Category: states

Congressional Candidates Go Head-To-Head On Health Care — Again

The California Democratic members of Congress who flipped seven Republican seats two years ago made health care a major campaign issue, criticizing their opponents for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As the Democrats defend their seats in this year’s elections, they are coming back to health care — but the issues are different.

Trump’s Medicaid Chief Labels Medicaid ‘Mediocre.’ Is It?

This claim ‘wouldn’t pass muster’ in a first-year statistics class.

It’s Not Just Hospitals That Sue Patients Who Can’t Pay

Until very recently, the separate company that runs the emergency department at Nashville General Hospital in Tennessee was continuing to haul patients who couldn’t pay medical bills into court.

Listen: Missouri Efforts Show How Hard It Is To Treat Pain Without Opioids

KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber was interviewed by KBIA’s Sebastián Martínez Valdivia to discuss the challenges Missouri faces in managing patients’ pain amid the opioid epidemic.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Labor Pains Of ‘Medicare For All’

Organized labor is divided over whether to support “Medicare for All.” Meanwhile, many of the Democratic presidential candidates seem unable to use the health issue to their advantage. Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

In Tornado Alley, Storms Are Even More Dangerous For People With Disabilities

As climate change bears down, a haphazard web of weather safeguards is a particular blow to the disabled. In Oklahoma, no state laws require homeowners or landlords to install storm shelters. If a community wants to open a storm shelter for the public, that’s up to local officials, But there’s no database that Oklahomans can consult showing where public or wheelchair-accessible shelters are located.

Obamacare A Disgrace? Biden Highlights Bloomberg’s Negative Remarks About The Affordable Care Act.

There was a time when Bloomberg’s criticism was consistent.

Five Years Later, HIV-Hit Town Rebounds. But The Nation Is Slow To Heed Lessons.

In February 2015, an unprecedented HIV outbreak fueled by intravenous drug use hit the small city of Austin, Indiana. Under pressure, then-Gov. Mike Pence reluctantly allowed a syringe exchange. Five years later, HIV is undetectable in most of the outbreak patients. Still, the lessons haven’t been learned nationwide. Fewer than a third of the 220 counties deemed by the federal government as vulnerable to similar outbreaks have active syringe-exchange programs.

Surge In Enrollment As Californians Avoid Penalty, Receive State Aid

Although a new state tax penalty and state financial aid motivated people to sign up for health insurance this year, Covered California is reopening enrollment for those who said they weren’t aware of them.

Ink Rx? Welcome To The Camouflaged World Of Paramedical Tattoos

Doctors specialize in the science of healing, but tattoo artist Eric Catalano specializes in the art of it. The single father of three does up to eight reconstructive medical tattoos for free each “Wellness Wednesday” in his small Illinois shop, drawing in nails on finger amputees, mocking up belly buttons after tummy tucks and fleshing out lips on a woman mauled by a dog.