The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
761-780 of 966 results
No-shows for behavioral health appointments have been a long-standing problem, with up to 60% skipped. Now telehealth, fueled by the pandemic, makes it easier for people dealing with depression and other mental health issues to make it to their appointments at a time when such care is in high demand. But teletherapy creates other challenges.
Black Americans鈥 vaccination rates still trail all other groups, while Hispanics show improvement. Native Americans show the strongest rates nationally.
Struggling to keep up with a covid-19 surge in Michigan, overwhelmed health departments relied on an unlikely new crew of contact tracers: school principals.
Camp Ho Mita Koda, an Ohio camp for children with diabetes, plans to host in-person camp this year despite the pandemic. It鈥檚 unusual, especially given that children under 12 likely won't be able to get covid vaccines for months and many who attend medically focused camps could be especially vulnerable to serious covid complications. But these camps are important not just for the kids, but also for parents.
The pandemic has been stressful for millions of children. Schools are trying to meet children's emotional needs in big and small ways as in-person classes resume.
Pandemic lockdowns exacerbated long-standing economic pressures on pharmacies 鈥 and forced many owner-operated shops to evolve or risk closing their doors.
Across Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where death rates from stroke are above the national average, routing patients from rural areas to the right level of care can be an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The closest hospital might not offer the full scope of stroke treatments, but hospitals with more advanced care could be hours away.
Despite high mortality and infection rates, the counties of northeastern Ohio, where many Amish people live, have the lowest vaccination rates in the state.
It鈥檚 unclear whether 鈥渞ed flag鈥 laws 鈥 which allow the seizure of guns from a person deemed dangerous 鈥 help prevent mass shootings or should have been applied to the suspects in recent shootings in Boulder, Colorado, and Indianapolis.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
The covid outbreak in Michigan stands out on the U.S. contagion map, but odds are it will be repeated elsewhere. How vaccine hesitancy, relaxed restrictions and a coronavirus variant combined to create the worst outbreak in the country.
In 2015, St. Louis-based Mercy health system opened what officials called the world鈥檚 first 鈥渉ospital without beds.鈥 Since the pandemic, Mercy has incorporated telehealth throughout its system, part of a national acceleration in virtual care that proponents laud but critics say is happening too fast.
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
For some, a vaccine appointment a few hours away is no biggie. For others, it鈥檚 a major barrier to gaining protection from the coronavirus.
Even with extra federal dollars and a flush budget, Show Me State Republicans are putting up roadblocks to the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would give 275,000 people health insurance.
Many state Medicaid programs pay out-of-state providers much less than in-state facilities, often making it hard for families with medically complex children to get the care they seek.
Indiana鈥檚 program seeks to give expansion enrollees 鈥渟kin in the game,鈥 requiring that they pay small monthly premiums and manage health savings accounts.
Fort Scott, Kansas, was hit hard by the pandemic, and it no longer has a hospital. But residents remain skeptical about the impact of the coronavirus.
The underfunding of public health and political backlash destabilized Missouri鈥檚 vaccine rollout, creating racial inequity and forcing some residents to drive hours to get shots.
Same building. Same procedure. Same doctor. But now you鈥檙e charged a hospital facility fee. For one Ohio Medicare patient, the copay for a shot that used to cost her about $30 went up to more than $300.
漏 2026 KFF