Embedded Bias: How Medical Records Sow Discrimination
By Darius Tahir
Medical records can contain seemingly objective descriptions that are actually full of coded language and subtext. How does that affect care?
Health Plan Shake-Up Could Disrupt Coverage for Low-Income Californians
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Four managed-care insurance plans may lose contracts with California’s Medicaid program, which would force nearly 2 million low-income residents to switch their health plans — and possibly their doctors. The plans are fighting back.
Journalists Dissect Medical Coding and Parse the President’s Words
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.
Daily Edition for Friday, September 23, 2022
After Student’s Death, LAUSD Will Stock Naloxone: Los Angeles public schools will stock campuses with the overdose reversal drug naloxone in the aftermath of a student’s death at Bernstein High School, putting the nation’s second-largest school system on the leading edge of a strategy increasingly favored by public health experts. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and Southern California News Group.
In Jackson, the Water Is Back, but the Crisis Remains
By Renuka Rayasam
Unsafe water and all that comes with it — constant vigilance, extra expenses, and hassle — complicate every aspect of daily life for residents of Jackson, Mississippi. Health advocates say stress exacerbates underlying health problems. That is why a free clinic in one of Jackson’s poorest neighborhoods has been organizing water giveaways for the past year and a half.
Hemp-Derived Delta-8 Skirts Marijuana Laws and Raises Health Concerns
By Eric Berger
A cannabis product called delta-8 was made legal when the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp. But unlike its cousin CBD, delta-8 has psychoactive properties. And the FDA warns it has “serious health risks.” The agency has received more than 100 reports of bad reactions among people who consumed it.
Shattered Dreams and Bills in the Millions: Losing a Baby in America
By Lauren Weber
On top of fearing for their children’s lives, new parents of very fragile, very sick infants can face exorbitant hospital bills — even if they have insurance. Medical bills don’t go away if a child dies.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Declares the Pandemic ‘Over’
President Joe Biden, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” declared the covid-19 pandemic “over,” stoking confusion for members of his administration trying to persuade Congress to provide more funding to fight the virus and the public to get the latest boosters. Meanwhile, concerns about a return of medical inflation is helping boost insurance premiums even as private companies race to get their piece of the health pie. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Lauren Weber of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories they think you should read, too.
Daily Edition for Thursday, September 22, 2022
California Takes Big Step To Curb Gun Violence Epidemic: California will soon be the only state in the nation to have a governmental office committed to preventing gun violence by keeping firearms away from “dangerous individuals,” state officials said Wednesday. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post.
Buy and Bust: After Platinum Took Control of Noble Sites, Hospital Workers Were Fired
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Two Missouri towns are without operating hospitals after private equity-backed Noble Health left both facilities mired in debt, lawsuits, and federal investigations. The hospitals’ new operator, Platinum Health, agreed to buy them in April for $2 and laid off the last employees in early September.
