Latest California Healthline Stories
How Trump Aims To Slash Federal Support for Research, Public Health, and Medicaid
One thing experts agree on: The damage from the funding cuts will be varied and immense.
Double Blow: Drug Tariffs and Wage Hikes Threaten California’s Pharmacies
While Big Pharma seems ready to weather the tariff storm, independent pharmacists and makers of generic drugs — which account for 90% of U.S. prescriptions — see trouble ahead for patients.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP Tries To Cut Billions in Health Benefits
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade — mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn’t take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Pain Clinic CEO Faced 20 Years for Making Patients ‘Human Pin Cushions.’ He Got 18 Months.
Michael Kestner, CEO of Pain MD, was convicted of 13 fraud felonies after his company gave patients hundreds of thousands of questionable injections at clinics in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Honey, Sweetie, Dearie: The Perils of Elderspeak
A new training program teaches workers to stop the baby talk and address older people as adults.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
Despite Historic Indictment, Doctors Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills Across State Lines
When a New York physician was indicted for shipping abortion medications to a woman in Louisiana, it stoked fear across the network of doctors and medical clinics who engage in similar work. But some physicians vowed not to stop.
Trump Team’s $500 Million Bet on Old Vaccine Technology Puzzles Scientists
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS said an enormous, noncompetitive flu vaccine development grant to two favored NIH leaders would ensure “transparency, effectiveness, and comprehensive preparedness.” But their vaccine is in early stages, relies on old technology, and is just one of scores of similar efforts.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': American Health Gets a Pink Slip
The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities. Altogether, the layoffs mean the federal government, in a single day, shed hundreds if not thousands of combined years of health and science expertise. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this enormous breaking story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature about a short-term health plan and a very expensive colonoscopy.
Hit Hard by Opioid Crisis, Black Patients Further Hurt by Barriers to Care
The rate of overdose deaths from opioids has grown significantly among Black people. Yet, even after a nonfatal overdose, this group is half as likely to be referred to or get treatment compared with white people. Advocates and researchers cite implicit bias, insurance denials, and other systemic issues.