The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Le Roy and Rosie Torres founded the Burn Pits 360 group that advocated for years for Congress to help veterans suffering from injuries caused by the massive disposal sites on overseas bases. Le Roy came home from Iraq suffering from breathing problems.
Exploitative practices in medical research have contributed to the underrepresentation of Native people in clinical trials. Episode 10 explores the efforts of Indigenous scientists to rebuild this broken trust through tribally controlled research.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota allows people to buy and use recreational marijuana but not alcohol. Some tribal citizens say cannabis is safer than alcohol, meth, and opioids 鈥 which have wreaked havoc on the state鈥檚 Indigenous communities.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ER doctors say they 鈥 and their patients 鈥 are trapped between state anti-abortion laws and the federal law requiring that care be delivered in emergency situations. Women鈥檚 lives hang in the balance.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Black people and those with high levels of melanin in their skin have long been left out of efforts to combat skin cancer. Historically neglected both by sunscreen manufacturers and a medical community lagging in diversity and cultural competency, many people with dark skin tones have not been informed about sun safety or how to monitor their skin for damage or cancer.
People whose brains have been injured by concussions, traumatic accidents, strokes, or neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson鈥檚 disease can benefit from targeted therapy. Experts also employ therapies for long-covid patients with memory and language problems.
Proposition 1, the constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion in California鈥檚 constitution, would also lock in a right that has gotten less attention: the right to 鈥渃hoose or refuse鈥 contraception.
Republicans say Democrats are wrong to claim that birth control could be the Supreme Court鈥檚 next target. But Democrats have plenty of evidence that it might be.
In the first official test vote since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, voters in Kansas鈥 primary said in no uncertain terms they want to keep a right to abortion in their state constitution. Meanwhile, the Senate is still working to reach a vote before summer recess on its health care-climate-tax measure, but progress is slow. Tami Luhby of CNN, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Bram Sable-Smith, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 installment about a very expensive ambulance trip.
When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment 鈥 and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.
Public health experts say heat waves pose health risks for children, whose bodies may not be as effective at cooling and who rely on caretakers to prevent and notice the signs of heat-related illness.
A Bay Area man described himself as 鈥渄elirious鈥 from the pain of a quickly spreading rash, but it took six telehealth appointments, one urgent care visit, and two emergency room trips before he was finally diagnosed and treated for monkeypox.
Music festival promoters are allowing distribution of overdose reversal medication as fentanyl deaths continue to surge. But nonprofits and volunteers are often left to do the work, and more controversial forms of harm reduction aren鈥檛 openly allowed.
Her doctor told her the noninvasive genetic test would be $99. When she called, she was told $250 and if she didn’t pay quickly it could be $800.
Tennessee expects to soon disenroll about 300,000 people from its Medicaid program. But families like the Lesters have suffered when bureaucracy and clerical mistakes caused them to unfairly lose coverage under the same program.
Despite concerns about making abortion legal in the states and strong interest in the issue, three-quarters of Americans say economic matters are top of mind as they consider voting in the fall, according to a new 麻豆女优 poll.
A Houston woman was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke. That means her fetus had virtually no chance of survival, and she was at risk of an infection that could threaten her future fertility and even her life. Following Texas’ law, the hospital made her wait until she was showing signs of serious infection to terminate the pregnancy.
Yes, lots of us suffer from pandemic fatigue and have been getting sloppy about precautions in recent months. But with covid an ongoing menace 鈥 and governments reluctant to return to sweeping mandates 鈥 it鈥檚 time for all of us to step up our game.
The federal government is stepping in to assist student loan borrowers. But little public attention has been focused on what is 鈥 statistically, at least 鈥 a bigger, broader debt crisis in our country: An estimated 100 million people in the U.S., or 41% of all adults, are saddled with pernicious health care debt.
