The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Dialysis companies have contributed more than $110 million to defeat an initiative on California鈥檚 Nov. 6 ballot that would limit their profits 鈥 breaking the $109 million record set by the pharmaceutical industry in 2016.
The front-runner in the California governor鈥檚 race, known for his political audacity, has officially endorsed the controversial move to create one public insurance program for all Californians. Yet he also faces formidable challenges, and liberal critics fear he鈥檒l retreat.
This gap in the 2010 health law means health insurance remains unaffordable for millions of Americans. For now, relief is hard to come by.
The new guidance allows states to ask for waivers from provisions in the Affordable Care Act governing not only subsidies, but also the benefits insurers must offer in all their plans.
As rates of sexually transmitted diseases surge, public health officials want physicians to step up screening and treatment of patients.
Candidates are charging toward midterm elections on a platform of single-payer and universal coverage rhetoric. Yet 鈥淢edicare-for-all鈥 and single-payer mean different things to different people.
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don鈥檛 have to.
This Facebook Live discussion explores an aspect of the health care cost continuum that often flies below the radar.
Insurance companies profit from government contracts but are subject to little oversight of how they spend the money or care for patients. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has only exacerbated the problem.
In this episode of KHN鈥檚 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss how protections for people with preexisting conditions have become a top issue in the elections, Trump administration efforts to make prescription drug prices more public and the start of Medicare鈥檚 annual open-enrollment period. Plus, Rovner interviews California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
California鈥檚 13 children鈥檚 hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren鈥檛 justified.
Nearly three-quarters of voters say that health care is the most important issue for them, but fewer than half are hearing much from candidates about it, according to a poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
John Cox, California鈥檚 Republican candidate for governor, contends that policies on abortion, health insurance and health care access should be guided by the conservative ideals of free market competition and personal responsibility. He hasn鈥檛 offered specific policy positions on health care, except that government should largely stay out of it.
Federal health officials are investigating 127 cases of the disease, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.
Fighting cancer often involves toxic therapies that can cause infertility. In the past couple of years, five states have moved to require that plans pay for services such as egg removal and storage.
Seema Verma, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, tells private insurance officials that a push by some Democrats to expand Medicare would only increase troubles the program already faces.
The decision aimed at adding folic acid 鈥 a vitamin that can prevent devastating defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord 鈥 to flours, chips and tortillas hasn鈥檛 caught on with many makers of widely used corn products.
In the wake of a KHN/USA Today Network investigation, Leapfrog will check the safety and quality of outpatient centers.
Drugmakers’ contributions to lawmakers have peaked as surging drug prices emerge as a hot-button political issue. In the past decade, Congress has received nearly $79 million from 68 pharma PACs, run by employees of companies that make drugs treating everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction.
Although many health policies are set in Washington, states also have a big stake in making sure their residents have access to affordable and effective health care. Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News joins a panel on the 1A radio broadcast looking at recent moves by states on health issues.
