Kaiser Health News, Cost & Quality Blog

Democratic leaders in Congress have vowed to pass legislation to address high prescription drug prices this year, but some moderates in their own party appear to be balking. Meanwhile, younger teens are now eligible for a covid-19 vaccine and the Biden administration reinstated anti-discrimination policy for LGBTQ people in health care. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

A report from the Government Accountability Office paints a picture of an already strained behavioral health system struggling after the pandemic struck to meet the treatment needs of millions of Americans with conditions like alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Responsible for 34% of the nation’s covid death toll, nursing homes and long-term care facilities get slammed by their investors and are told to change.

The Virginia hospital giant had already stopped suing patients with less than $107,000 in household income.

El Congreso ha enviado miles de millones a los departamentos de salud para luchar contra covid. Pero históricamente, esta financiación se acaba cuando termina la emergencia sanitaria.

Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.

Long-term care options are expensive and often out of reach for seniors and people with disabilities. The president has proposed a massive infusion of federal funding for home and community-based health services that advocates say will go a long way toward helping individuals and families.

Despite a negative covid test, people could have been infected with the coronavirus anyway. And some of them might face lingering health issues.

Hay medicamentos aprobados hace años que podrían investigarse en profundidad para tratar covid. Pero no hay interés porque no generarían grandes ganancias.

Philanthropies are funding studies of cheap, existing medications like the antidepressant fluvoxamine as covid treatments. But early hype about hydroxychloroquine and other repurposed drugs leaves researchers leery of hasty conclusions.

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio were set to roll out a bill Friday that could help unknown thousands of service members who are sick from toxic substances they were exposed to from burning garbage in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones.

The underfunding of public health and political backlash destabilized Missouri’s vaccine rollout, creating racial inequity and forcing some residents to drive hours to get shots.

A Texas federal judge, who previously ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, has signaled his openness to ending the law’s popular coverage requirement for preventive services.

Same building. Same procedure. Same doctor. But now you’re charged a hospital facility fee. For one Ohio Medicare patient, the copay for a shot that used to cost her about $30 went up to more than $300.

Democrats’ $1.9 trillion covid relief package will offer some of the most significant help for Americans to pay for health insurance in a decade. But the temporary provisions are complicated. KHN offers tips for consumers.

Progressive and conservative Democratic lawmakers, as well as President Joe Biden, are in favor of authorizing federal officials to negotiate with drugmakers over what Medicare pays for at least some of the most expensive brand-name drugs and to base those prices on the drugs’ clinical benefits. Such a measure could put Republicans in the uncomfortable position of opposing an idea that most voters from both parties generally support.

Covid vaccinations are ramping up, so “An Arm and a Leg” checked in on the effort in Philadelphia, where capitalism and compassion have clashed.

Sick with ailments similar to those suffered by 9/11 first responders, military service members exposed to toxic burning garbage in Iraq and Afghanistan may finally see Congress address their plight. President Joe Biden believes his son Beau’s brain cancer may have been caused by such exposure.

Aunque algunos médicos y las aseguradoras dicen que son útiles, expertos aseguran que no ayudan a la mayoría de las personas que viven con diabetes tipo 2.

The numbers of people wearing these monitors are soaring as prices have fallen and device-makers promote them to doctors and patients. But few studies show the devices lead to better outcomes for the nearly 25 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes who don’t inject insulin to regulate their blood sugar.