Daily Edition for Friday, April 7, 2023
Hospital finances, health care mask requirements, covid, opioid treatments, mental health, mosquitoes, and more are in the news.
No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now in Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need to Know.
By Julie Appleby
A federal judge’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act is by no means the final word. Even parsing its impact is complicated. Here are key issues to watch as the case works its way through the legal system.
Montana May Require Insurers to Cover Monitoring Devices for Diabetes
By Keely Larson
Montana is one of several states considering expanding coverage of continuous glucose monitors, but insurance companies and some providers argue that not all people with diabetes need them.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid
As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.
Daily Edition for Thursday, April 6, 2023
Walgreens’ Medicaid contract, norovirus outbreak, water and air safety, red-flag law, housing, hospital exec pay, and more are in the news.
Gov. Newsom Wanted California to Cut Ties With Walgreens. Then Federal Law Got in the Way.
By Samantha Young
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that California would cut ties with Walgreens after the company said it would not distribute abortion pills in some states. But federal rules make it difficult for the state to unwind its Medicaid prescription drug agreement, which paid Walgreens $1.5 billion last year.
The Big Squeeze: More Enrollees and Smaller Networks Plague Some ACA Plans
By Julie Appleby
Despite record enrollment in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, some consumers who bought coverage and agents who helped them do so have had a tough start to the new year: Many say it’s hard to find an in-network doctor or hospital.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Covid vaccines, masking, opioids, hearing, street medicine, Medi-Cal, military health, J&J talc settlment, and more are in the news.
‘Hard to Get Sober Young’: Inside One of the Country’s Few Recovery High Schools
By Stephanie Daniel, KUNC
A few dozen high schools across the U.S. combine education with recovery treatment for substance use disorders to keep kids sober and in school.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Disaster assistance and health impact, covid vaccines, masking, mental health funding, ACA premiums, cancer, and more are in the news.
