Category: Public Health

Coping With (Power) Loss: California’s Hospitals, Clinics, Patients Face New Reality

How are critical medical services interrupted by the loss of power and what can hospitals and clinics do to minimize the impact? This Q&A will give you some answers.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How’s That Open Enrollment Going?

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace plans is halfway over and, so far, the number of people signing up is down, but not dramatically. Meanwhile, Congress and President Donald Trump can’t seem to agree on what to do about teen vaping, drug prices or “surprise” medical bills. And Democrats lurch to the left on abortion. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more health news.

California’s Working Mothers Get Stronger Support For Workplace Lactation

A new state law that takes effect Jan. 1 requires employers to provide spaces where women can pump their breast milk comfortably and privately, with access to electricity, running water and refrigeration.

The Complex Realm Of Cloud Chasers, Coil Builders And Other Vape Moders

Vaping has produced a diverse community with all sorts of sub-specialties. Finding your tribe can be more complex than finding your Harry Potter house.

A Young Immigrant Has Mental Illness, And That’s Raising His Risk Of Deportation

Behavioral problems, criminal arrests and limited access to health care leave a father worried his 21-year-old son will be deported to Mexico.

Not Yesterday’s Cocaine: Death Toll Rising From Tainted Drug

While the U.S. continues to focus mainly on the opioid crisis, cocaine is quietly making a comeback and has become one of the biggest overdose killers of African Americans when tainted with fentanyl.

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.

This Story Contains A Warning That Might Cause Alarm — Or Apathy

Proposition 65 requires California businesses to label products and buildings with warnings about substances the state deems as toxic, ranging from aloe vera to asbestos. A state panel plans to debate whether to add acetaminophen, the active ingredient of common over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, to the toxics list, raising questions about the value of these ubiquitous warnings.

Drug Deals And Food Gone Bad Plague Corner Stores. How Neighbors Are Fighting Back.

Corner stores that provide groceries for those using the federal food stamp program have become magnets for violence just outside St. Louis. Gunshots ring out under the cover of darkness, windows are postered over, and the quality of food doesn’t make a trip to the corner store worth the risk. Now local residents are putting their feet down.

Klobuchar Leans In On Support For Roe V. Wade, Planned Parenthood

Some of the numbers cited by the Minnesota senator during Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate miss the mark.