I Write About America’s Absurd Health Care System. Then I Got Caught Up in It.
By Bram Sable-Smith
A KHN reporter had written for years about the people left behind by the absurdly complex and expensive U.S. health care system. Then he found himself navigating that maze as he tried to get his insulin prescription filled.
Community Health Centers’ Big Profits Raise Questions About Federal Oversight
By Phil Galewitz and Bram Sable-Smith
Nonprofit federally funded health centers are a linchpin in the nation’s health care safety net because they treat the medically underserved. The average profit margins is 5%, but some have recorded margins of 20% or more in three of the past four years.
Epidemic: Bodies Remember What Was Done to Them
Trust is hard to build and easy to break. In Episode 6 of the “Eradicating Smallpox” podcast, meet Chandrakant Pandav, a health worker who used laughter and song to try to rebuild trust with communities harmed by India’s sometimes violent and coercive family planning campaign.
A Tale of Two Medicaid Expansions: Oklahoma Jumps In, While Missouri Lags
By Bram Sable-Smith
Voters in Missouri and Oklahoma approved Medicaid expansion to begin in 2021. But while Oklahoma has enrolled over 200,000 people so far, Missouri has enrolled fewer than 20,000. Why are two such similar states handling the public insurance rollout so differently?
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Let’s Talk About the Weather
2023 will likely be remembered as the summer Arizona sizzled, Vermont got swamped, and nearly the entire Eastern Seaboard, along with huge swaths of the Midwest, choked on wildfire smoke from Canada. Still, none of that has been enough to prompt policymakers in Washington to act on climate issues. Meanwhile, at a public court hearing, […]
If Congress Adds Dental Coverage to Medicare, Should All Seniors Get It?
By Bram Sable-Smith
Health equity advocates see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide a dental benefit to millions of older Americans as Congress considers expanding Medicare services. But complicating that push is a debate over how many of the more than 60 million Medicare recipients should receive dental coverage.
Medical Exiles: Families Flee States Amid Crackdown on Transgender Care
By Bram Sable-Smith and Daniel Chang and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Sandy West
As more states restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people, some are relocating to more welcoming destinations, such as California, Illinois, Maryland, and Nevada, where they don’t have to worry about being locked out of medical care.
Familias huyen de los estados que niegan atención de salud a las personas trans
By Bram Sable-Smith and Daniel Chang and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Sandy West
Más de una cuarta parte de los adultos trans encuestados por KFF y The Washington Post a fines del año pasado dijeron que se mudaron a otro vecindario, ciudad o estado en busca de un ambiente más tolerante.
Patients’ Perilous Months-Long Waiting for Medicaid Coverage Is a Sign of What’s to Come
By Bram Sable-Smith and Rachana Pradhan
The pandemic crisis has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, already delaying access to the insurance program in Missouri. As the public health emergency ends, low-income people nationwide could find it even harder to have coverage.
Epidemic: The Tata Way
Episode 5 of the “Eradicating Smallpox” podcast explores how a partnership between public health institutions and a huge, influential private company was key in the campaign to eliminate smallpox.