Colorado Becomes the First State to Ban So-Called Abortion Pill Reversals
By Claire Cleveland
May 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The controversial practice of administering progesterone to people after they have taken the abortion pill mifepristone may be coming to an end in Colorado. Pills have emerged as the latest front in the war over abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Officials Agree: Use Settlement Funds to Curb Youth Addiction. But the ‘How’ Gets Hairy.
By Aneri Pattani and Emily Featherston, InvestigateTV
September 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Parents, educators, and elected officials agree that investing in school-based prevention efforts could help curb the rising rate of youth drug overdoses. The well-known D.A.R.E. program is one likely choice, but its effectiveness is in question.
A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?
By April Dembosky, KQED
March 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.
Black Women Weigh Emerging Risks of ‘Creamy Crack’ Hair Straighteners
By Ronnie Cohen
August 1, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Social and economic pressures have long compelled Black girls and women to straighten their hair. But mounting evidence shows chemical straighteners — products with little regulatory oversight — may pose cancer and other health risks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Injects Presidential Politics Into the Covid Vaccine Debate
By Phil Galewitz and Daniel Chang
September 18, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Losing ground in the Republican primary, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his top medical advisers dismissed the recent federal recommendation that almost everyone get an updated covid shot.
Will Your Smartphone Be the Next Doctor’s Office?
By Hannah Norman
January 17, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Entrepreneurs see smartphones as an opportunity to meet patients where they are. But many app-based diagnostic tools still need clinical validation to get buy-in from health care providers.
Mental Health Respite Facilities Are Filling Care Gaps in Over a Dozen States
By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
July 11, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As three years of pandemic stress accelerated an ongoing nationwide mental health crisis, peer respite programs diverted patients from overburdened emergency rooms, psychiatric institutions, and behavioral therapists. Now, more “respites” are opening.
An AI Chatbot May Be Your Next Therapist. Will It Actually Help Your Mental Health?
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
May 17, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Given a dire shortage of human behavioral health providers in the U.S., it may prove tempting for insurers to offer up apps and chatbots to meet the federal mental health parity requirement. But artificial intelligence, by definition fake, can’t master the empathic flow between patient and doctor that’s central to therapy.
‘Emergency’ or Not, Covid Is Still Killing People. Here’s What Doctors Advise to Stay Safe.
By Amy Maxmen
January 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Thousands of people are still dying of covid, but government has mostly handed over responsibility to the people to weather the seasonal surges with their own strategies.
Is Legislation to Safeguard Americans Against Superbugs a Boondoggle or Breakthrough?
By Liz Szabo and Arthur Allen
December 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
While supporters cheer the PASTEUR Act as an essential strategy to stem the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, critics call it a multibillion-dollar giveaway to Big Pharma.
Dementia Care Programs Help, If Caregivers Can Find Them
By Judith Graham
February 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Programs assisting people with dementia — and their caregivers — improve quality of life and care. But millions of unpaid family and friend caregivers may not know where or how to find help.
Early Detection May Help Kentucky Tamp Down Its Lung Cancer Crisis
By Charlotte Huff
February 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
After a decade of work, a Kentucky program launched to diagnose lung cancer earlier is beginning to change the prognosis for residents by catching tumors when they’re more treatable.
A Deep Dive Into the Widening Mortality Gap Across the Political Aisle
By Colleen DeGuzman
June 8, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Research out this week examines how an area’s political environment can affect its mortality rate.
Biden Administration to Ban Medical Debt From Americans’ Credit Scores
By Noam N. Levey
September 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The White House said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will develop new regulations that would prevent unpaid medical bills from being counted on credit reports.
Biden Said State of the Union Is Strong and Made Clear His Campaign Is Off and Running
By KFF Health News and PolitiFact staffs
March 8, 2024
KFF Health News Original
President Joe Biden used his roughly 68-minute address to Congress to counter lackluster public approval ratings and draw clear contrasts between his administration’s policies and those of Donald Trump and some congressional Republicans. Abortion and health care were in the spotlight.
Got Milk in School? Farmers Fight Health Advocates Over the Creamy ‘Whole’ Variety
By Phil Galewitz
July 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
It has been over a decade since whole milk was served in schools through the National School Lunch Program, after U.S. government dietary guidance effectively banned it. But dairy farmers, some health experts, and members of Congress say it’s time to bring it back.
Science Says Teens Need More Sleep. So Why Is It So Hard to Start School Later?
By Catherine Sweeney, WPLN
November 6, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Sleep deprivation in adolescents is linked to mental health struggles, worse grades, traffic accidents, and more. That’s why states such as California and Florida have mandated later high school start times. But opposition to later times is less about the science than it is about logistics and costs.
Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists
By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, PolitiFact
April 1, 2024
KFF Health News Original
False claims that covid vaccines cause deaths and other diseases are still prevalent despite multiple studies showing the vaccines are safe and saved lives.
Uncle Sam Wants You … to Help Stop Insurers’ Bogus Medicare Advantage Sales Tactics
By Susan Jaffe
November 30, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration wants to crack down on deceptive or misleading Medicare Advantage and drug plan sales tactics. It’s counting on beneficiaries to help catch offenders.
More Young Colorado Children Are Consuming Marijuana Despite Efforts to Stop Them
By Helen Santoro
February 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Lawmakers say they don’t plan to revise state regulations on the sale of edibles despite more kids 5 and under ingesting them.