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Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
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American communities plagued by gun violence, including Four Corners in Boston, honor pockets of safety as sacred spaces. A brazen barbershop killing was a new and traumatic violation.
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.
The Trump administrationās efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jeff Grant, who recently retired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after 41 years in government service.
Medi-Cal, Californiaās Medicaid program, borrowed $3.4 billion from the state ā and will likely need even more ā due to higher prescription costs and increased eligibility for seniors and immigrants. The top Republican in the state Senate is demanding a hearing āso the public knows exactly where their tax dollars are going.ā
A Republican House resolution, which needs the Senateās buy-in, directed a committee to propose ways to reduce the deficit by at least $880 billion over a decade. Lawmakers have taken Medicare off the table for cuts, which makes it impossible to reach $880 billion without cutting Medicaid.
President Donald Trumpās health team has deep financial ties to the supplements industry. Now theyāre poised to boost its growth and remake the governmentās approach to health.
Hospital-based violence intervention programs have operated in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. The public health approach to gun violence works, by many accounts. But recent moves by the White House are raising anxiety about the programsā future.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is offline ā for now. Hereās what that could mean for people with medical debt.
Many patients ready to leave the hospital end up lingering for days or weeks ā occupying beds that others need and driving up costs ā because of a lack of open spots at nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. A few health systems are addressing this problem by moving post-acute rehab into the home.
Unnecessarily high radiation doses in scans have been linked to cancers. Under new federal rules, doctors and imaging centers have to more closely track and report the doses of radiation that patients receive.
California businesses saw employeesā monthly family insurance premiums rise nearly $1,000 over a 15-year period, more than double the pace of inflation. And employeesā share grew as companies shifted more of the cost to workers.
Last year, the government stopped cutting off peopleās monthly Social Security benefits to claw back overpayments. Last week, under President Donald Trump, it reversed that change.
The American Medical Association and the leading nursing home trade group both are lobbying Republicans in Congress on other priorities.
The proposal also would reverse a Biden administration policy that allowed āDreamersā ā immigrants in the country illegally who were brought here as children ā from qualifying for subsidized ACA coverage.
The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers, and killed at least one person in the U.S. Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen explains why scientists are worried.
Nearly 3 million Americans live sicker, shorter lives in the hundreds of rural counties where doctor shortages are the worst and poor internet connections mean little or no access to telehealth services.
The FDA has relied on food companies for decades to determine whether their ingredients are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels.
As a deputy chief technology officer in the Obama administration, Jennifer Pahlka brought Silicon Valley talent to Washington to streamline public access to government services. She believes better government technology could both ensure taxpayer dollars arenāt wasted and that people who need health care and food assistance receive it.
