As Big Pharma and Hospitals Battle Over Drug Discounts, Patients Miss Out on Millions in Benefits
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Emily Featherston, InvestigateTV
November 16, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The number of pharmacies dispensing 340B discounted drugs soared to more than 31,000 this year. Drugmakers struck back by halting some discounts. Hospitals say they are losing millions of dollars — and cutting back services to patients — as a result.
For Young People on Medicare, a Hysterectomy Sometimes Is More Affordable Than Birth Control
By Gina Jiménez
March 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
While Medicare was designed as health insurance for those 65 and older, it also covers people with disabilities who are young enough to still get pregnant. Yet they often struggle to get their birth control covered and end up with large medical bills — or instead opt for hysterectomies or tubal ligations, which Medicare sometimes will cover.
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health
By Amy Maxmen
March 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Framed in the rhetoric of choice, Tennessee’s new law governing childhood vaccinations is among more than a dozen recently passed or pending nationwide that set parental freedom against community and children’s health.
Republicans Once Championed Public Health. What Happened?
By Julie Rovner
December 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans were all-in on boosting public health spending. “The highest investment priority in Washington should be to double the federal budget for scientific research,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in a 1999 op-ed in The Washington Post. Big spending increases for the National Institutes of Health soon […]
A Windfall in Health Insurance Rebates? It’s Not as Crazy as It Sounds
By Julie Appleby
June 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The billion-dollar amount cited by former Sen. Al Franken, while an estimate, is likely very close to what insurers will owe this year under a provision of the Affordable Care Act that compels rebates when insurers spend too little on actual medical care.
Nikki Haley (And Her Opponents) Struggle With a Vaccine Message
By Darius Tahir
November 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley portrays herself as a voice of reason in the Republican Party. “Let’s find consensus,” she said about abortion during the first GOP primary debate. “Let’s treat this like a respectful issue.” It’s talk like that — and strong polling in a hypothetical matchup against President Biden — that has […]
A New RSV Shot Could Help Protect Babies This Winter — If They Can Get It in Time
By Amelia Templeton, Oregon Public Broadcasting
November 9, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Supply problems, a high price tag, and bureaucratic obstacles are slowing the distribution of a therapy that can protect infants from the respiratory syncytial virus. That will leave them unnecessarily at risk of hospitalization this winter, pediatricians fear.
As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines
By Jordan Rau and Tony Leys
September 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
“People want covid-19 to be in the rearview mirror,” one nursing home official says. Faced with a slow rollout of the updated covid vaccines, and without state mandates for workers to get vaccinated, most skilled nursing facilities are relying on persuasion to boost vaccination rates among staff and residents.
A GOP Talking Point Suggests Birth Control Is Not at Risk. Evidence Suggests Otherwise.
By Julie Rovner
August 5, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Republicans say Democrats are wrong to claim that birth control could be the Supreme Court’s next target. But Democrats have plenty of evidence that it might be.
NYC Makes Clear Its Intent to Lead on Abortion Access
By Michelle Andrews
February 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Mayor Eric Adams’ announcement this year to provide abortion pills free of charge at four of New York’s sexual health clinics is the city’s latest move on abortion access. Other jurisdictions are also taking steps.
Watch: She Almost Died. The $250K Debt Took Their House.
June 21, 2022
KFF Health News Original
CBS Evening News spotlights Jim and Cindy Powers, who faced crippling medical debt.
A Guide to Help You Keep Up With the Omicron Subvariants
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
May 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
How different are the seemingly endless stream of emerging omicron subvariants from one another and how protected are we?
Ohio Votes on Abortion Rights Today. Eleven States May Follow in 2024.
By Bram Sable-Smith
November 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Voters in Ohio are deciding whether to add abortion rights protections to the state’s constitution today. The vote comes on the heels of last year’s string of ballot measure wins for abortion rights in six states: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont. But this is just the start. Next year, 11 more states could see abortion-related […]
Es el momento de revisar el plan de Medicare. Lo nuevo que hay que saber
By Julie Appleby
October 16, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Desde el 15 de octubre y hasta el 7 de diciembre, los afiliados al programa tradicional o a los planes de Medicare Advantage, que ofrecen aseguradoras privadas, pueden cambiar su cobertura.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott Off Base in Claim That Rise in Medicare Premiums Is Due to Inflation
By Phil Galewitz
November 24, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Republican senator says President Joe Biden’s “inflation crisis” caused Medicare to raise monthly premiums, which will add hundreds of dollars to beneficiaries’ costs. But Medicare experts say inflation was not to blame and most beneficiaries will shoulder a much smaller increase than what Rick Scott claims.
Biology, Anatomy, and Finance? More Med Students Want Business Degrees Too
By Samantha Liss
December 11, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A majority of medical schools now offer dual MD-MBA programs, compared with just a quarter two decades ago. The number of medical students seeking a business degree has nearly tripled. This begs the question: Whom will these doctors serve more, patients or shareholders?
Clinics Say State’s New Medicaid Drug Program Will Force Them to Cut Services
By Samantha Young
January 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
On Jan. 1, California started buying prescription drugs for its nearly 14 million Medicaid enrollees, a responsibility that had primarily been held by managed-care insurance plans. State officials estimate California will save hundreds of millions of dollars by flexing its purchasing power, but some health clinics expect to lose money.
Guía para entender a las subvariantes de ómicron
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
May 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
¿Qué tan diferentes son estas subvariantes entre sí? ¿Puede la infección por una subvariante proteger a alguien de la infección por otra? Y, ¿qué tan bien funcionan contra estas variantes las vacunas que se desarrollaron antes de la aparición de ómicron?
‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare for All’ Dream Must Wait
By Arthur Allen
February 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As he takes the reins of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, the independent from Vermont and implacable champion of “Medicare for All” maps out his strategy for negotiating with Republicans — and Big Pharma.
Post-‘Roe,’ Contraceptive Failures Carry Bigger Stakes
By Sarah Varney
November 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Science Friday and KHN ran the numbers on birth control failure. Depending on the contraception method, typical-use error rates can add up to hundreds of thousands of unplanned pregnancies each year.