Latest California Healthline Stories
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nutrition Programs Face Their Own Shutdown
Two major nutrition programs — SNAP and WIC — are likely to exhaust their funding in November, and the furloughs and firings at the CDC have left the agency unable to perform some of its major functions. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s new IVF policy is being met with dissatisfaction from both sides. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Katheryn Houghton, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Schrödinger’s Government Shutdown
Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to lay off workers from programs supported mostly by Democrats. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris about Medicare open enrollment.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Starting To Feel the Shutdown’s Bite
The government shutdown continues with no end in sight, and while it theoretically should not affect entitlement programs, the lapse of some related authorizations — like for Medicare telehealth programs — is leaving some doctors and patients high and dry. Meanwhile, the FDA quietly approved a new generic abortion pill. Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also, Rovner interviews Sarah Grusin of the National Health Law Program.
In a rambling news conference that shocked public health experts, President Donald Trump — without scientific evidence — blamed the over-the-counter drug acetaminophen, and too many childhood vaccines, for the increase in autism diagnoses in the U.S. That came days after a key immunization advisory panel, newly reconstituted with vaccine doubters, changed several long-standing recommendations. Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Demetre Daskalakis joins KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories. Meanwhile, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join Rovner with the rest of the news, including a threat by the Trump administration to fire rather than furlough federal workers if Congress fails to fund the government beyond the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
Trump Claims ‘No Downside’ to Avoiding Tylenol During Pregnancy. He’s Wrong.
Doctors say acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, is safe to take during pregnancy. Other over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen aren’t recommended because they can harm fetal development. Untreated fever in pregnancy can pose maternal and fetal health risks.
Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages
In a rural, largely Republican region of California, homegrown efforts to bolster the medical workforce face an uphill battle, in part because of federal health care cuts approved by the GOP Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July, as well as a state budget deficit.
Watch: Why Is Having a Baby So Expensive in the US?
KFF Health News video producer Hannah Norman breaks down why new parents are getting billed thousands of dollars for births.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Government Shutdown
With less than three weeks before the deadline to pass legislation to keep the federal government running, lawmakers are still far apart on a strategy. Democrats hope Republicans will agree to extend expanded tax credits for the Affordable Care Act as part of a compromise, but so far Republicans are not negotiating. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” report, with few specific action items. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': On Capitol Hill, RFK Defends Firings at CDC
Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, defended that action and others before a sometimes skeptical Senate Finance Committee. Criticism of Kennedy’s increasingly anti-vaccine actions came not just from Democrats on […]
Planned Parenthood Bets on Redistricting To Push Back Against GOP Funding Cuts
Alarmed at Republicans’ deep cuts to health care and restrictions on reproductive rights, advocates are supporting California’s effort to counter a mid-decade gerrymander by the Texas GOP to pad their party’s fragile U.S. House majority.