Category: Disparities

Paxlovid Has Been Free So Far. Next Year, Sticker Shock Awaits.

The government soon will stop paying for the covid drug that has proved to be the most effective at keeping patients alive and out of the hospital.

Watch: Big Medicaid Changes in California Leave Millions of Patients Behind

KHN senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses how California’s big Medicaid experiment to bring social services to the sickest and costliest patients doesn’t help most patients.

Her Apartment Might Have Put Her Son’s Health at Risk. But ‘I Have Nowhere Else to Go.’

The United States is suffering from a severe shortage of affordable housing. But elected officials have done little to fix a problem that puts many Americans at greater risk for sickness and shortens lives.

Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Start With Research

Improving lung cancer outcomes in Black communities will take more than lowering the screening age, experts say. Disparities are present in everything from the studies that inform when people should get checked to the availability of care in rural areas.

A Work-From-Home Culture Takes Root in California

Even as pandemic lockdowns fade into memory, covid-19 has transformed California’s workplace culture in ways researchers say will reverberate well beyond 2022. According to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, working from home for some portion of the week has become the new normal for a large segment of Californians. The data shows high-income […]

How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills

Hospitals strike deals with financing companies, generating profits for lenders, and more debt for patients.

Knoxville’s Black Community Endured Deeply Rooted Racism. Now There Is Medical Debt.

Despite the end of Jim Crow segregation, its legacy lives on in medical debt that disproportionately burdens Black communities.

Campaigning Ramps Up as South Dakota Voters Decide on Medicaid Expansion

A broad coalition of Medicaid expansion supporters faces off against a smaller group of opponents as early voting begins on a constitutional amendment that would increase coverage under South Dakota’s program.

‘Separate and Unequal’: Critics Say Newsom’s Pricey Medicaid Reforms Leave Most Patients Behind

MLK Community Hospital in South Los Angeles is surrounded by poverty, homeless encampments, and food deserts. Even though California Gov. Gavin Newsom is funneling billions of taxpayer money into an ambitious initiative to provide some low-income patients with social services, hospital executives and other critics say it won’t improve access to basic care.

Abortion Bans Skirt a Medical Reality: For Many Teens, Childbirth Is a Dangerous Undertaking

The laws criminalizing abortion in many conservative U.S. states are expected to boost birth rates among teens, whose bodies often aren’t built for safe childbirth. For adolescents, the emotional and physical challenges of carrying a pregnancy to term can be daunting.