Needed Help.

Dr. Mai Pham left her corporate career to spark change in a system that is failing millions of Americans with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Polio, Chickenpox, Measles, Now Covid. It’s Time to Consult History on School Vaccine Mandates

As some states adopt covid vaccine requirements, not everyone agrees mandates for children are the way forward. Taking a page from history: We have two paths to putting the pandemic behind us: a quicker, more certain one of mandatory vaccination or a stuttering, drawn-out, likely more deadly affair.

The Advice to ‘Vaccinate and Test’ Isn’t Much Help to Parents With Kids Under 5

Many parents of children too young for vaccines are exhausted. Some feel isolated and even forgotten by those who just want to move on even as omicron continues to sweep through parts of the country.

State Laws Aim to Regulate ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ but Loopholes Remain

Without a federal law governing private, for-profit residential programs for children with behavioral problems, regulation has been left to the states. But even in states that have sought to increase oversight, deaths and controversial tactics such as seclusion still happen.

Buffy Wicks Turns Her Health History Into Legislation

Assembly member who represents Oakland, is digging into abortion, vaccines and homelessness and drawing on her own health care experiences as she drafts bills.

With No End in Sight to Pandemic Life, Parents Find Disruption Is the New Normal

Amid covid-related staffing shortages and testing requirements, school systems are stretched thin. And so are parents’ nerves.

As Omicron Surges, Effort to Vaccinate Young Children Stalls

Just 18% of 5- to 11-year-olds are fully vaccinated, with rates varying significantly across the country, a KHN analysis of federal data shows. Pediatricians say the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming, especially against the backdrop of record numbers of cases and pediatric hospitalizations.

New Parents Slapped With Surprise Bills for Treating Newborns

Regular use of a more advanced screening method turns a low-cost procedure into a pricier one.

NICU Bill Installment Plan: That’ll Be $45,843 a Month for 12 Months, Please

After baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and spent more than 50 days in the neonatal ICU, his parents received a bill of more than $550,000 — despite having insurance. The Florida hospital had a not-so-helpful suggestion: monthly payments of more than $45,000 for a year.

Pandemic Poses Short- and Long-Term Risks to Babies, Especially Boys

A mother’s immune response to covid can be a greater danger to the fetus than the virus itself.