City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
People in their prime working years living in rural America are 43% more likely to die of natural causes, like diseases, than their urban counterparts, a disparity that grew rapidly in recent decades, according to a new federal report.
After Public Push, CMS Curbs Health Insurance Agents’ Access to Consumer SSNs
By Julie Appleby
Days after publication of a KFF Health News article about Obamacare enrollees being switched to different plans without their knowledge or consent, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took steps to tighten insurance agents’ access to private consumer information on the federal marketplace.
California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules
By Don Thompson
Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that California prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not providing readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.
Daily Edition for Monday, April 8, 2024
San Diego County Medical Examiner Has 4- To 6-Month Backlog: Officials say the backlog is decreasing as the department adds staff, and the county has also hired a private contractor to catch up on some of the unfinished lab work. Read more from The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Rising Complaints of Unauthorized Obamacare Plan-Switching and Sign-Ups Trigger Concern
By Julie Appleby
Federal and state regulators are mulling what they can do to thwart this growing problem.
Ten Doctors on FDA Panel Reviewing Abbott Heart Device Had Financial Ties With Company
By David Hilzenrath and Holly K. Hacker
Most of the doctors the FDA tapped to advise it on an Abbott medical device had financial ties to the company. The FDA didn’t disclose the payments.
Journalists Assess the Risks of Bird Flu and the Impacts of Medicaid ‘Unwinding’
KFF Health News 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.
Daily Edition for Friday, April 5, 2024
Preeclampsia, Madera hospital, homelessness, prior authorization, mpox, bird flu, birth control, fentanyl, and more are in today’s news.
More Kids Are Dying of Drug Overdoses. Could Pediatricians Do More to Help?
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
The surge in overdose deaths among teens is opening a new path to treatment: pediatricians. A doctor in Massachusetts shows how it works with a 17-year-old patient.
