Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Policies Were a Prominent Theme in Biden’s State of the Union Speech
Our partners at PolitiFact fact-checked a range of President Joe Biden’s statements, including key health-related comments.
‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare for All’ Dream Must Wait
As he takes the reins of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, the independent from Vermont and implacable champion of “Medicare for All” maps out his strategy for negotiating with Republicans — and Big Pharma.
It’s ‘Telehealth vs. No Care’: Doctors Say Congress Risks Leaving Patients Vulnerable
Congress’ $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package included a two-year extension of pandemic-era funding that helped telehealth services grow nationwide. But that cash bridge, embraced by those delivering services to patients in rural areas, doesn’t provide much certainty for the future of remote medicine.
Abortion Debate Ramps Up in States as Congress Deadlocks
Abortion is a top issue for state lawmakers meeting for their first full sessions since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Numbers Don’t Lie. Biden Kept His Promise on Improving Obamacare.
KHN has teamed up with our partners at PolitiFact to monitor 100 key promises made by Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign — including those surrounding the Affordable Care Act.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP House Opens With Abortion Agenda
Leaders of the new Republican-led U.S. House kicked off their legislative agenda with two bills supported by anti-abortion groups. While neither is likely to become law, the move demonstrates how abortion will continue to be an issue in Washington. Meanwhile, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act nears its end in most states, the number of Americans covered by the plans hits a new high. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Behavioral Telehealth Loses Momentum Without a Regulatory Boost
As flexible treatment options spurred by the covid pandemic wane, patients relying on medications classified as controlled substances worry that without action to extend the loosened rules, it’ll be harder to get their meds.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Year-End Bill Holds Big Health Changes
The year-end spending bill passed by Congress in late December contains a wide array of health-related provisions, including a structure for states to begin to disenroll people on Medicaid whose coverage has been maintained through the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is taking steps to make the abortion pill more widely available. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Mark Kreidler, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a billing mix-up that took about a year to sort out.
Medicare Pay Cuts Will Hurt Seniors’ Care, Doctors Argue
New reductions in Medicare payments in 2023 will drive more doctors away from accepting Medicare patients, physicians say. They are again pushing back on efforts largely designed to control government spending.
Is Legislation to Safeguard Americans Against Superbugs a Boondoggle or Breakthrough?
While supporters cheer the PASTEUR Act as an essential strategy to stem the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, critics call it a multibillion-dollar giveaway to Big Pharma.