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Health care has ebbed and surged as an election issue throughout the presidential campaign. Here are the ways some of the most consequential changes in health policies could hinge on whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump wins.
State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo spread more anti-vaccine misinformation by telling Floridians to avoid mRNA vaccines. Vaccine experts and historians can鈥檛 remember another state health leader urging residents to avoid an FDA-approved vaccine.
Congress and state legislatures are considering age bans and other limits for Instagram and TikTok out of concern that they harm kids鈥 mental health. But some researchers and pediatricians question whether there鈥檚 enough data to support that conclusion.
Both Florida and Arizona want to expand eligibility for the Children鈥檚 Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, but their approaches to charging low-income families premiums for the coverage showcase the nation鈥檚 ideological divide on helping the disadvantaged.
People with disabilities say they are abruptly losing their Medicaid home health benefits and are being advised incorrectly when they call state offices for more information. 鈥淓very day the anxiety builds,鈥 one beneficiary told 吃瓜不打烊.
Some pumps used in end-stage heart failure caused a buildup of biological material that blocks blood flow from the device to the heart鈥檚 aorta. The FDA鈥檚 recall affects nearly 14,000 devices.
The cyberattack on a unit of UnitedHealth Group鈥檚 Optum division is the worst on the health care industry in U.S. history, hospitals say. Providers struggling to get paid for care say the response by the insurer and the Biden administration has been inadequate.
While many Republican state lawmakers remain firmly against Medicaid expansion, some key leaders in holdout states are showing a willingness to reconsider. Public opinion, financial incentives, and widening health care needs make resistance harder.
The HeartMate 3 is considered the safest mechanical heart pump of its kind, but a federal database contains more than 4,500 reports in which the medical device may have caused or contributed to a patient鈥檚 death.
Candidates see former President Donald Trump鈥檚 embrace of his administration鈥檚 covid-19 vaccine policies as an opportunity to gain ground. So far, their efforts haven鈥檛 found traction.
Florida鈥檚 Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and California鈥檚 Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will square off in a first-of-its-kind debate on Nov. 30. 吃瓜不打烊 compared the political rivals鈥 health care positions, showing how their policies have helped 鈥 or hindered 鈥 the health of their states鈥 residents.
Losing ground in the Republican primary, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his top medical advisers dismissed the recent federal recommendation that almost everyone get an updated covid shot.
Florida鈥檚 new immigration law requires hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status at admission and in emergency rooms, and report that information plus the cost of care for residents without legal status. Doctors and nurses who oppose the policy seem reluctant to criticize lawmakers for fear of political retribution.
As more states restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people, some are relocating to more welcoming destinations, such as California, Illinois, Maryland, and Nevada, where they don't have to worry about being locked out of medical care.
Homeless people are being fraudulently enrolled in health plans on the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 marketplace, induced with cash payments from insurance agents and brokers. Those who sign up for an ACA plan are disqualified from other forms of free and low-cost care and risk disruption in treatment.
In Wesley Chapel, Fla., near Tampa, residents will soon have three general hospitals within a five-minute drive. The new construction is part of a hospital-building boom across Florida unleashed almost four years ago, when the state dropped a requirement that companies obtain government approval to open new hospitals.
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