Latest California Healthline Stories
What’s Keeping the US From Allowing Better Sunscreens?
A decade after Congress told the FDA to expedite the approval of more effective sunscreens, the federal government still has not approved sunscreen ingredients that are safely being used around the world. Meanwhile, skin cancer is the nation’s most common cancer.
Stranded in the ER, Seniors Await Hospital Care and Suffer Avoidable Harm
Many older adults who need hospital care are getting stuck in emergency room limbo — sometimes for more than a day. The long ER waits for seniors who are frail, with multiple medical issues, lead to a host of additional medical problems.
Could Better Inhalers Help Patients, and the Planet?
Puff inhalers can be lifesavers for people with asthma and other respiratory diseases, but some types release potent greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. That, in turn, worsens wildfires, contributes to air pollution, and intensifies allergy seasons — which can increase the need for inhalers. Some doctors are helping patients switch to more eco-sensitive inhalers.
Journalists Delve Into Climate Change, Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ and the Gap in Mortality Rates
KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Oh, Dear! Baby Gear! Why Are the Manuals So Unclear?
Sure, new parents are an anxious lot. But instruction manuals for devices meant to keep the baby safe and healthy are daunting and add to the anxiety. Why are they so confusing?
Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.
Cattle across the country are infected by the H5N1 bird flu. The virus isn’t spreading among people — but if it evolves to do that, fears of another pandemic could be realized.
Las pruebas han detectado el virus en el ganado en nueve estados, principalmente en Texas y Nuevo México, y más recientemente en Colorado. Una persona ha dado positivo para el H5N1.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion Access Changing Again in Florida and Arizona
A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this week, dramatically restricting access to the procedure not just in the nation’s third-most-populous state but across the South. Patients from states with even more restrictive bans had been flooding in since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Meanwhile, the CEO of the health behemoth UnitedHealth Group appeared before committees in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers grilled him about the February cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare and how its ramifications are being felt months later. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
In Oregon, Medicaid Is Buying People Air Conditioners
Oregon has started providing air conditioners, air purifiers and power banks to help some of its Medicaid recipients cope with soaring heat, smoky skies and other dangers of climate change. It’s a first-in-the-nation experiment that expands a Biden administration strategy to take Medicaid beyond traditional medical care and into the realm of social services. “Climate change is […]
California Floats Extending Health Insurance Subsidies to All Adult Immigrants
The legislature is considering taking the first steps to make Covered California plans available to immigrants without permanent legal status. The state has already extended Medi-Cal coverage to low-income immigrants.