Category: Kaiser Health News

Primary Care Doctors ‘Not Doing Enough’ To Curb STDs

As rates of sexually transmitted diseases surge, public health officials want physicians to step up screening and treatment of patients.

Politicians Hop Aboard ‘Medicare-For-All’ Train, Destination Unknown

Candidates are charging toward midterm elections on a platform of single-payer and universal coverage rhetoric. Yet “Medicare-for-all” and single-payer mean different things to different people.

As Billions In Tax Dollars Flow To Private Medicaid Plans, Who’s Minding The Store?

Insurance companies profit from government contracts but are subject to little oversight of how they spend the money or care for patients. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has only exacerbated the problem.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Republicans’ Preexisting Political Problem

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss how protections for people with preexisting conditions have become a top issue in the elections, Trump administration efforts to make prescription drug prices more public and the start of Medicare’s annual open-enrollment period. Plus, Rovner interviews California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Children’s Hospitals Again Cry For Help From Voters. But Are They Really Hurting?

California’s 13 children’s hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren’t justified.

Children’s Hospitals Again Cry For Help From Voters. But Are They Really Hurting?

California’s 13 children’s hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren’t justified.

Health Care Tops Guns, Economy As Voters’ Top Issue

Nearly three-quarters of voters say that health care is the most important issue for them, but fewer than half are hearing much from candidates about it, according to a poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate John Cox: Limit Government In Health Care

John Cox, California’s Republican candidate for governor, contends that policies on abortion, health insurance and health care access should be guided by the conservative ideals of free market competition and personal responsibility. He hasn’t offered specific policy positions on health care, except that government should largely stay out of it.

Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Baffles Medical Experts While Frightening Parents

Federal health officials are investigating 127 cases of the disease, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.

States Act To Safeguard Young Cancer Patients’ Chances To Have Children

Fighting cancer often involves toxic therapies that can cause infertility. In the past couple of years, five states have moved to require that plans pay for services such as egg removal and storage.