Category: Kaiser Health News

How a Proposed Federal Heat Rule Might Have Saved These Workers’ Lives

Laborers have suffered in extreme heat triggered by climate change. Deaths aren’t inevitable, researchers say: Employers can save lives by providing ample water and breaks.

Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress

The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.

California Mental Health Agency Director To Resign Following Conflict of Interest Allegations

Toby Ewing, executive director of California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, is resigning amid an investigation into his conduct and revelations that he traveled to the U.K. courtesy of a vendor as he sought to protect state funding for its contract.

Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu

Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals.

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.