Latest California Healthline Stories
Private Medicare, Medicaid Plans Exaggerate In-Network Mental Health Options, Watchdogs Say
A federal probe of Medicare and Medicaid plans run by private insurance companies found that the plan operators often overstated how many mental health providers were available in their networks. In some cases, investigators found providers had never had contracts with plans they were listed on.
An Age-Old Fear Grows More Common: ‘I’m Going To Die Alone’
As families fracture, people are living longer and are more likely to find themselves without close relatives or friends at the end of their lives.
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Chemtrail? New Conspiracy Theory Takes Wing at Kennedy’s HHS
The idea that airplane vapors are toxic to people or that there are ongoing efforts to intentionally change the climate made the social media rounds. Now, it has found advocates at the Department of Health and Human Services.
RFK Jr. Misses Mark in Touting Rural Health Transformation Fund as Historic Infusion of Cash
The health secretary’s statement doesn’t consider the impact that the Medicaid cuts advanced in the same law will have on health care in rural America.
In Mississippi, Medicaid Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs Fails To Catch On
In Mississippi, a state with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, Medicaid covers weight loss drugs, but few enrollees have signed up for the benefit.
Cops on Ketamine? Largely Unregulated Mental Health Treatment Faces Hurdles
Ketamine, long used as an anesthetic or illegal party drug, is being combined with psychotherapy to treat severe depression and post-traumatic stress — a potential tool for those with high trauma rates, like firefighters and police officers. Yet the drug’s stigma and unregulated marketplace leave first responders in uncharted territory.
Trump Called Digital Equity Act ‘Racist.’ Now Internet Money for Rural Americans Is Gone.
President Donald Trump called the Digital Equity Act unconstitutional, racist, and illegal. Then the $2.75 billion program for rural and underserved communities to gain internet access disappeared.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Starting To Feel the Shutdown’s Bite
The government shutdown continues with no end in sight, and while it theoretically should not affect entitlement programs, the lapse of some related authorizations — like for Medicare telehealth programs — is leaving some doctors and patients high and dry. Meanwhile, the FDA quietly approved a new generic abortion pill. Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also, Rovner interviews Sarah Grusin of the National Health Law Program.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats Make This Shutdown About the ACA
The foreshadowed federal shutdown came after Congress failed to pass required spending bills, with Democrats demanding Republicans renew the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for their votes. While a shutdown does not affect Medicare and Medicaid, it could eventually hinder activities from every corner of the Department of Health and Human Services. Meanwhile, as Democrats and Republicans point fingers, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pursues policies and personnel that would undermine vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss the news. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Cara Anthony, who wrote a recent “Bill of the Month” feature about an out-of-network eye surgery that left one kindergartner’s family with a big bill.
‘Demon Copperhead’ Author Lays Foundation for Women in Appalachia To Beat Addiction
Barbara Kingsolver won a Pulitzer Prize for her bestselling novel about Appalachia’s drug crisis. She invested some of the proceeds into a home for women trying to beat substance use disorders.