The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
41 - 60 of 273 Results
Despite the rise of gun violence in America, few medical guidelines exist on removing bullets from survivorsā bodies. In the second installment of our series āThe Injured,ā we meet three people shot at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade who are dealing with the bullets inside them in different ways.
Many older adults who need hospital care are getting stuck in emergency room limbo ā sometimes for more than a day. The long ER waits for seniors who are frail, with multiple medical issues, lead to a host of additional medical problems.
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 ā over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News-NPR āBill of the Monthā feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.
In California, assaulting paramedics or other emergency medical workers in the field carries stiffer fines and jail time than assaulting emergency room staffers. State lawmakers are considering a measure that would standardize the penalties.
Ballad Health was granted the nationās largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in 2018. Since then, its emergency rooms have become more than three times as slow.
There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasnāt medically necessary.
In the first of our series āThe Injured,ā a Kansas family remembers Valentineās Day as the beginning of panic attacks, life-altering trauma, and waking to nightmares of gunfire. Thrown into the spotlight by the shootings, they wonder how they will recover.
A recent report finds half of Americaās rural hospitals are losing money, and many are struggling to stay open. Researchers and advocates worry the hospitalsā financial spiral will have immediate and long-term health effects on their communities.
Sky-high bills from air-ambulance providers have sparked complaints and federal action in recent years. But a rural Tennessee resident fell through the cracks of billing protections ā and a single helicopter ride could cost much of her estate's value.
There were nearly 50,000 emergency room visits for dog bites in California in 2022. The rate of such visits per capita is up about 70% since 2005.
Fewer than two dozen rural hospitals were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals in the programās first year. Now, advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are necessary to lure more takers and keep health care in rural communities.
Six years ago, the hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas, shuttered, leaving residents in the small community without a cornerstone health care institution. In the years since, despite new programs meant to save small hospitals, dozens of other communities have watched theirs close.
Major policy changes and disavowals have made this a watershed year for curbing the use of the discredited āexcited deliriumā diagnosis to explain deaths in police custody. Now the ripple effects are spreading across the country into court cases, state legislation, and police training classes.
A rural South Dakota medic said using an ambulance video system to communicate with a doctor gave him peace of mind as he treated a patient who was seriously injured when gored by a bison.
What happens when you canāt afford the health care you need? On this episode of āAn Arm and a Leg,ā hear from emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac about the history of medical debt collection in the United States.
When patients with sickle cell disease have a health crisis ā crescent-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow ā their condition can quickly lead to a fatal stroke or infection. But, despite efforts to educate doctors, research shows that patients are waiting hours in ERs and are often denied pain medication.
The American College of Emergency Physicians agreed to withdraw its 2009 white paper on excited delirium, removing the only official medical pillar of support left for the theory that has played a key role in absolving police of culpability for in-custody deaths.
Colorado is among several states that ensure schools have access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone for free or at reduced cost. But most districts hadnāt signed up by the start of the school year for a state distribution program amid stigma around the lifesaving treatment.
Ā© 2026 KFF