Category: Kaiser Health News

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Checking Up on California’s DIY Insulin Project

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. This year, the state of California put up $100 million to begin manufacturing its own insulin and sell it cheaply. How’s it going to work? (Is it going to work?) The price of insulin could be the starkest example […]

Baby, That Bill Is High: Private Equity ‘Gambit’ Squeezes Excessive ER Charges From Routine Births

Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.

New Generation of Weight Loss Medications Offer Promise — But at a Price

People now have at their disposal more medicines that are effective at reducing weight, but none can counter obesity alone. One big problem: Insurance coverage remains spotty, and the costly drugs may be needed long term.

Abortion Bans Are Motivating Midterm Voters, Poll Shows

A new KFF poll shows Democrats and those living in states where abortion is illegal say the issue has made them more motivated to vote. It also shows that 70% of Republicans oppose total abortion bans.

‘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.

Climate Change Magnifies Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke in Care Deserts

Smoke- and ash-filled air can trigger or exacerbate severe respiratory conditions. But the medical specialists who treat these illnesses are often scarce where they are most in need.

BMI: The Mismeasure of Weight and the Mistreatment of Obesity

The human body mass index — a simple mathematical equation — is tied to a measure of obesity invented almost 200 years ago. On the downside, it can stand between patients and treatment for weight issues. It particularly mismeasures Black women and Asians.

Watch: What Experts Advise for Seniors Living Under the Long Shadow of Covid

For older people, the pandemic is as taxing and worrisome as ever. Experts in geriatric care, mental health, social services, and infectious disease joined a KHN-Hartford Foundation panel to talk about a third covid winter and its outsize toll on seniors.

Miami’s Little Haiti Joins Global Effort to End Cervical Cancer

Creole-speaking public health workers teach women how to test themselves for HPV, the virus that causes some cervical cancers.

Hospitals Have Been Slow to Bring On Addiction Specialists

Hospitals have specialists ready to offer consult and care for concerns from cancer to childbirth but often no one with expertise in addiction medicine. Patients with a history of substance use — who are discharged without care — are at risk for overdose.