Category: women’s health

Breast Cancer Rises Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

Asian American and Pacific Islander women once had a relatively low rate of breast cancer diagnoses. Now, researchers are scrambling to understand why it’s rising at a faster pace than those of many other racial and ethnic groups.

UCSF Favors Pricey Doctoral Program for Nurse-Midwives Amid Maternal Care Crisis

UC-San Francisco is pausing its long-running master’s program in nurse-midwifery and plans to shift to a lengthier, costlier doctoral program. Midwives criticized the move and questioned the university’s motivations at a time of serious shortages of maternal care workers.

Her Life Was at Risk. She Needed an Abortion. Insurance Refused To Pay.

Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. Patients often don’t know when or if a procedure or abortion pills are covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has exacerbated the confusion.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Let the General Election Commence

Abortion and reproductive health issues headlined the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as expected. But what Vice President Kamala Harris has in mind for other health policies as the Democratic nominee remains something of a mystery. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump says he would not use the 19th-century Comstock Act to impose, in effect, a national ban on abortion, which angered his anti-abortion backers. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a woman who fought back after being charged for two surgeries despite undergoing only one.

Patient Underwent One Surgery but Was Billed for Two. Even After Being Sued, She Refused To Pay.

A collection agency sought court authority to garnish a patient’s wages to pay a disputed surgery bill. But after the patient showed up in court to argue the bill was bogus, the judge declined to let the bill collector seize her money.

Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance on Health Care

As Democrats convene in Chicago to make official their presidential and vice presidential nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz together are raising the prominence of health care as a 2024 election issue.

Inside Conservative Activist Leonard Leo’s Long Campaign To Gut Planned Parenthood

Anti-abortion groups and their allies secured a generational victory in 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned “Roe v. Wade.” A lawsuit in Texas demonstrates how those same forces threaten access to other health services, including birth control and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.

Watch: Where the Presidential and VP Candidates Stand on Health Policy

How do the top-of-the-ticket candidates compare on abortion, medical debt, and more? Here’s what you need to know.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: The Walz Record

Vice President Kamala Harris this week officially became the Democratic nominee for president and named Minnesota governor and former U.S. congressman Tim Walz as her running mate. Meanwhile, a new study finds the number of abortions taking place since the overturn of “Roe v. Wade” continued to rise into early this year, despite the imposition of abortion bans around the country. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Inside Project 2025: Former Trump Official Outlines Hard Right Turn Against Abortion

Former President Donald Trump has distanced himself from a Heritage Foundation document that outlines positions on abortion and a range of other social issues. But Democrats view it as a window into the far right’s to-do list and a clear opening for political attack.