A measure likely to be on California’s November ballot would tax the state’s wealthiest residents to rebuild crumbling public health infrastructure and try to head off another pandemic. But are inflation-weary Californians willing to vote for new taxes?
Federal funding that paid for covid testing, treatment, and vaccines for uninsured people has run out. While some states struggle to make up the difference, California is relying on other state and local programs to continue free testing.
Colorado is requiring insurers that offer public option plans to collect demographic data on health providers, including race and sexual orientation. The aim is to connect patients with the right provider, but providers are worried about their privacy.
A diabetes diagnosis is not always related to a person’s weight or overall health, especially for those with Type 1 diabetes, who are dependent on insulin treatment for life.
Amid covid-19, the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, and a war in Europe, the Affordable Care Act has been flying under the radar in 2022. But this will be a pivotal year for the federal health law. Unless Congress acts, millions of Americans could see their costs for coverage rise dramatically as expanded subsidies expire. At the same time, the end of the public health emergency could boost the uninsured rate as states disenroll people from Medicaid. Peter Lee, who recently stepped down as the first executive director of the largest state-run ACA insurance marketplace, Covered California, has thought long and hard about how the ACA came to be, how it’s been implemented, and what should happen to it now. He joins host and KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of the ACA.
A recent court decision that overturns one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s few pandemic rules — masks required on public transportation — spotlights how little power remains in federal hands to enforce public health protections.
Legislators in Kansas are pushing bills to expand exemptions for school vaccines, allowing religious exemptions for all vaccine requirements in the state’s schools without families having to provide any proof of their beliefs. Similar bills are being introduced around the nation as the anti-vaccine movement gains traction among politicians.
Just as Texas has tightened its laws surrounding abortion, Mexico has gone the opposite direction, compelling people to seek potentially less-safe procedures south of the border.
As Google joins Apple in adding heart rhythm sensors to wearable devices, and millions of people gain access to alerts that flag when their hearts might have skipped a beat, cardiologists are wondering what to do with all the information.
The research is clear that improving indoor air quality is an essential tool in stemming the spread of covid and a host of other diseases. But companies have to be willing to invest.
