KHN

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. — Four-year-old Ahmeir Diaz-Thornton couldn’t sit still in class and rarely ate his lunch. While his preschool classmates spoke in perfect sentences, Ahmeir had trouble pronouncing words....

Months into a new Biden administration policy intended to lower drug costs for Medicare patients, independent pharmacists say they’re struggling to afford to keep some prescription drugs in stock. “It would not...

Stanford University infectious disease doctor Abraar Karan has seen a lot of patients with runny noses, fevers, and irritated eyes lately. Such symptoms could signal allergies, covid, or a cold. This year, there’s another...

Americans would no longer have to worry about medical debts dragging down their credit scores under federal regulations proposed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If enacted, the rules would dramatically...

When powerful wind gusts created threatening wildfire conditions one day near Boulder, Colorado, the state’s largest utility cut power to 52,000 homes and businesses — including Frasier, an assisted living and skilled...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Proposed rules to protect California workers from extreme heat would extend to schoolchildren, requiring school districts to find ways to keep classrooms cool. If the standards are approved this month,...

Before Ohio voters amended their constitution last year to protect abortion rights, the state’s attorney general, an anti-abortion Republican, said that doing so would upend at least 10 state laws limiting abortions. But...

The White House is calling on hospital executives, doctors, and other health care leaders to take bolder steps to prevent gun violence by gathering more data about gunshot injuries and routinely counseling patients about safe...

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A...

California’s Office of Health Care Affordability faces a herculean task in its plan to slow runaway health care spending. The goal of the agency, established in 2022, is to make care more affordable and accessible while...

FORT HALL RESERVATION, Idaho — Myrna Broncho realized just how necessary an internet connection can be after she broke her leg. In fall 2021, the 69-year-old climbed a ladder to the top of a shed in her pasture. The roof that...

Many physicians and nurses are happy about the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning the use of noncompete agreements in employment contracts. But they are disappointed that it may not protect those who work for...

Medicaid — the state-federal health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans — has cut more than 22 million recipients since spring 2023. One of them was the son of Ashley Eades. Her family lost their Medicaid...

California has long been at the forefront of the fight against smoking, but some local officials in the San Francisco Bay Area, backed by activists who are especially concerned about high rates of smoking in the LGBTQ+...

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. Lawmakers Must Protect Home Health To Alleviate Hospital Bottlenecks The...

LOS ANGELES — The party was winding down. Its young hosts, María Rivas Cruz and her fiancé, Raymond Olivares, had accompanied friends to their car to bid them farewell. As the couple crossed a four-lane main road back...

One of Montana’s largest health clinics that serves people in poverty has cut back services and laid off workers. The retrenchment mirrors similar cuts around the country as safety-net health centers feel the effects of...

Facing ongoing concerns about rural hospital closures, Capitol Hill lawmakers have introduced a spate of proposals to fix a federal program created to keep lifesaving services in small towns nationwide. In Anamosa, Iowa — a town...

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A...

Lori Tipton is among the growing number of people who say that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, saved their lives. Raised in New Orleans by a mother with untreated bipolar disorder who later killed herself and two others, Tipton...