Category: mental health

New California Law Makes It Easier to Get Care for Mental Health and Substance Abuse

The measure, which took effect Jan. 1, removes loopholes that made it easy for insurers to use arcane company guidelines to avoid paying for care. Patients now have an easier way to challenge those denials.

College Tuition Sparked a Mental Health Crisis. Then the Hefty Hospital Bill Arrived.

A student sought counseling help after feeling panicked when she had trouble paying a big tuition bill. A weeklong stay in a psychiatric hospital followed — along with a $3,413 bill. The hospital soft-pedaled its charity care policy.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open Enrollment, One More Time

Keeping a campaign promise, President Joe Biden has reopened enrollment for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act on healthcare.gov — and states that run their own health insurance marketplaces followed suit. At the same time, the Biden administration is moving to revoke the Trump administration’s permission for states to impose work requirements for some adults on the Medicaid health insurance program. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews medical student Inam Sakinah, president of the new group Future Doctors in Politics.

Flurry of Bills Aim to Set Limits on Transgender Kids – And Their Doctors

Lawmakers across the U.S. are pushing bills to restrict transgender kids from participating in sports and ban doctors from treating them.

After Nearly 60 Years of Marriage, This Missouri Couple Stayed Together to the End

Arthur and Maggie Kelley of St. Louis died 30 days apart. Maggie died of complications of dementia in November. Arthur, who had moved into her nursing home to be with her, died a month later of covid. Their family held a double funeral.

4 Vital Health Issues — Not Tied to Covid — That Congress Addressed in Massive Spending Bill

Lawmakers answered pleas from strained health facilities in rural areas, agreed to cover the cost of training more new doctors, sought to strengthen efforts to equalize mental health coverage with that of physical medicine and instructed the federal government to collect data that could be used to rein in high medical bills.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: On Capitol Hill, Actions Have Consequences

Several large business groups, including health industry organizations, are cutting off contributions to Republicans who voted against the certification of Joe Biden’s election even after riots shut down the Capitol on Jan. 6. Meanwhile, the outgoing Trump administration not only approved a Medicaid block grant for Tennessee, but also made it difficult for the incoming Biden administration to undo. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Victoria Knight about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.

‘Peer Respites’ Provide an Alternative to Psychiatric Wards During Pandemic

A growing number of “peer respites,” nonclinical settings for psychiatric recovery, can help people in distress who mainly need to talk to people who understand their problems.

Health Officials Fear Pandemic-Related Suicide Spike Among Native Youth

Recent deaths on a small Native American reservation in Montana have underlined the heightened risks for Indigenous youths and how suicide prevention programs are struggling to operate during the pandemic.

‘Nine Months Into It, the Adrenaline Is Gone and It’s Just Exhausting’

A UCSF emergency room physician reflects on California’s response to COVID-19 and on lessons learned — or not — as the coronavirus makes its second devastating surge.