Latest Kaiser Health News Stories
The Juul’s So Cool, Kids Smoke It In School
The teenage smoking sensation appearing on high school campuses across the country is an easy-to-hide, high-nicotine device called the Juul. Educators and health care advocates fear that vulnerable young people may become addicted.
Medicaid Is Rural America’s Financial Midwife
Medicaid payments allow struggling hospitals to maintain vital costly services such as maternity care.
How Medicaid Became A Go-To Funder For Schools
Begun as a health care safety net for children and low-income families, Medicaid increasingly underwrites a range of services in America’s public schools.
Rhymes Of Their Times: Young Poets Riff On Type 2
A Bay Area public health campaign harnesses the power of poetry to confront the root causes of a diabetes epidemic that is disproportionately hitting minority youth and those from low-income homes.
When Wildfire Smoke Invades, Who Should Pay To Clean Indoor Air?
Public health agencies are set up to regulate easily controlled sources of air pollution. Wildfire smoke presents a different set of expensive challenges.
Mental Health Funding Tied To Florida’s Controversial Gun Legislation
The same Florida bill that would put more guns in schools would provide the state with $90 million more for mental health resources, including $69 million for schools. Advocates say those funds for mental health care are desperately needed.
After Raising Age For Tobacco Purchases, State Sees Decreased Sales To Minors
A new study shows that, in California, moving the minimum age from 18 to 21 significantly reduced purchase by those under 18. That could be because teenagers had less access to tobacco through slightly older friends.
States Strive To Curb Costs For A Crucial — But Exorbitant — Hemophilia Treatment
Saving the lives of people with the bleeding disorder can require high doses of expensive blood-clotting factor. Taxpayers foot much of the bill as manufacturers profit enormously.
After Shooting, ‘Honor How Kids Want To Deal With Their Feelings’
Christine Sylvest, a child psychologist who now works in Maryland, for three years attended the Parkland, Fla., high school where a shooting attack left 17 people dead last week. She says the tragedy affects the entire community.
Bipartisan Senate Budget Deal Boosts Health Programs
The agreement would add $2 billion to the National Institutes of Health and fund community health centers around the country. But it does not include provisions to help stabilize the federal health law’s marketplaces.
As Marijuana Laws Relax, Doctors Say Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Partake
Some mothers who smoke pot see it as a harmless remedy for everything from pain to postpartum depression. But doctors say the active ingredients in marijuana can be passed onto the baby and may affect developing nervous systems.
No Car, No Care? Medicaid Transportation At Risk In Some States
For more than 50 years, the program for the poor and sick has been required to ferry certain clients to and from medical appointments. But a few states have sought — and received — waivers to that rule.
Family Crisis Or New Joy? Get Paid Time Off For It
California’s family leave program allows people to get time off to care for a new child or sick relative. The wage replacement rate rises this year.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ CHIP (Finally) Gets Funded
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post discuss the short-term spending bill passed by Congress that reopened the federal government and funded the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years. The panelists also discussed the health programs still awaiting funding, and the intersection of religion and women’s health services at the Department of Health and Human Services.
After Months In Limbo For Children’s Health Insurance, Huge Relief Over Deal
The Children’s Health Insurance Program drew bipartisan support for two decades. After brinkmanship over the federal budget, an agreement to end the shutdown has assured CHIP funding for six years.
CHIP Renewed For Six Years As Congress Votes To Reopen Federal Government
Funding for CHIP technically expired Oct. 1. Although both Democrats and Republicans said they wanted to continue the program, they could not agree on how to fund it.
How The Shutdown Might Affect Your Health
For some federal health programs, a shuttered government means business as usual. But the congressional impasse over funding will hit others hard.
Podcast: What The Health? Our First Live Show: What The Health Will Happen In 2018?
In this episode of “What The Health?” — taped before a live audience — panelists discuss the potential federal government shutdown and what may be in store for health in 2018. They are joined by former Medicare and Medicaid head Tom Scully.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Should You Work For Your Medicaid Coverage?
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss possible new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and the latest on renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, plus Rovner interviews Princeton health historian Paul Starr.
With CHIP Funds Running Low, Doctors And Parents Scramble To Cover Kids’ Needs
Doctors are advising patients to be sure to fill medication orders now or are giving away drugs to make sure children have enough if their insurance disappears.
