Watch: Tips on Finding a Good Nursing Home
ýҕl Health News’ Jordan Rau explains how to tell the good nursing homes from the bad ones.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
301 - 320 of 1,860 Results
ýҕl Health News’ Jordan Rau explains how to tell the good nursing homes from the bad ones.
Abortion and reproductive health issues headlined the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as expected. But what Vice President Kamala Harris has in mind for other health policies as the Democratic nominee remains something of a mystery. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump says he would not use the 19th-century Comstock Act to impose, in effect, a national ban on abortion, which angered his anti-abortion backers. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join ýҕl Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews ýҕl Health News’ Tony Leys, who reported and wrote the latest ýҕl Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a woman who fought back after being charged for two surgeries despite undergoing only one.
Regulators have been under the gun to curb unauthorized Obamacare enrollment and switching of plans. Separately, a pending lawsuit was amended with additional defendants and new allegations regarding tactics to garner greater ACA sales commissions.
As Democrats convene in Chicago to make official their presidential and vice presidential nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz together are raising the prominence of health care as a 2024 election issue.
ýҕl Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and state media this week to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
The end of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections coincided with changes in more than a dozen states to expand coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women, and the incarcerated.
While fighting potential fraud in government programs has long been a conservative rallying cry, recent criticisms of the Affordable Care Act represent a renewed line of attack on the program when repealing it is unlikely.
California is among a growing number of states that offer dental benefits to low-income residents, but some lawmakers want the state to go further by covering more cleanings and costlier implants. Dentists and health experts worry the approach doesn’t address the root of the problem: Many providers don’t accept Medicaid.
Ten states have not expanded Medicaid, leaving 1.5 million people ineligible for the state and federal insurance program and also unable to afford private insurance. Seven of those states are in the South, where expansion efforts may have momentum but where lawmakers say political polarization is holding them back.
Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.
For the 2024 campaign, Joe Biden is out, and Kamala Harris is in. As the vice president makes moves toward the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, health policy is resurging as a campaign issue. Meanwhile, Congress tries — and again fails — to make timely progress on the annual government spending bills as abortion issues cause delays. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Stephanie Armour of ýҕl Health News, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat join ýҕl Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Anthony Wright, the new executive director of Families USA, about his plans for the organization and his history working with Harris on health topics.
Misleading money-for-groceries ads helped lure people to call centers where some were enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage — or switched from their existing plans — without their express permission, a new lawsuit alleges.
Anthony Wright, a champion for Californians’ health care rights, will take the helm of Families USA in Washington, D.C., where he plans to campaign for more affordable and accessible care nationally. He leaves Health Access California, where he helped outlaw surprise medical billing, require companies to report drug price increases, and cap hospital bills for uninsured patients.
The Biden administration set stringent new federal staffing rules. But for years, nursing homes have failed to meet the toughest standards set by states.
Colorado defended its high disenrollment rates following the covid crisis by saying that what goes up must come down. Advocates and researchers disagree.
The Supreme Court has issued its final opinions for the 2023-24 term, including decisions affecting abortion access, the opioid epidemic, and how the federal government functions. In this special episode, Sarah Somers , legal director of the National Health Law Program, joins ýҕl Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss how the justices disposed of the term’s health-related cases and what those decisions could mean going forward.
A Supreme Court ruling restricting federal power will likely have seismic ramifications for health policy. A flood of litigation — with plaintiffs like small businesses, drugmakers, and hospitals challenging regulations they say are too expensive or burdensome and not authorized by law — could leave the country with a patchwork of disparate health regulations.
In what will certainly be remembered as a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled a 40-year-old precedent that gave federal agencies, rather than judges, the power to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Administrative experts say the decision will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business. Also, the court decided not to decide whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care overrides Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join ýҕl Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
A debate marked by President Joe Biden’s faltering performance featured clashes over insulin costs, inflation, abortion, immigration, and Jan. 6.
In the swing state of Wisconsin, the cost and availability of health care have emerged as key issues. Voters there say prescriptions, procedures, and health insurance policies are too expensive, and must be addressed by the next president, whether Republican or Democrat.
© 2026 KFF