KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect immediately — before an even more sweeping, six-week ban replaces it in May. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is doubling down on his administration’s health care accomplishments as he kicks off his general election campaign. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health care analyst Jeff Goldsmith about the growing size and influence of UnitedHealth Group in the wake of the Change Healthcare hack.
Hit by Higher Prices for Gear, Doctors and Dentists Want Insurers to Pay
By Rachel Bluth
The costs of personal protective equipment and disinfecting offices while seeing fewer patients have some doctors and dentists demanding that insurance companies step up.
Newsom’s Big Promises on Drug Prices Are Slow to Materialize
By Angela Hart and Rachel Bluth and Samantha Young
Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched several initiatives to cut rising drug prices, but the savings haven’t been as monumental as he promised. And his plan to have California make its own generic drugs hasn’t gotten off the ground.
Community Clinics Shouldered Much of the Vaccine Rollout. Many Haven’t Been Paid.
By Rachana Pradhan and Rachel Bluth
Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a “massive cash flow problem.”
After a Deadly Year on the Roads, States Push for Safety Over Speed
By Rachel Bluth
Lawmakers in California and other states are rethinking how they set and enforce speed limits, and they’re proposing to hand more power to local authorities to slow drivers in their communities.
Tras un año mortal en las carreteras, los estados dicen sí a la seguridad y no a la velocidad
By Rachel Bluth
Legisladores de California y otros estados se replantean cómo establecer y hacer cumplir los límites de velocidad, y proponen darle más poder a las jurisdicciones locales para frenar a los conductores en sus comunidades.
Tras un año mortal en las carreteras, los estados dicen sí a la seguridad y no a la velocidad
By Rachel Bluth
Legisladores de California y otros estados se replantean cómo establecer y hacer cumplir los límites de velocidad, y proponen darle más poder a las jurisdicciones locales para frenar a los conductores en sus comunidades.
Five Things to Know Now That the Supreme Court Has Overturned Roe v. Wade
By Victoria Knight and Rachana Pradhan and Julie Rovner and Rachel Bluth
By undoing that landmark decision, the law of the land since 1973, the court has empowered states to set their own abortion restrictions. In California, that means expanding protections for abortion.
Newsom’s Record on Covid Is Both an Advantage and Liability in Tight Recall Race
By Rachel Bluth and Samantha Young and Heidi de Marco and Angela Hart
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic policies are effectively on California’s Sept. 14 recall ballot — and the electorate views them with a mix of resentment, gratitude and disillusionment.
Journalists Weigh In on Biden’s HHS Pick
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.