The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
It’s hard to manage chronic conditions without a steady source of healthy food. That’s why more health care providers are setting up food pantries 鈥 right inside hospitals and clinics.
Kate Gordon, director of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Office of Planning and Research, is tasked with identifying and mitigating the risks of climate change in California. She spoke to KHN about how that work intersects with health, and how residents can get involved.
Historically, taxation has been an effective tool in reducing the number of people who smoke. So 20 states and the District of Columbia have begun implementing taxes on vaping products as they seek to stop young people from getting addicted.
The case revolves around a health law provision designed to help insurers recover some losses because they had an unusually high number of sick and expensive customers. Insurers complain that when Republican lawmakers discontinued funding the program, it was like 鈥淟ucy Van Pelt pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.鈥
It鈥檚 open enrollment season for health insurance. And choosing the best plan is tricky whether you have to buy insurance on your own or just figure out which plan to sign up for at work. Here鈥檚 what you need to know.
鈥淲armlines鈥 are phone lines or electronic chat options for people who are not having a full-blown mental health crisis but who could use support to stave off one. They are a growing trend in mental health outreach to supplement existing hotlines, with one successful warmline in the Bay Area recently expanding to cover all of California.
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don鈥檛 have to.
In 21st-century US health care, everything is revenue, and so everything is billed.
Cultural barriers may keep some African American women from seeking treatment for postpartum depression as early as they need it, and the standard screening tools aren鈥檛 always relevant for some black women.
Health care workers face a greater threat of workplace violence than workers in most other industries. Hospitals are installing security cameras and panic buttons, arming security guards with stun guns and teaching their employees how to handle potentially violent situations.
Members of Congress and others complain Medicare鈥檚 revamped Plan Finder had problems. Federal officials say they can help consumers who got bad information change their plans next year. But details about how switching will work are yet to come.
The annual accounting of national health spending is out. And the 2018 health bill for the U.S. was $3.6 trillion, consuming nearly a fifth of the nation鈥檚 economy. Meanwhile, Congress is nearing the end of the year without having finished either its annual spending bills or several other high-priority health items. Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Markian Hawryluk about the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month.鈥
Consumers are admonished to be 鈥渟mart shoppers,鈥 but that鈥檚 difficult if health care prices are clear as mud. When Sarah Macsalka鈥檚 son needed stitches, she did her best to avoid the ER and still ended up with a $3,000 bill.
Harvard psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman shed his 鈥渧eil of ignorance鈥 during 11 years serving as the primary family caregiver for his wife, who had a rare form of early Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. In a new book, 鈥淭he Soul of Care,鈥 he offers suggestions for transforming health care 鈥 just as caregiving transformed him.
The pharmaceutical industry鈥檚 argument that capping drug prices would compromise drug innovation stands 鈥渙n very shaky ground.鈥
A California law, which took effect in July 2017, protects consumers who use an in-network hospital or other facility from surprise bills when cared for by an out-of-network doctor. But physicians say the law has allowed insurers to shrink networks, limiting access to those doctors who have contracted with the patients鈥 insurance plans.
Public health officials are adopting a law enforcement tool, the mass spectrometer, to instantly identify potentially deadly levels of opioids in local drug supplies.
Called 鈥淩eady, Set, PrEP,鈥 the federal program will provide medication that can reduce the chances of getting AIDS to at-risk patients who don鈥檛 have insurance.
“Street medicine” programs seek out people living in back alleys and under highways. It鈥檚 a public health approach designed to build trust and eventually connect homeless patients to other services.
Anthem Blue Cross has received a disproportionate share of violations and fines from California鈥檚 largest health insurance regulator, mostly related to its mishandling of patient grievances.
