Haiku Winner Unmasked! From Gobs Of Frightening Entries, One Rises Above
KHN’s first annual Halloween Haiku Contest gave us chills. And, based on a review by our expert panel of judges, here’s the winner and a sampling of finalists.
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Grief Grew Into A Mental Health Crisis And A $21,634 Hospital Bill
She spent five days in the hospital undergoing psychiatric care. The bill she got is about the same price as a new Honda Civic.
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California Nursing Home Residents Told To Find New Homes
Dozens of frail nursing home residents have been informed by their Medi-Cal managed care plans that they are no longer eligible for long-term care. Some health care advocates and legal aid attorneys fear that such terminations will increase as the state implements mandatory managed care for nursing home residents.
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鈥業nvincible鈥 Teen Vapers Face Fears, Ask For Help
Starting to vape is easy, but quitting a nicotine habit can be tough, teens are finding. Some vaping cessation programs have begun to reach out to teens where they live 鈥 on their phones.
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California Fires Illuminate Trauma And Resilience
The chaos and evacuations prompted by wind-fueled wildfire in Sonoma County pose special challenges for people in need of ongoing medical treatment. Volunteer medical personnel have stepped up to provide care and a sense of stability.
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Hospitals Take Shot At Opioid Makers Over Cost Of Treating Uninsured For Addiction
A few hundred hospitals have banded together to sue drugmakers in state courts, but far more are staying on the sidelines to avoid ‘unflattering attention’ about their role in the opioid crisis.
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Employers Are Scaling Back Their Dependence On High-Deductible Health Plans
Firms are offering more traditional plans alongside or instead of the plans with sky-high deductibles that may have been the only option in the past. The change comes as employers are finding that workers like the predictability of a traditional plan and that providing more generous plans can help with recruiting in a tight labor market.
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Moved Overseas For School, Stayed For Insulin
Katie West, an American health researcher who has lived in Germany the past three years, hasn鈥檛 mastered the language and misses her family. But not having to worry about the cost of her lifesaving medication makes it OK.
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Farmworkers Face Daunting Health Risks In California鈥檚 Wildfires
October marks not only fire season in California, but also the peak of the grape harvest. In areas not imminently threatened by the explosive Kincade Fire in Sonoma County鈥檚 fabled vineyards, workers labored through heat and smoke, or faced lost wages.
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Snooze You Can Use: California Legislates More Sleep For Better Health
Other states may follow California鈥檚 new law requiring later start times for middle and high school students. The new law highlights the importance of better sleep, which will once again be on people鈥檚 minds as most of America 鈥 but not all 鈥 sets the clock back an hour early next month.
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States Try A Gentler Approach To Getting Medicaid Enrollees To Work
Facing GOP pressure to install work requirements for adults getting Medicaid coverage, some states seek instead to offer more opportunities for job training.
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Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don鈥檛 have to.
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Pharma Sells States On 鈥楴etflix Model鈥 To Wipe Out Hep C. But At What Price?
Manufacturers of lucrative drugs say they鈥檙e offering discounts off the high sticker prices 鈥 but taxpayers footing the big bills might never know what the state is paying or if it鈥檚 getting a good deal.
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Los Angeles Vape District A Black-Market Gateway
A seedy section of downtown Los Angeles has become the go-to place for those who trade in wholesale 鈥 and sometimes counterfeit 鈥 vaping products. As more people fall ill with a mysterious lung disease linked to e-cigarette use, the manufacture and distribution of vaping products face increased scrutiny.
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat The Health?鈥: All About Medicaid
Medicare鈥檚 sister program actually covers more people than Medicare. It鈥檚 complex and sometimes confusing, but Medicaid is critical to states, health care providers and the more than 70 million people it serves. In this episode of KHN鈥檚 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 host Julie Rovner interviews Diane Rowland, formerly聽EVP and Executive Director of the Medicaid Program at the Kaiser Family Foundation and one of the nation鈥檚 top Medicaid experts. Then Rovner, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Tami Luhby of CNN and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss some of the current debates surrounding Medicaid and its future.
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As Vaping Devices Evolve, New Potential Hazards Emerge
The technology for vaping has changed over the years, and researchers are finding more evidence that the way vaping devices and e-liquids interact could harm consumers.
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Washington State Law On Behavioral Care Balances Parental Rights, Teens鈥 Autonomy
Many states have rules that keep parents from knowing about or consenting to certain types of care for their children, including mental health and drug and alcohol treatment. Washington state, however, has revised its policies.
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Compression Garments Can Ease Lymphedema. Covering Costs? Not So Easy.
Private insurance plans vary in coverage for compression garments, and some fall short of meeting patients鈥 needs. Although Medicaid programs cover some of these expenses, Medicare does not.
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A Million-Dollar Marketing Juggernaut Pushes 3D Mammograms
Companies are aggressively touting 3D mammograms, although there鈥檚 no evidence they save lives.
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For Boomers Reframing Aging, Age-Proofing A Home Won鈥檛 Come Cheap
More baby boomers look forward to aging in place 鈥 in their homes, rather than in a care facility. But the costs of retrofitting a house is likely prohibitive for many Americans.
