When That Supposedly Free Annual Physical Generates a Bill
By Julie Appleby
Completing a routine depression screening questionnaire during an annual checkup is cost-free under federal law. But, as one woman discovered, answering a doctor’s follow-up questions might not be.
Daily Edition for Friday, October 27, 2023
Paid family leave, poverty rates, Medicare, gun violence, military suicides, Mpox, magic mushrooms, and more are in the news.
Smaller Employers Weigh a Big-Company Fix for Scarce Primary Care: Their Own Clinics
By Phil Galewitz
Company health clinics are most common at large workplaces, but some small employers say they see advantages, too: healthier workers, lower costs, and better access to primary care.
A New Era of Vaccines Leaves Old Questions About Prices Unanswered
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
The CDC’s RSV vaccination recommendations beg the question: How much should an immunization that will possibly be given to millions of Americans cost to be truly valuable?
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The New Speaker’s (Limited) Record on Health
The House finally has a new speaker: Mike Johnson (R-La). He’s a relative newcomer who’s been a lower-level member of the House GOP leadership. And while he’s an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on other health issues is scant. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health appears on track to be getting a new director, and Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement experiment is off to a very slow start. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
Daily Edition for Thursday, October 26, 2023
Street medicine, abortion, water safety, the new House speaker’s record, HIV, covid, housing, and more are in the news.
Watch: California and Feds Invest in Health Care for Homeless People
California Healthline senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses big developments in street medicine, both statewide and nationally.
Doubts Abound About a New Alzheimer’s Blood Test
By Judith Graham
Quest Diagnostics is selling a blood test online to consumers. But results may not be reliable or easy to interpret. And it isn’t covered by insurance.
Storing Guns Away From Home Could Reduce Suicides, but Legal Hurdles Loom
Safe storage maps show gun owners where to put their firearms for safekeeping if they experience a mental health crisis. The idea has support among some gun enthusiasts, but legal obstacles threaten wider adoption.
