The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
421-440 of 962 results
California voters will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights. But there is disagreement over whether the proposal, Proposition 1, would merely enshrine existing rights or expand them.
As Michigan and several other states await voters鈥 verdicts on ballot measures about abortion, the providers, patients, and activists on both sides strategize their next steps.
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate 鈥 even though it鈥檚 a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
A ballot measure that seeks to protect infants following failed abortions would impose stiff penalties on health care providers in Montana.
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney talks with NPR鈥檚 鈥淲eekend Edition Sunday鈥 about how the abortion bans proliferating in many U.S. states will affect teenage birth rates and the physical risks that trend poses for girls.
Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.
Creole-speaking public health workers teach women how to test themselves for HPV, the virus that causes some cervical cancers.
The laws criminalizing abortion in many conservative U.S. states are expected to boost birth rates among teens, whose bodies often aren鈥檛 built for safe childbirth. For adolescents, the emotional and physical challenges of carrying a pregnancy to term can be daunting.
Congress won鈥檛 be back in Washington until after Election Day, but lawmakers have left themselves a long list of items to finish up in November and December, including unfinished health care policies. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call; Jessie Hellmann, also of CQ Roll Call; and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Sam Whitehead, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode about a family who tried to use urgent care to save money, but ended up with a big emergency room bill anyway.
If an embryo has implanted in a fallopian tube, ending the pregnancy is imperative to protect the patient鈥檚 life. Women鈥檚 health advocates have raised concerns that the needed treatment may be hampered by restrictive abortion laws in some states. Yet women seeking treatment in states with more liberal abortion laws may still find the process expensive and harrowing.
KHN's Mary Agnes Carey talks with American Medical Association President Dr. Jack Resneck Jr. about how misinformation affects doctors and their daily efforts to treat patients.
Congress has once again decided not to decide how to fund the federal government in time for the start of the fiscal year, racing toward a midnight Sept. 30 deadline to pass a stopgap bill that would keep the lights on for two more months. However, it does appear the FDA鈥檚 program that gets drugmakers to help fund some of the agency鈥檚 review staff will be renewed in time to stop pink slips from being sent. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews filmmaker Cynthia Lowen, whose new documentary, 鈥淏attleground,鈥 explores how anti-abortion forces played the long game to overturn Roe v. Wade.
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
President Joe Biden, in an interview with CBS鈥 鈥60 Minutes,鈥 declared the covid-19 pandemic 鈥渙ver,鈥 stoking confusion for members of his administration trying to persuade Congress to provide more funding to fight the virus and the public to get the latest boosters. Meanwhile, concerns about a return of medical inflation is helping boost insurance premiums even as private companies race to get their piece of the health pie. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Lauren Weber of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories they think you should read, too.
Doctors are divided on whether blanket testing of breast cancer patients is warranted, since scientists and physicians are sometimes unsure about how to interpret the results.
As Texas adjusts to a near-total abortion ban, Texas schools are redoubling efforts to end teen pregnancies by enacting new standards for sexual health education. Beyond focusing on abstinence, they are teaching middle schoolers about contraceptives and preventing sexually transmitted infections. But parents must opt in for their children to get the lessons.
As abortion restrictions take effect across the South in the wake of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, cancer doctors are trying to decipher the laws. They鈥檙e grappling with how to discuss options with pregnant patients, who may be forced to choose whether to proceed or forgo lifesaving cancer treatments that can prove toxic for the fetus.
Republicans would like to shift the political focus away from abortion to economic issues for the midterm elections, but a bill from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy has put the issue squarely back on their agenda. The proposal was not welcomed by many of his colleagues, especially Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Also this week, the muddle about where the fight against covid stands and near-record-low numbers of uninsured in the U.S. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN鈥檚 partnerships editor, Mary Agnes Carey, to discuss these issues and more.
A federal judge in Texas 鈥 the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 鈥 has ruled against some of the ACA鈥檚 preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 installment.
For decades, the U.S. medical establishment has adhered to a legally recognized standard for brain death, one embraced by most states. Why is a uniform clinical standard for the inception of human life proving so elusive?
漏 2026 KFF