Latest KFF Health News Stories
HIV Preventive Care Is Supposed to Be Free in the US. So, Why Are Some Patients Still Paying?
The Department of Labor issued rules in July clarifying that health plans need to cover the costs of prescription drugs proven to prevent HIV infection, along with related lab tests and medical appointments, at no cost to patients. More than half a year later, the erroneous billing continues.
Journalists Discuss the Cost of Service Dogs and Medicaid Coverage for People With HIV
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Change to Gilead Assistance Program Threatens PrEP Access, HIV Advocates Say
Safety-net clinics especially are bracing for how the drugmaker’s policy shift could reduce their budgets and hamstring their ability to provide care to an at-risk population.
Peligran avances contra el VIH por la lucha contra covid, en especial en el sur del país
El impacto exacto de una pandemia sobre la otra todavía está por evaluarse, pero los datos preliminares inquietan a expertos que hasta hace poco celebraban los enormes avances en el tratamiento del VIH.
Strides Against HIV/AIDS Falter, Especially in the South, as Nation Battles Covid
Public health resources have shifted from one pandemic to the other, and experts fear steep declines in testing and diagnoses mean more people will contract HIV and die of AIDS.
Many Health Plans Now Must Cover Full Cost of Expensive HIV Prevention Drugs
Most private insurance will be required to cover drugs, like Truvada, that offer protection against HIV infection, without making plan members share the cost.
Trump’s Anti-Abortion Zeal Shook Fragile Health Systems Around the World
President-elect Joe Biden inherits a global health landscape changed by the Trump administration more than under any Republican president since Ronald Reagan.
Remueven imágenes de condones de folletos informativos del gobierno sobre el VIH/sida
Las imágenes estaban en el sitio web de la Oficina de Salud de la Mujer y en campañas para promover la concientización sobre cómo prevenir el VIH.
HHS Removed Images Of Condoms From HIV/AIDS Awareness Fliers
For those who are sexually active, condoms are widely recognized as the most effective method for preventing HIV and other diseases, if used correctly. But a fact sheet with “unapproved condom imagery” was taken down from a federal website, KHN has learned.
Watch: Reviewing Public Health Record Of New Coronavirus Commander Mike Pence
KHN Midwest editor and correspondent Laura Ungar shares her expertise on Vice President Mike Pence’s public health track record as he leads the nation’s novel coronavirus response. Ungar covered a 2015 Indiana HIV outbreak and its fallout amid Pence’s tenure as governor.
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.
Para combatir el COVID-19, usan drogas contra el VIH, la malaria y el Ébola
Cuando surge un nuevo virus y pone en peligro a un gran número de personas, los científicos a veces recurren a medicamentos ya existentes que pueden readaptarse.
To Fight Chinese Outbreak, Doctors Deploy Drugs Targeting HIV, Malaria And Ebola
Chinese doctors and public health officials are turning to a variety of drugs as they seek an effective treatment for patients sickened by the novel coronavirus. The evidence behind some of these medicines is flimsy, researchers acknowledge, but human trials are the only way to know whether these drugs work.
Conservative Indiana Adopted Needle Exchanges But Still Faces Local Resistance
Indiana was ground zero for shifting ideas about needle exchanges after a small town had an HIV outbreak in 2015 brought on by needle-sharing. But even as other parts of the country start to embrace needle exchanges amid the ongoing opioid epidemic, the sites remain controversial in Indiana. Only nine of the state’s 92 counties have them, after a series of closures and reopenings.
Listen: The Cost Of PrEP, The HIV Prevention Pill
KHN correspondent Shefali Luthra was among the guests on the podcast “Today, Explained” to talk about PrEP.
El gobierno dará medicamentos para prevenir el VIH gratis. ¿Calificas?
La administración Trump lanza plan para ofrecer gratis medicamentos preventivos contra el VIH a las personas que no tienen seguro de salud.
HHS Hands Out Free HIV Prevention Drugs. Do You Qualify?
Called “Ready, Set, PrEP,” the federal program will provide medication that can reduce the chances of getting AIDS to at-risk patients who don’t have insurance.
New California Law May Expand Use Of HIV Prevention Drugs, With Caveats
Legislation that takes effect next July will let people buy the medications without a prescription for a limited period. Medical professionals say it’s a step in the right direction but will not significantly increase the use of the medicine without additional efforts.
KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Spending Bill Slowdown
It’s November, do you know where your HHS spending bill is? Still stuck in Congress. Meanwhile, lawmakers move ahead on restricting tobacco products for youth while the administration’s proposal is MIA. Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more health news from the week. Also, Rovner interviews Dan Weissmann, host of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg.”
Listen: HHS Files Challenge Over Rights To Gilead’s HIV-Prevention Drug
KHN’s Shefali Luthra discusses the recent Trump administration lawsuit regarding the HIV-prevention drug Truvada.
