by Jenny Gold ON any given day, more than 4,000 people pass through the library at California State University-Los Angeles. On April 11, one of them had measles. The building has only one entrance, which means that anyone who entered or exited the library within two hours of that person’s visit potentially was exposed to…
by Roxie Hammill THE leaders of Pathway Church on the outskirts of Wichita, Kan., had no clue that the $22,000 they already had on hand for Easter would have such impact. The nondenominational suburban congregation of about 3,800 had set out only to help people nearby pay off some medical debt, recalled Larry Wren, Pathway’s…
by Phil Galewitz EASTON, Pa. — Walk into a big-box retailer such as Walmart or Michaels and you’re likely to see MCS Industries’ picture frames, decorative mirrors or kitschy wall décor. Adjacent to a dairy farm a few miles west of downtown Easton, MCS is the nation’s largest maker of such household products. But MCS…
by Ana B. Ibarra CALIFORNIA has some of the nation’s strongest protections against surprise medical bills. But many Californians still get slammed with huge out-of-network charges. State lawmakers are now trying to close gaps in the law with a bill that would limit how much hospitals outside of a patient’s insurance network can charge for…
by Judith Graham FOR the first time, the federal government is shining a spotlight on the quality of rehabilitation care at nursing homes — services used by nearly 2 million older adults each year. Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare website now includes a “star rating” (a composite measure of quality) for rehab services — skilled nursing…
by Ana B. Ibarra / Kaiser Health News CALIFORNIA will ban the use of a widely used pesticide in the face of “mounting evidence” that it causes developmental problems in children, state officials announced on Wednesday, May 8. Several studies have linked prenatal exposure of chlorpyrifos to lower birth weights, lower IQs, attention deficit hyperactivity…
By Julie Rovner / Kaiser Health News PRESIDENT Donald Trump called on Republicans and Democrats to pass legislation this year to end surprise medical bills, in remarks made in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Thursday, May 9. “We’re determined to end surprise medical billing for American patients,” Trump said. Bills like those have been…
By Samantha Young/Kaiser Health News CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the state to provide health coverage to low-income young adults who are in the country illegally, but his plan would siphon public health dollars from several counties battling surging rates of sexually transmitted diseases and, in some cases, measles outbreaks. Public health officials describe the…
by Shefali Luthra HIGH prescription drug prices are fast becoming a leading political topic, with medications like insulin emerging as a poster child for the issue. Nearly doubling in price from 2012 to 2016, the diabetes medication has commanded bipartisan attention on Capitol Hill and even a shoutout in a recent Netflix comedy special. Voters…
by Samantha Young California regularly portrays itself as a national trendsetter on political issues, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is claiming that title on prescription drugs. Newsom has a plan to take on the drug industry, and at an April 17 news conference in Southern California, he declared that two other governors already want to…
by Anna Gorman and Harriet Rowan A RECORD number of homeless people — 918 last year alone — are dying across Los Angeles County, on bus benches, hillsides, railroad tracks and sidewalks. Deaths have jumped 76% in the past five years, outpacing the growth of the homeless population, according to a KHN analysis of the…
by Shefali Luthra and Anna Maria Barry-Jester PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Trump administration is pushing ahead with its reproductive health agenda. It has rolled out changes to the Title X program, which funds family planning services for low-income people, that are designed to have a chilling effect on organizations that provide abortions or include this…
by Sarah Varney It’s Saturday morning and the women of the Contreras family are busy in Montclair, Calif., making pupusas, tamales and tacos. They’re working to replace the income of José Contreras, who has been held since last June at Southern California’s Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention center. José’s daughter, Giselle,…
by Rachel Bluth One point drew clear agreement Tuesday during a House subcommittee hearing: When it comes to the problem of surprise medical bills, the solution must protect patients — not demand that they be great negotiators. “It is the providers and insurers, not patients, who should bear the burden of settling on a fair…
by Julie Rovner In a dramatic move that will have implications for the coming 2020 election, the Trump administration Monday night, March 25, reversed its previous position and asked a federal appeals court to strike down the entire the Affordable Care Act. The Justice Department said it now agrees with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit…
By Ana B. Ibarra and Harriet Blair Rowan | Kaiser Health News SACRAMENTO — “Vivan los inmigrantes!” echoed through the halls of the state Capitol on Wednesday as immigrants and activists gathered to push for legislation that would extend full Medicaid coverage to adults in the country illegally. Sons and daughters clutched photos of their…
by Anna Gorman Jennifer Millar keeps trash bags and hand sanitizer near her tent, and she regularly pours water mixed with hydrogen peroxide on the sidewalk nearby. Keeping herself and the patch of concrete she calls home clean is a top priority. But this homeless encampment off a Hollywood freeway ramp is often littered with…
by Anna Maria Barry-Jester Imagine identifying a toxin so potent it could rewire a child’s brain and erode his immune system. A substance that, in high doses, tripled the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and reduced life expectancy by 20 years. And then realizing that tens of millions of American children had been…
by Bram Sable-Smith For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the US versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal? When Michelle Fenner signed up to run this year’s Los Angeles Marathon, it got her thinking: Tijuana, Mexico, is only a 2½-hour drive from L.A. Why not take a trip across…
by Shefali Luthra MEMBERS of the House on Wednesday, February 27 offered their version of a “Medicare-for-all” bill that is broader than what’s been put forth by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose 2016 presidential run pushed the issue into the political mainstream. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) unveiled the “Medicare for…
by Anna Gorman and Ana B. Ibarra Staff members at immigration detention centers in California delayed medical appointments for patients complaining of shortness of breath. They inadequately supervised suicidal youths. And in one case, they failed to refer a patient with dangerously low blood pressure to a physician. These and other health and safety problems…
by Harriet Blair Rowan A rash of recent measles outbreaks in New York, Texas and Washington state shines a light on California’s largely successful effort in recent years to suppress the disease — though some of the shine might be fading. A serious measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in December 2014 and carried over…
by Julie Rovner and Ana B. Ibarra IT was not the centerpiece, but health was a persistent theme in President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address at the Capitol on Tuesday night, February 5. Although the administration has focused more on issues of trade, taxes and immigration, the president laid out a series of health-related goals,…
by Sandra Boodman After seven years of a vigorous fight, Jim Hart worried he was running out of options. Diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 60, Hart had undergone virtually every treatment — surgery, radiation and hormones — to eradicate it. But a blood test showed that his level of prostate-specific antigen, which should have…
by Emmarie Huetteman PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Wednesday, January 23, instructed administration officials to investigate how to prevent surprise medical bills, broadening his focus on drug prices to include other issues of price transparency in health care. Flanked by patients and other guests invited to the White House to share their stories of unexpected and…
by Ana B. Ibarra While the Trump administration decides whether to adopt a controversial policy that could jeopardize the legal status of immigrants who use public programs such as Medicaid, doctors and clinics are torn between informing patients about the potential risks and unnecessarily scaring them into dropping their coverage or avoiding care. “We are…
by Samantha Young and Ana B. Ibarra Kaiser Health News SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday unveiled his first state budget, one that leads California down a very different health care path than the one Washington has forged. The progressive blueprint embraces a state health insurance mandate, beefed-up insurance subsidies, coverage for undocumented immigrants…
The length of the shutdown will dictate how furloughed and unpaid workers will be affected by Julie Appleby Kaiser Health News As the partial government shutdown drags on, about 800,000 federal employees who work for the shuttered agencies — and their families — are facing the reality of life without a paycheck. And those workers…
by Samantha Young WASHINGTON, D.C. — Each of the seven California Democrats who flipped Republican congressional seats in the midterm election campaigned for more government-funded health care — with most of them calling for a complete government takeover. So when they join the Golden State’s delegation this week, they will make it the largest state…
by Anna B. Ibarra SACRAMENTO, Calif. — What do hip-hop dancing and health insurance have in common? For one, you sure do hope that the break dancer busting backflips is covered. Beyond that, Covered California, the state’s Obamacare health insurance exchange, is betting that one will bring attention to the other. So, on a stage…
