Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Governor Signs Law Banning Medical Debt From Credit Reports
New California legislation will bar unpaid medical bills from showing up on consumer credit reports starting in January. However, the banking industry muscled in eleventh-hour amendments that weakened the protections for patients, the bill’s lead sponsor says.
Por ley, la deuda médica ya no puede estar en los reportes de crédito en California
Al menos ocho estados han prohibido que las facturas médicas aparezcan en los informes de crédito de los consumidores en los últimos dos años.
States’ Efforts To Alter Arcane Hospital Rules Mix Politics With Drama
Georgia is one of dozens of states that require health-care facilities to ask for permission to build or expand by obtaining “certificates of need.” Basically, state regulators get to decide whether a town needs a new hospital or long-term care center. If the need is deemed real, they’re granted a “CON.” The intent of the […]
Aumentan los casos de hipertensión mortal durante el embarazo
Hoy en día, más embarazadas reciben diagnósticos de presión arterial peligrosamente alta, un hallazgo que podría salvar vidas.
Vance Rewrites History About Trump and Obamacare
During the Trump administration, enrollment in Affordable Care Act health plans fell by more than 2 million people and the number of uninsured Americans rose.
Estudio revela que los casos de gripe aviar siguen sin detectarse
Si los casos de gripe aviar no se van informando, los oficiales de salud corren el riesgo de tardar en notar si el virus se vuelve más contagioso.
The Public Health Consequences of Public Housing Failures
Every year more than 10,000 taxpayer-supported public housing units are lost to disrepair. But federal lawmakers routinely ignore the full amount, around $115 billion, needed to keep the units in “decent, safe and sanitary” condition. One-time funds for public housing repairs were cut from the final version of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to appeal […]
How North Carolina Made Its Hospitals Do Something About Medical Debt
State officials threatened to withhold public money from hospitals, pioneering a strategy that could become a national model.
She Was Accused of Murder After Losing Her Pregnancy. SC Woman Now Tells Her Story.
Amari Marsh, now 23, was a student at South Carolina State University when she lost her pregnancy in 2023. She was charged with murder and faced at least 20 years in prison. A grand jury cleared her in August. Now she’s sharing her story.
Florida’s New Covid Booster Guidance Is Straight-Up Misinformation
State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo spread more anti-vaccine misinformation by telling Floridians to avoid mRNA vaccines. Vaccine experts and historians can’t remember another state health leader urging residents to avoid an FDA-approved vaccine.
Across North Carolina, Medical Debt Exacts a Heavy Toll
The state has among the highest levels of medical debt in the country, data shows.
La nueva guía de Florida sobre los refuerzos de covid es pura desinformación
Clínicos y científicos denuncian este mensaje como una táctica de miedo con motivación política que también debilita los esfuerzos para proteger contra enfermedades como el sarampión y la tos ferina.
Journalists Give Insights Into Opioid Settlements and Picking a Nursing Home
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff took to the airwaves recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Rural NC County Is Set To Reopen Its Shuttered Hospital With Help From a New Federal Program
One rural North Carolina county is on track to be among the first where a hospital reopens owing to a new federal hospital classification meant to help save small, struggling facilities.
Fighting Staff Shortages With Scholarships, California Bill Aims To Boost Mental Health Courts
A new bill would create a scholarship program for students who agree to work with specialized courts in California to get patients into treatment, but some people argue the state shouldn’t restrict scholarship aid to a new, untested program given broader behavioral health workforce shortages.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': American Health Under Trump — Past, Present, and Future
Dreaming of a Trump victory, Republicans have a wish list of health policy changes — including loosening Affordable Care Act regulations to make cheaper coverage available and ending Medicare drug price negotiations. Meanwhile, after a publicly reported death stemming from a state abortion ban, Vice President Kamala Harris is emphasizing the consequences of Trump’s work to overturn Roe v. Wade. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University join KFF Health News senior editor Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more.
Las clínicas de abortos, y sus pacientes, se movilizan a medida que cambian las leyes estatales
El fallo de la Corte dejó en manos de los estados las políticas sobre el aborto. Desde entonces, 14 estados promulgaron prohibiciones a la práctica que contemplan unas pocas excepciones, mientras que otros han restringido el acceso.
Abortion Clinics — And Patients — Are on the Move as State Laws Shift
Last month, Planned Parenthood Great Plains opened its newest clinic in Pittsburg, Kan., a city of about 21,000 people mere minutes from the borders of both Missouri and Oklahoma. It’s the second new clinic the regional affiliate has opened in Kansas in a little over two years, to accommodate the growing number of patients coming […]
Abortion Clinics — And Patients — Are on the Move, as State Laws Keep Shifting
Clinics in states where most abortions are legal, such as Kansas and Illinois, are reporting an influx of inquiries from patients hundreds of miles away — and are expanding in response. Despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of federal protections in 2022, abortions are now at their highest numbers in a decade.
Cyberattacks Plague the Health Industry. Critics Call Feds’ Response Feeble and Fractured.
Health care weathered more ransomware attacks last year than any other sector, and that was before a debilitating February hack of payments manager Change Healthcare. Executives, lawyers, and policymakers are worried the federal government’s response is underpowered, underfunded, and too focused on hospital security.