Category: Kaiser Health News

Public Voices Often Ignored in States’ Opioid Settlement Money Decisions

In many places, victims of the opioid epidemic are silenced in decision-making about how to use opioid settlement money, a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by KFF Health News and Spotlight PA found.

Turning 26 and Struggling To Find Health Insurance? Tell Us About It.

KFF Health News and The New York Times are looking into a dreaded “adulting” milestone: finding your own medical insurance at 26.

For Pharma, Trump vs. Harris Is a Showdown Between Two Industry Foes

Vice President Kamala Harris is seen as more aggressive than former President Donald Trump in taking on pharmaceutical companies, but Trump allies say he would also make lowering drug costs a top priority.

The New Covid Vaccine Is Out. Why You Might Not Want To Rush To Get It.

Although public health officials recommend the newly approved covid vaccine for everyone 6 months and older, it may make more sense to wait until closer to the holiday season.

Her Life Was at Risk. She Needed an Abortion. Insurance Refused To Pay.

Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. Patients often don’t know when or if a procedure or abortion pills are covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has exacerbated the confusion.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Let the General Election Commence

Abortion and reproductive health issues headlined the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as expected. But what Vice President Kamala Harris has in mind for other health policies as the Democratic nominee remains something of a mystery. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump says he would not use the 19th-century Comstock Act to impose, in effect, a national ban on abortion, which angered his anti-abortion backers. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a woman who fought back after being charged for two surgeries despite undergoing only one.

Disability Rights Activist Pushes Government To Let Him Participate in Society

Garret Frey won a U.S. Supreme Court case as a teenager who needed assistance to attend high school. Now, he’s gained concessions under Iowa’s Medicaid program to help him live at home instead of in a care facility.

Trump Drastically Inflates Annual Fentanyl Death Numbers

The former president’s claim of 300,000 annual opioid deaths contradicts government statistics.

Biden Administration Blocks Two Private Sector Enrollment Sites From ACA Marketplace

Regulators have been under the gun to curb unauthorized Obamacare enrollment and switching of plans. Separately, a pending lawsuit was amended with additional defendants and new allegations regarding tactics to garner greater ACA sales commissions.

A Teen’s Murder, Mold in the Walls: Unfulfilled Promises Haunt Public Housing

For years, federal lawmakers have failed to deliver the money needed to fix derelict public housing, leaving tenants — mostly people of color and families with low incomes — living with mold and gun violence that has had lasting health consequences.