KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’
President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.
Daily Edition for Thursday, July 27, 2023
Health workers strike, Alzheimer’s, heat dangers, disability rules, hospital news, homelessness, opioids, and more are in the news.
Home Sweet Parking Lot: Some Hospitals Welcome RV Living for Patients, Families, and Workers
By Christina Saint Louis
Medical and RV industry professionals say hospitals that offer RV parking are easing access to health care for some patients who drive long distances for treatment, like many rural residents.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Covered California premiums and patients costs, health worker strikes, covid, mental health, gun violence, and more are in the news.
A Year With 988: What Worked? What Challenges Lie Ahead?
By Colleen DeGuzman
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, a national hotline, reached its first-year milestone this month.
Covered California to Cut Patient Costs After Democrats Win Funding From Newsom
By Angela Hart
California’s health insurance exchange will reduce how much some patients pay for care next year, including hospital deductibles, appointment copays, and prescription drugs. Lawmakers pressed Gov. Gavin Newsom to make good on a four-year-old pledge to use proceeds from a tax penalty on uninsured people to help people pay for treatment.
Covered California reducirá los costos de los pacientes cuando los demócratas obtengan fondos de Newsom
By Angela Hart
Los líderes legislativos habían presionado a Newsom, también demócrata, para que canalizara los ingresos fiscales hacia la reducción de los costos de la atención sanitaria.
A un año del lanzamiento de la línea 988, ¿Funciona? ¿Qué desafíos enfrenta?
By Colleen DeGuzman
Esta línea fue diseñada con la idea de que las personas que experimentan angustia emocional se sintieran más cómodas buscando ayuda capacitada sin tener que llamar al 911.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Hair chemical safety, looming KP strike, prison health, Covered California deductibles, extreme heat, opioids, and more are in the news.
Hospitals Ask Congress to Delay ACA Medicaid Funding Cuts — For the 14th Time
By Phil Galewitz
Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too. Hospital leaders say now is not a good time for the cuts — which lawmakers have so far postponed 13 times.
