KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Kennedy Cancels Vaccine Funding
The Health and Human Services secretary is winding down nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding, citing false claims that the technology is ineffective against respiratory illnesses — and notching a victory for critics of the covid vaccines. And President Donald Trump is demanding drugmakers drop their prices, quickly, but it’s unclear how he could make them comply. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more.
States Target Health Insurers’ ‘Prior Authorization’ Red Tape
By Bram Sable-Smith
Doctors, patients, and hospitals have railed for years about the prior authorization processes that health insurers use to decide whether they’ll pay for patients’ drugs or medical procedures. The Biden administration announced a crackdown in January, but some state lawmakers are looking to go further.
Orden de Trump sobre procedimientos de afirmación de género pone en peligro los derechos trans
By Julie Appleby
Aunque está dirigida principalmente a programas de salud del gobierno, la orden también podría tener implicaciones para el sector privado y es probable que enfrente litigios por parte de los estados o grupos de defensa.
These Patients Had to Lobby for Correct Diabetes Diagnoses. Was Their Race a Reason?
By Bram Sable-Smith
Adults who develop one autoimmune form of diabetes are often misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Those wrong diagnoses make it harder to get the appropriate medications and technology to manage their blood sugar. Many Black patients wonder if their race plays a role.
Ohio votó a favor del aborto. Podrían seguir otros 11 estados el próximo año
By Bram Sable-Smith
El impulso para llevar el polémico tema a los votantes llega después de la serie de victorias en las votaciones del año pasado a favor del derecho al aborto en seis estados: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana y Vermont.
Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.
By Bram Sable-Smith
Ohio is the latest state where voters have directly weighed in on abortion, and the next wave of such ballot measures is in the works in at least 11 other states, including Missouri.
States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit
By Bram Sable-Smith and Sarah Jane Tribble
North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new federal tax-and-budget law takes effect.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Long Road to Reining In Short-Term Plans
It took more than two years, but the Biden administration has finally kept a promise made by then-candidate Joe Biden to roll back the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term, limited-duration health plans. The plans have been controversial because, while they offer lower premiums than more comprehensive health plans, they offer far fewer benefits and are […]
A Year After Super Bowl Parade Shooting, Trauma Freeze Gives Way to Turmoil for Survivors
By Bram Sable-Smith and Peggy Lowe, KCUR
Survivors and witnesses of gun violence often freeze emotionally at first, as a coping mechanism. As the one-year mark since the parade shooting nears, the last installment in our series “The Injured” looks at how some survivors talk about resilience, while others are desperately trying to hang on.
Funyuns and Flu Shots? Gas Station Company Ventures Into Urgent Care
By Bram Sable-Smith
A Tulsa-based gas station chain is using its knowledge of how to serve customers and locate shops in easy-to-find spots to enter the urgent care industry, which has doubled in size over the past decade. Experts question how the explosion of convenient clinics will affect care costs and wait times.
