Category: Health

Multiple sclerosis is characterized by an immune system gone haywire. A patient’s immune system starts treating the protective coating of the nerves – called myelin – as dangerous. The subsequent nerve damage can cause a variety of symptoms, including muscle weakness, pain and vision loss. MS currently has no cure, and doctors still don’t completely […]

Boja Kragulj, an accomplished clarinetist who once performed with orchestras in New York, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville, Florida, has already lost four teeth. And she expects to lose at least a dozen more. Five years ago, seeking to correct her bite and improve her breathing, Kragulj tried a dental device that she was told would put […]

Rachana Pradhan During the first two years of the covid-19 pandemic, while the federal government was trying to prevent people on Medicaid from losing health coverage, Idaho dropped nearly 10,000 people from the safety-net program. Federal law generally banned states from dropping people, and federal officials said Idaho acted improperly. Idaho officials, however, said they […]

Most lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats alike — have declared the marquee safety-net programs of Medicare and Social Security off-limits for cuts as a divided Washington heads for a showdown over the national debt and government spending. Health programs for lower-income Americans, though, have gotten no such bipartisan assurances. More than 20 million people gained […]

Michelle Andrews New York City has long been a haven for people who want an abortion, and new city programs and policies aim to make sure it remains one since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and tossed abortion regulation back to the states. In 1973, before Roe legalized abortion nationwide, New York was […]

It was the first day of her family’s vacation in the San Juan Islands last June when Danielle Laskey, who was 26 weeks pregnant, thought she was leaking amniotic fluid. A registered nurse, Laskey called her OB-GYN back home in Seattle, who said to seek immediate care. Staff members at a nearby emergency department found […]

Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report OAKLAND, Calif. — For three years, Bertha Embriz of San Francisco has gone without health insurance, skipping annual wellness exams and recently tolerating a broken molar by trying not to chew with it. As an immigrant without legal status, the 58-year-old unpaid caregiver knew that California’s Medicaid program was closed […]

KHN senior editor Andy Miller discussed the problems with Georgia’s foster care system on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Lawmakers” on Jan. 26. Click here to watch Miller on “Lawmakers” Read Miller’s “Unmet Needs: Critics Cite Failures in Health Care for Vulnerable Foster Children“ KHN Midwest correspondent Bram Sable-Smith discussed Howard Buffett’s $30 million donation for a […]

Almost four years after becoming the first state to cap insulin copayments, Colorado may limit what consumers pay for epinephrine autoinjectors, also known as EpiPens, which treat serious allergic reactions. A proposed state law would cap out-of-pocket copays at $60 for a two-pack of epinephrine autoinjectors. In 2007, the wholesale price of a single EpiPen […]

The Host Julie Rovner KHN @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KHN’s weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its […]