E-Cigs Are Still Flooding the US, Addicting Teens With Higher Nicotine Doses
By Liz Szabo
June 26, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The FDA, Justice Department, and White House have failed to act as vapes with kid-friendly flavors like cotton candy or gummy bears proliferate.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access
April 11, 2024
Podcast
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill
March 28, 2024
Podcast
The Supreme Court this week heard its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, about an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. But while it seems likely that this case could be dismissed on a technicality, abortion opponents have more challenges in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health issues are heating up on the campaign trail, as Republicans continue to take aim at Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act — all things Democrats are delighted to defend. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who wrote a KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about Medicare and a very expensive air-ambulance ride. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Voluntarios electorales quieren que los latinos sepan que votar es bueno para su salud
By Bernard J. Wolfson
November 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
En los últimos años, las instituciones de atención de salud a lo largo de todo Estados Unidos han realizado esfuerzos para promover el voto, inspiradas por la creciente creencia de que votar mejora la salud de las personas y las comunidades.
How National Political Ambition Could Fuel, or Fail, Initiatives to Protect Abortion Rights in States
By Bram Sable-Smith and Rachana Pradhan
March 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
As money flows to abortion rights initiatives in states, some donors focus on where anger over the “Dobbs” ruling could propel voter turnout and spur Democratic victories up and down the ballot, including in key Senate races and the White House.
California Explores Private Insurance for Immigrants Lacking Legal Status. But Is It Affordable?
By Rachel Bluth
February 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Nearly half a million Californians without legal residency make too much to qualify for Medicaid yet they can’t afford to buy coverage. A state lawmaker is proposing to open up the state’s health insurance exchange as a first step to providing them affordable insurance.
One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate of Abortion Pill Used by Millions of American Women
By Sarah Varney
February 24, 2023
KFF Health News Original
“What happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas,” warns an abortion rights advocate bracing for a district judge’s ruling on whether the abortion pill mifepristone was properly authorized by the FDA. His decision could force the medication off the U.S. market.
A Law Was Meant to Free Sick or Aging Inmates. Instead, Some Are Left to Die in Prison.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly
February 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The First Step Act was supposed to help free terminally ill and aging federal inmates who pose little or no threat to public safety. But while petitions for compassionate release skyrocketed during the pandemic, judges denied most requests.
Judge Signals He Could Rule to Halt Sales of Common Abortion Pill
By Sarah Varney
March 20, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A U.S. District Court case is being widely followed because the judge’s decision could overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone two decades ago. With abortion rights polling well even in red states, anti-abortion activists are increasingly turning to the courts to achieve their aims.
US Officials Want to End the HIV Epidemic by 2030. Many Stakeholders Think They Won’t.
By Daniel Chang and Sam Whitehead
April 24, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The federal government’s ambitious plan to end the HIV epidemic, launched in 2019, has generated new ways to reach at-risk populations in targeted communities across the South. But health officials, advocates, and people living with HIV worry significant headwinds will keep the program from reaching its goals.
Proposed PFAS Rule Would Cost Companies Estimated $1B; Lacks Limits and Cleanup Requirement
By Michael Scaturro
July 10, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule calls for companies to disclose PFAS manufactured or imported since 2011. The chemical industry is upset because such compliance would cost an estimated $1 billion, while environmental health advocates worry because the rule wouldn’t ban the chemicals outright.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate
August 24, 2023
Podcast
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump — and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for not giving them enough notice or a way to contest their being dropped from the program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
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.
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.
California Governor and Democratic Lawmakers at Odds Over Billions in Health Care Funds
By Angela Hart
May 30, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting pressure from his political allies to begin spending money on health care that the state raised by fining Californians who go without health insurance. But Newsom says the state can’t afford to.
Election Canvassers Want Latinos to Know Voting Is Good for Their Health
By Bernard J. Wolfson
November 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
One of the nation’s largest community clinic chains is running a get-out-the-vote campaign in Los Angeles and Orange counties this election, targeting primarily Latino communities, where turnout tends to be low.
Conservatives on Supreme Court, as Expected, End Nationwide Right to Abortion
By Julie Rovner
June 24, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The 6-3 decision, telegraphed in May by an unprecedented leak of a draft opinion, eliminates the right to abortion as if it never existed at all.
Will the US Overcome Its Covid Complacency Even as the Threat Returns?
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
June 15, 2022
KFF Health News Original
One million Americans have died from covid-19 — far more per capita than in any other developed country. A new variant is doubling case rates in some states, and more than 300 people are dying a day. But our nation’s pandemic response has become mild-mannered and performative, backed by neither money, urgency, nor enforcement.
Three Things About the Abortion Debate That Many People Get Wrong
By Julie Rovner
July 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The commonly repeated myths include arguments that only women who are pregnant are affected by the decision overturning Roe v. Wade, that Democratic lawmakers could have codified abortion protections before, and that Congress can easily get rid of federal laws restricting abortion.
Estados desafían a Biden a que baje precios de medicamentos permitiendo importaciones desde Canadá
By Phil Galewitz
December 14, 2022
KFF Health News Original
En Estados Unidos se pagan unos de los precios más altos del mundo por los productos farmacéuticos de marca. Los medicamentos son generalmente menos caros en el vecino Canadá, donde el gobierno controla los precios.