Category: Kaiser Health News

Presidential Election Puts Affordable Care Act Back in the Bull’s-Eye

The outcome of the upcoming presidential election could affect the number of insured Americans, the fate of premium-reducing subsidies, the shape of Medicaid, and the cost of coverage for tens of millions of people.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Less Than Two Weeks To Go

With Election Day rapidly approaching, abortion is gaining traction as a voting issue, according to public opinion polls. Meanwhile, states with abortion bans are reviving the lawsuit — dismissed by the Supreme Court on a technicality this year — that could roll back the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Tricia Neuman, senior vice president of KFF and executive director of its Program on Medicare Policy, about Medicare open enrollment and the changes to the federal program for 2025.

Voters Fret High Medical Bills Are Being Ignored by Presidential Rivals

Health care hasn’t figured prominently on the campaign trail this fall. These voters wish it would.

A California Official Helped Save a Mental Health Company’s Contract. It Flew Him to London.

The director of a California state mental health agency traveled to the U.K. courtesy of Kooth, a digital mental health company with a $271 million contract to build a therapy app for the state’s youth. Weeks earlier, he pressed key legislative staffers to restore a proposed cut to Kooth’s funding.

Marylanders To Vote on Expansive ‘Right to Reproductive Freedom’

The Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment would enshrine in the state constitution a right “to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”

Can You Rely on Your Mammogram To Identify Heart Disease Risk?

Clinicians and researchers are searching for answers to whether an incidental finding on breast X-rays could improve the detection of cardiovascular disease risk among women.

Mothering Over Meds: Docs Say Common Treatment for Opioid-Exposed Babies Isn’t Necessary

Amid what has been called the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic, doctors and researchers are walking back medication-heavy methods of treating babies born experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, replacing the regimen with the simplest care: parenting.

Medicare Drug Plans Are Getting Better Next Year. Some Will Also Cost More.

Every year, Medicare officials encourage beneficiaries to shop around for their drug coverage. Few take the time. This year, it might be more important than ever.

Watch: ‘Silence in Sikeston & The Effects of Racial Violence’

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony talks about how racism affects health on Nine PBS’ “Listen, St. Louis with Carol Daniel,” stemming from her reporting for the “Silence in Sikeston” multimedia project, on the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing on a rural Missouri community.

Helene and CVS Land Double Whammy for 25,000 Patients Who Survive on IV Nutrition

A Massachusetts woman ended up stranded in the hospital because CVS stopped providing the IV nutrition she needs to survive at home. Without it, she’d starve.