In April, just 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Kathleen Clark was standing at the receptionist window of her OB-GYN’s office when she was asked to pay $960, the total the office estimated she would owe after she delivered. Clark, 39, was shocked that she was asked to pay that amount during this second prenatal visit….
The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit. KFF Health News undertook a yearlong examination of how government decisions undermine Black health — reviewing court and inspection records and government reports, and interviewing dozens of academic…
By TAMARA MANNS I walked into the emergency department already knowing the outcome. In these same rooms I had told women having the same symptoms as me, “I am so sorry, there is nothing we can do for a miscarriage”. I handed them the same box of single ply tissues I was now sobbing into,…
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 noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to…
It looks like the answer is ‘yes’. KFF reports that Holden Karau, a software engineer from the San Francisco Bay Area, created an AI tool to help appeal insurance denials. She calls it: Fight Health Insurance, How does it work? You’ve gotta make a scan of the denial letter from your insurance company, and run…
Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) on #THCBGang on Thursday November 14 at 1PM PT 4PM ET. Today we have also a special guest – former Permanente Medical Group CEO Dr Robbie Pearl @robertpearlmd. Robbie has been diving into AI in his latest book ChatGPT-MD and we’ll be chatting about that as well as his forecasts for health…
Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team. Trump has promised he would allow Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “go wild” on medicines, food, and health. With that, a…
If you bring a baby into the Hurley Children’s Center clinic in downtown Flint, Michigan, Mona Hanna will find you. The pediatrician, who gained national prominence for helping uncover the city’s water crisis in 2015, strode across the waiting room in her white lab coat, eyes laser-focused on the chubby baby in the lap of…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California public health officials are dipping into state and federal stockpiles to equip up to 10,000 farmworkers with masks, gloves, goggles, and other safety gear as the state confirms at least 21 human cases of bird flu as of early November. It’s the latest reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared…
By MIKE MAGEE It has been a collision of past, present and future this week in the wake of Trump’s victory on November 6, 2024. The country, both for and against, has been unusually quiet. It is unclear whether this is in recognition of political exhaustion, or the desire of victors to be “good winners”…