KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Trump 2.0
The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to…
Many Voters Backed Abortion Rights and Donald Trump, a Challenge for Democrats
Voters in three states — Arizona, Missouri, and Nevada — chose on Tuesday to advance protections for abortion rights in their state constitutions. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is likely to win all three states in his victorious bid for the White House. It’s a conundrum for Democrats, who expected ballot initiatives on abortion rights in those…
California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed.
California this year took the final step in opening Medi-Cal, its Medicaid program, to every eligible resident regardless of immigration status. It’s a significant expansion for an already massive safety net program. Medi-Cal’s annual spending now stands at $157 billion, serving about 15 million low-income residents, more than a third of Californians. Of those, about…
7 of 10 States Backed Abortion Rights, but Don’t Expect Change Overnight
Voters backed abortion rights in seven of the 10 states where the issue appeared on ballots Tuesday, including in Missouri, among the first states to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections with its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. At first glance, the nation’s patchwork of abortion…
12 States Promised To Open the Books on Their Opioid Settlement Funds. We Checked Up on Them.
To discover how millions in opioid settlement funds are being spent in Idaho, you can visit the state attorney general’s website, which hosts 91 documents from state and local entities getting the money. What you’ll find is a lot of bureaucratese. Nearly three years ago, these jurisdictions signed an agreement promising annual reports “specifying the…
7 of 10 States Backed Abortion Rights. But Little To Change Yet.
Voters backed abortion rights in seven of the 10 states where the issue appeared on ballots Tuesday — at first glance, seemingly reshaping the nation’s patchwork of abortion rules. Colorado, Maryland, Montana, and New York — states where abortions are already permitted at least until fetal viability — all will add abortion protections to their…
In Vermont, Where Almost Everyone Has Insurance, Many Can’t Find or Afford Care
RICHMOND, Vt. — On a warm autumn morning, Roger Brown walked through a grove of towering trees whose sap fuels his maple syrup business. He was checking for damage after recent flooding. But these days, his workers’ health worries him more than his trees’. The cost of Slopeside Syrup’s employee health insurance premiums spiked 24%…
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
Oct. 31 This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Mobile clinics bring rural areas access to long-acting forms of birth control, and doctors say people have developed opioid addiction from drinking tea made with unwashed poppy seeds. Oct. 24 This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Low-wage health care workers struggle with post-traumatic…
As Nuns Disappear, Many Catholic Hospitals Look More Like Megacorporations
ST. LOUIS — Inside the more than 600 Catholic hospitals across the country, not a single nun can be found occupying a chief executive suite, according to the Catholic Health Association. Nuns founded and led those hospitals in a mission to treat sick and poor people, but some were also shrewd business leaders. Sister Irene…
No Evidence Trump’s Drug Program for Terminal Patients Saved ‘Thousands’ of Lives
“Right To Try” experimental drug program saved “thousands and thousands of lives” Former President Donald Trump on Aug. 30 Former President Donald Trump has boasted in recent months about “Right To Try,” a law he signed in 2018. It’s aimed at boosting terminally ill patients’ access to potentially lifesaving medications not yet approved by the…