Eboni Tomasek expected to take home her newborn the day after he was born in a San Jose hospital. But, without explanation, hospital staff said they needed to stay a second night. Then a third. A nurse said her son had jaundice. Then said that he didn’t. She wondered if they had confused her with…
By EMILY JOHNSON Being a parent during residency requires one or more of the following: ● Family and/or friends nearby who are willing and able to provide free childcare ● A stay-at-home spouse/co-parent ● A spouse/co-parent who is willing to let their own career to be a distant second…
How did Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act impact health insurance coverage, cost and mental health? That is the question asked by Andreyeva, Rochford and Marthey (2025). They use 2011-2019 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to examine outcomes for Americans aged 26–54 with at least one child living in the…
The assisted living facility in Edina, Minnesota, where Jean Peters and her siblings moved their mother in 2011, looked lovely. “But then you start uncovering things,” Peters said. Her mother, Jackie Hourigan, widowed and developing memory problems at 82, too often was still in bed when her children came to see her midmorning. “She wasn’t…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has halted a court-ordered medical parole program, opting instead to send its most incapacitated prisoners back to state lockups or release them early. The unilateral termination is drawing protests from attorneys representing prisoners and the author of the state’s medical parole legislation, who say it unnecessarily puts this vulnerable population at…
By MATT McCORD Using opioids to treat acute pain is a lot like burning coal to power our homes. Both are legacy solutions from an earlier era. Both were once celebrated as breakthroughs. And both have since proven to be dirty, dangerous, and incredibly costly to clean up. Despite this, we continue to rely on…
Tariffs on pharmaceuticals. First, President Trump has voiced his goal to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical products made overseas. The New York Times reports: Mr. Trump said in remarks to reporters on Monday that pharmaceutical tariffs would come in the “not too distant future.”“We don’t make our own drugs anymore,” Mr. Trump said. “The drug companies…
During his first news conference as Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on April 16 ticked off things he thinks kids with autism will never do, including paying taxes, holding a job, and going on a date. Kennedy’s comments go against science and reality. This slide presentation first appeared on KFF Health…
Supporters of a nontraditional medical freedom movement who’ve placed their faith in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are frustrated he hasn’t done more to push their agenda. But people close to Kennedy have been telling them to be patient. They say he is committed to the aims of the Make America…
PBS News Weekend’s Ali Rogin spoke with KFF Health News contributor Michelle Andrews about what some people with missing limbs consider a disparity in health insurance coverage: Though a knee replacement likely would be covered, a prosthetic knee isn’t always. A prosthetic device can be subject to cost caps and an amputee may be required…