Category: children’s health

Maine Voters Consider U-Turn On Vaccine Exemptions

States tried to tighten vaccine requirements last year in the midst of measles outbreaks, but a backlash against a tougher law in Maine put a referendum on the ballot there. Voters weigh in on Super Tuesday.

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.

Your School Assignment For The Day: Spelling And Specs

In California’s rural Central Valley, low-income children have limited access to vision care. School districts are teaming up with nonprofits to fill the gaps.

Hormone Blocker Shocker: Drug Costs 8 Times More When Used For Kids

Two drug implants are nearly identical. The one for children has a list price of $37,300. For adults, the list price is $4,400. One dad fought for his daughter to be able to use the cheaper drug.

School Districts Grapple With Quarantines, Face Masks And Fear

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, school districts, especially those with large Chinese student populations, are in uncharted territory as they apply new federal travel rules to their students. Some also are weighing requests from parents that are more about fear than science, such as whether to allow students with no travel history to stay home from school.

5 Things To Know About Trump’s Medicaid Block Grant Plan

Federal officials unveiled guidance for states that want to opt out of some of the current funding program and instead seek a fixed payment to gain more flexibility.

Call For FDA To Withdraw Preterm Birth Drug Divides Doctors and Insurers

A study ordered by the Food and Drug Administration failed to prove that Makena, the only drug approved to prevent premature birth, is effective. While a panel of experts has recommended withdrawing the drug’s approval, many doctors are wary.

5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress

California now will pay pediatricians to screen Medi-Cal patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The program is based on research showing that children who endure chronic stress have an increased risk of developing serious health problems. Here are five things to know about the new program.

One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma

Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest “Medicare for All” proposals would affect innovation and access to care.

Watch: Behind The Troubling Rise Of Uninsured American Kids

Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Sarah Varney and PBS NewsHour producer Jason Kane report from Tennessee, where the rate of uninsured kids has soared.