Recreational beaches at National Park Service sites are coping with a shortage of lifeguards caused by Trump administration staffing freezes and cuts, lawmakers and advocacy groups told KFF Health News. Some of the parks are reducing the hours when lifeguards are available, rushing to recruit hires, or opening beaches without any lifeguards at all. Fewer…
Gerri Norington, 78, never wanted to be on her own as she grew old. But her first marriage ended in divorce, and her second husband died more than 30 years ago. When a five-year relationship came to a close in 2006, she found herself alone — a situation that has lasted since. “I miss having…
This brief reports on community health center patients, services, experiences, and financing in 2023 and analyzes changes from 2019 (pre-pandemic) through 2023 using data from the Uniform Data System (UDS) and the 2022 Health Center Patient Survey.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson anticipates that California’s sprawling Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, may need to be dialed back after Gov. Gavin Newsom releases his latest budget, which could reflect a multibillion-dollar deficit. Even so, the physician-turned-lawmaker, who was elected to the state Senate in November, says her priorities as chair…
SUITLAND, Md. — At a SuperSuds Laundromat just south of Washington, D.C., a steady stream of customers loaded clothes into washers and dryers on a recent Sunday morning, passing the time on their phones or watching television. Amid the low hum of spinning clothes, Adrienne Jones made the rounds in a bright yellow sweatshirt, asking…
By KIM BELLARD If you are of a certain age – say, mine, that is to say, a Baby Boomer – last week’s announcement that Microsoft was going to release a new version of Halo on Sony’s PlayStation console may have passed you by. So what, you might have said? If, on the other hand,…
If your neighbor is a backyard chicken hobbyist, should you be worried about bird flu? KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen answers that question and shares her reporting, on WAMU’s “Health Hub” segment March 5. The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers,…
Digital health funding held steady in the first half of 2025, with AI-focused startups capturing the majority of capital and driving rapid adoption among providers. The digital health space also saw two long-awaited IPOs as well as rising M&A activity, which are two signals of market maturity — but looming policy shifts may challenge long-term…
That is according to the 2024 national health expenditure data published in Health Affairs last week (Hartman et al. 2026). Here is the abstract: Health care spending in the US reached $5.3 trillion and increased 7.2 percent in 2024, similar to growth of 7.4 percent in 2023, as increased demand for health care influenced this two-year trend. As…
Is homelessness a mental health and addiction crisis, or is it driven by an affordable housing crisis? That question underpins the debate among policymakers and politicians struggling to move people off the streets faster than they become homeless. Researchers say housing is the most important intervention to end homelessness, and now a report from the…