Category: Multimedia

No Papers, No Care: Disabled Migrants Seek Help Through Lawsuit, Activism

A class action lawsuit seeks better care for immigrants with physical disabilities or mental illness who were detained after trying to enter the country. Other disabled immigrants without legal status are also finding it difficult to get care.

Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic

At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the country’s ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Future of Public Health

The covid pandemic has spotlighted the often-unseen role of public health in Americans’ daily lives. And the picture has not all been pretty. What is public health and why is it so important — and controversial? Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, explains the basics. Then, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Lauren Weber of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss what could happen next.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: How Charity Care Made It Into the ACA

In this episode, we hear how the political tango over guaranteeing that nonprofit hospitals provide charity care nearly tanked the Affordable Care Act — and how the battle over the ACA “broke America.”

Medicaid Vaccination Rates Founder as States Struggle to Immunize Their Poorest Residents

Efforts by states and the private health plans that many states pay to cover low-income Americans has been scattershot and hampered by a lack of data.

Jaw Surgery Takes a $27,119 Bite out of One Man’s Budget

A Seattle patient discovers the hard way that you can still hit a lifetime limit for certain types of care. And health plans can vary a lot from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccine Approval Moves the Needle on Covid

The FDA’s formal approval of the first vaccine to prevent covid-19 may or may not prompt doubters to go out and get shots, but it has clearly prompted employers to make vaccination a work requirement. Meanwhile, moderates and liberals in the U.S. House put aside their differences long enough to keep a giant social-spending bill on track, at least for now. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Meet the Mississippi Lawyer Who Helped Start the Fight for Charity Care

The man famous for taking on Big Tobacco in the ’90s, and winning, launched a series of ill-fated national lawsuits against nonprofit hospitals. This episode is the first in a series looking at the origins of charity care.

Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color

Suicides have risen among Black, Hispanic and other communities of color during covid. But the rates were already escalating before the pandemic struck.

Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes

Nursing home operators acknowledge that large numbers of staff members are not getting the shots but fear a federal vaccination mandate could drive away workers in a tight labor market.