Delays for Autism Diagnosis and Treatment Grew Even Longer During the Pandemic
By Andy Miller and Jenny Gold
March 30, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Despite increased public awareness, research advances, and wider insurance coverage for autism therapies, children often wait months — in some cases more than a year — to get an autism diagnosis and begin intervention services. The waits can be longer for Black and Latino children, and families in rural areas are also disadvantaged, without access to providers.
In a Murky Sea of Mental Health Apps, Consumers Left Adrift
By Jenny Gold
June 22, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Venture capitalists have poured billions into the digital mental health space, sensing an area of unmet demand that is ripe for disruption. The problem for consumers is separating the apps that might help from those that offer little more than distraction — or could actually do harm.
The Vulnerable Homebound Are Left Behind on Vaccination
By Jenny Gold
April 30, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Even as the nation has moved on to vaccinating everyone 16 and older, the vast majority of people homebound due to frailty or age — and among the most vulnerable to covid’s devastation — have not yet been vaccinated. California offers a sharp lens on the challenges.
California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors
By Jenny Gold
April 7, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Sharing Vaccines With the World
May 6, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration is bucking the drug industry and backing a waiver of covid-19 vaccine patent protections to help the rest of the world vaccinate its populations. Here at home, the Food and Drug Administration wants to ban menthol flavorings for cigarettes, setting off a fight with the tobacco industry. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
‘Not Quite on Board’: Parents Proving a Tough Sell on Covid Vax for Teens
By Jenny Gold and Samantha Young
November 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California offers a lens on the challenges officials face in persuading parents to embrace covid shots for young children. While the state has a strong showing in overall vaccination rates, just 59% of kids 12 to 17 — eligible for a shot since May — are fully vaccinated.
Epidemic: Zero Pox!
August 15, 2023
Podcast
In the early 1970s, public health workers buoyed by the motto “zero pox!” worked across India to achieve 100% vaccination against smallpox. This episode is about what happened when these zealous young people encountered hesitation.
Readers and Tweeters Take a Close Look at Eye Care and White Mulberry Leaf
September 29, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Jenny Gold
February 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California’s largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
Amid Covid Booster Debate, West Virginia to Check Immunity of Vaccinated Nursing Home Residents
By Phil Galewitz
July 30, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The state says it will look at the levels of disease-fighting antibodies among nursing home residents vaccinated against covid, which could help indicate whether they need a booster shot.
Epidemic: The Goddess of Smallpox
July 18, 2023
Podcast
To defeat smallpox in South Asia, public health workers had to navigate the region’s layered cultural ideas about the virus. They also dreamed big. In Episode 1, host Céline Gounder wonders how the U.S. might tap into similar “moral imagination” to prepare for the next public health crisis.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Good and Not-So-Good News on Covid
March 4, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The FDA authorized the emergency use of a one-shot vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, which could help accelerate the pace of vaccinations to prevent covid-19. But after a dramatic decline, case numbers are again rising, and several states are rolling back public health mitigation efforts. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Jordan Rau about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.
Epidemic: Do You Know Dutta?
August 1, 2023
Podcast
Who gets credit for wiping smallpox from the planet? American men have been widely recognized while the contributions of South Asian public health workers have been less celebrated. Episode 2 of the “Eradicating Smallpox” podcast tells the story of Mahendra Dutta, an Indian public health leader, whose political savvy helped usher in a transformative approach to finding and containing smallpox cases.
A ‘Payday Loan’ From a Health Care Behemoth
By Dan Weissmann
June 6, 2023
Podcast
UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer in the United States. And it keeps growing. This has led some health care experts to call for antitrust regulation of this “behemoth” company.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Shopping for Health Insurance? Here’s How One Family Tried to Pick a Plan
By Dan Weissmann
December 16, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Host Dan Weissmann gives us an inside look at his family’s quest to pick health insurance for next year. COVID-19 makes it more complicated.
How to Weigh Evacuation Options With Both Wildfires and COVID at Your Door
By Jenny Gold
August 28, 2020
KFF Health News Original
As the twin disasters of COVID-19 and fire season sweep through California, thousands of residents are weighing difficult options, pitting risk against risk as they decide where to evacuate. Amid a virulent pandemic, where can you safely relocate?
Citing COVID, Sutter Pushes To Revisit Landmark Antitrust Settlement
By Jenny Gold
June 17, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Six months after agreeing to a $575 million settlement in a landmark antitrust case, Sutter Health has yet to pay a single dollar and now says the terms may be untenable, given the strain caused by the pandemic.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Health Care Takes A Financial Hit In The Midst Of Pandemic
By Dan Weissmann
May 11, 2020
KFF Health News Original
In the first quarter of 2020, half the country’s economic devastation happened in the health care sector. Much of the slowdown came after hospitals postponed elective surgeries and as Americans skipped routine doctor’s office visits.
Verily’s COVID Testing Program Halted in San Francisco and Oakland
By Jenny Gold and Rachana Pradhan
October 26, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Health officials in San Francisco and Alameda counties have cut ties with Verily’s state-funded COVID testing sites amid concerns about data collection and privacy.
Consultorios de pediatría luchan por adaptarse y sobrevivir en medio de COVID-19
By Jenny Gold
April 14, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Miles de pediatras viven una nueva realidad: reducción de ingresos, padres aterrorizados y escasez de equipos de protección, mientras atienden a los potenciales vectores de la infección.