Category: Public Health

Long COVID research gets $515M boost

The National Institutes of Health will pump an additional $515 million into researching long COVID-19, the agency announced Feb. 13.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Biden Wins Early Court Test for Medicare Drug Negotiations

A federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit attempting to invalidate the Biden administration’s Medicare prescription-drug price negotiation program. But the suit turned on a technicality, and several more court challenges are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health policy pops up in Super Bowl ads, as Congress approaches yet another funding deadline. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

What Would Another Trump Presidency Mean for Health Care?

In a new column in JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt, KFF’s executive vice president for health policy, explores what a second Trump presidency might mean for health policy based on his record and remarks, including potentially weakening the Affordable C…

EMS care varies widely, 1st study of its kind finds

Forgoing the usual metrics for emergency medical services, researchers evaluated more than 9,000 EMS companies through 11 measures. They found large discrepancies in patient care.

New Eligibility Rules Are a Financial Salve for Nearly 2 Million on Medi-Cal

Nearly 2 million Medi-Cal enrollees, mainly people who are aged, disabled, or in long-term care, can now accumulate savings and property without limitations and still qualify for the state’s health insurance program for low-income residents. They join an additional roughly 12 million enrollees who already had no asset limits.

Watch: The Feds May Reexamine Covid Protocols. Here’s Why You Should Care.

KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder explains the “five-day rule” on covid safety, how guidelines and testing have evolved, and how best to protect yourself and others.

Pediatric illness that declined during pandemic sees sudden uptick in California

Kawasaki disease, an acute febrile illness that affects children, declined by 50% during COVID-19, but physicians at San Diego, Calif.-based Rady Children’s Hospital have noticed a resurgence, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Feb. 13.

23 states where virus activity remains high

Emergency departments are finally seeing some reprieve after weeks of capacity issues exacerbated by respiratory virus activity across the U.S. Visits to the ER for respiratory viruses continue to follow a downward trend, but the amount of respiratory …

California Prison Drug Overdoses Surge Again After Early Treatment Success

Drug overdose deaths in California state prisons rebounded to near record levels last year, a big setback for corrections officials who thought they were on the right track with medication-assisted treatment efforts. Prison officials and attorneys representing prisoners blame fentanyl.

CDC names permanent director of HIV prevention agency

The CDC has appointed Robyn Neblett Fanfair, MD, as the permanent director of the Division of HIV Prevention, which falls under the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, according to a Feb. 12 news release.