Latest News On Children’s Health

Latest California Healthline Stories

Fearing Medicaid Coverage Loss, Some Parents Rush To Vaccinate Their Kids

Worried parents are hurrying to get their children vaccinated, fearing future federal policy changes will limit access to free immunizations. Pediatricians worry that any changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will leave families without affordable options for essential shots.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Here Come the ACA Premium Hikes

Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well. Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in Trump’s big budget law, and polls suggest many don’t like what they see. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews historian Jonathan Oberlander to mark Medicare’s 60th anniversary.

The Foster Care System Has a Suicide Problem. Federal Cuts Threaten To Slow Fixes.

Children and young adults in the U.S. foster care system suffer from mental health disorders and die by suicide at far higher rates than the general population, yet the system doesn’t uniformly screen and treat children who are at risk.

A Texas Boy Needed Protection From Measles. The Vaccine Cost $1,400.

A family living in Galveston was surprised to be charged thousands of dollars for immunizations for their children. Their insurance plan didn’t cover the shots, and the cost of the measles vaccine in particular was more than five times what health officials say it goes for in the private sector.

At Some Federal Beaches, Surf’s Up but the Lifeguard Chair’s Empty

Some of the nation’s most well-known beaches are managed by the National Park Service, which saw about 1,000 employees laid off in February by the quasi-agency Department of Government Efficiency, then led by Elon Musk. The void has become a serious public health and safety concern.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Supreme Court Upholds Bans on Gender-Affirming Care

The Supreme Court this week said Tennessee may continue to enforce its law banning most types of gender-affirming care for minors. The ruling is likely to greenlight similar laws in two dozen states. And the Senate is preparing to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that includes even deeper Medicaid cuts than the House version. Victoria Knight of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.