Kaiser Health News

Battle Lines Drawn As Abortion-Rights Activists Leave Their Mark Outside Clinics

Abortion-rights activists in California and beyond respond to a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that crisis pregnancy centers don't have to tell women about abortion and other publicly funded family planning services.

Haley Pollock carries a box of chalk in her car, ready for action.

In her spare time, she and fellow community activists convert the sidewalks outside of crisis pregnancy centers into political canvases, scrawling phrases such as “Fake Women’s Clinic Ahead” and “End the Lies.”

By: 
Ana B. Ibarra

Jails Starting To Treat Inmates’ Addictions

Jails are a good place to intervene because 20 percent of inmates used heroin or opioids before being incarcerated.

At a time when the U.S. government is trying to deal with a nationwide opioid epidemic, many jails across the country are only now rolling out medicines to help inmates overcome addiction. And most of those jails dispense only one of the drugs currently available.

By: 
Anna Gorman

Oregon And Other States Leverage Federal Funds To Help Insurers Lower Premiums

Reinsurance programs, which are gaining in popularity across the country, use federal money to help pay insurers who cover patients with high medical bills. They've helped curtail premium increases in Oregon.

When Tracy Deis decided in 2016 to transition from a full-time job to part-time contract work, the loss of her employer’s health insurance was not a major worry because she knew she could get coverage through the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act.

By: 
Steven Findlay

‘No One Is Ever Really Ready’: Aid-In-Dying Patient Chooses His Last Day

A 50-year-old Seattle man with leukemia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, did not want a surprise.

In the end, it wasn’t easy for Aaron McQ to decide when to die.

The 50-year-old Seattle man — a former world traveler, triathlete and cyclist — learned he had leukemia five years ago, followed by an even grimmer diagnosis in 2016: a rare form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

By: 
JoNel Aleccia

Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer

A shift is occurring, with many younger physicians concerned more about social justice than profit.

When the American Medical Association — one of the nation’s most powerful health care groups — met in Chicago this June, its medical student caucus seized an opportunity for change.

By: 
Shefali Luthra

Missed Visits, Uncontrolled Pain and Fraud: Report Says Hospice Lacks Oversight

A federal report calls the regulators to ramp up oversight of the industry, citing patients in pain or distress and a lack of care.

Elderly patients spent over two weeks in uncontrolled pain or respiratory distress. Acute care was rare on weekends. And recruiters went door to door pitching fraudulent schemes, luring healthy patients to sign up for hospice in exchange for free housecleaning and medicine.

By: 
Melissa Bailey

Pages

Subscribe to Kaiser Health News