Latest California Healthline Stories
Listen: Valley Fever, Health Worker Pay, and Ambulance Rides
California Healthline journalists report on the intersection between drought and valley fever, a union’s campaign to boost the minimum wage for some health care workers, and an ambulance company’s decision to stop providing some nonemergency services.
Knoxville’s Black Community Endured Deeply Rooted Racism. Now There Is Medical Debt.
Despite the end of Jim Crow segregation, its legacy lives on in medical debt that disproportionately burdens Black communities.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Voters Will Get Their Say on Multiple Health Issues
Abortion isn’t the only health issue voters will be asked to decide in state ballot questions next month. Proposals about medical debt, Medicaid expansion, and whether health care should be a right are on ballots in various states. Meanwhile, the latest lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act has expanded to cover all preventive care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.
How Private Equity Is Investing in Health Care: A Video Primer
Investors are putting money into everything from emergency room obstetrics units and dermatology practices to nursing homes and hospice care — from cradle to grave.
Listen: How Does Human Composting Work?
California Healthline’s Bernard J. Wolfson went on the air to explain a new California law that will allow people to have their bodies reduced to compost after death, an alternative to the traditional-but-toxic methods of cremation and burial.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Hits the Road to Sell Democrats’ Record
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate — even though it’s a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Family Caregivers Find Support on #dementia TikTok
The TikTok hashtag “dementia” has billions of views. Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias have been using the site to swap tips and share the burdens of life with dementia.
Listen: Why Childbirth Is So Dangerous for Many Young Teens
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney talks with NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” about how the abortion bans proliferating in many U.S. states will affect teenage birth rates and the physical risks that trend poses for girls.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally Fixing the ‘Family Glitch’
The Biden administration has decided to try to fix the so-called “family glitch” in the Affordable Care Act without an act of Congress. The provision has prevented workers’ families from getting subsidized coverage if an employer offer is unaffordable. Meanwhile, Medicare’s open enrollment period begins Oct. 15, and private Medicare Advantage plans are poised to cover more than half of Medicare’s 65 million enrollees. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Checking Up on California’s DIY Insulin Project
California put up $100 million to produce its own insulin. How did this plan come to be, and what might stand in the state’s way?