The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
201-220 of 1,063 results
California lawmakers have modified a psychedelic drug bill that was vetoed last year, narrowing it to allow only supervised use of psilocybin mushrooms, ecstasy, and other hallucinogens rather than decriminalize more broadly. The current bill would establish new state agencies to regulate the program.
California launched two teletherapy apps as part of the governorās $500 million foray into health technology with private companies. But the rollout has been so slow that one company has yet to make its app available on Android, and social workers worry youths who need clinical care wonāt get referrals.
The state is looking at ways to weed out false reporting of child abuse and neglect as the number of reports reaches a record high.
California state lawmakers this year are continuing their progressive tilt on health policy, debating bills banning an ingredient in Froot Loops and offering free condoms for high schoolers.
To reduce recidivism, some rural counties are hiring community health workers or peer support specialists to connect people leaving custody to mental health resources, substance use treatment, medical services, and jobs.
Most Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, making them eligible for a federal program that rewards physicians for doing more to manage their care. It shows promise in reducing costs. But not many doctors have joined.
Celebrity hotel heiress Paris Hilton is expanding her campaign for more public reporting on residential therapeutic centersā use of restraints and seclusion rooms in disciplining teens, setting her sights on legislation in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
For more than 20 years, children in Arkansas have been measured in school as part of a statewide effort to reduce childhood obesity. But the letters have had no impact on weight loss ā and obesity rates have risen. Still, the practice of sending letters has spread to other states.
Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
The surge in overdose deaths among teens is opening a new path to treatment: pediatricians. A doctor in Massachusetts shows how it works with a 17-year-old patient.
State institutions and community hospitals have closed inpatient mental health units, often citing staffing and financial challenges. Now, for-profit companies are opening psychiatric hospitals to fill the void.
Historically, alcohol use disorder has disproportionately affected men. But targeted advertising and changes in societal norms over the past 50 years have led to an upsurge in alcohol-related diseases and deaths among women. āItās a very taboo topic,ā one expert said.
A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parentsā consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the stateās culture wars.
Peer leaders can help ease the shortage of mental health providers and build trust through shared experiences, state health officials say. In 2022, California started allowing counties to use Medicaid dollars to pay them for their work.
After California passed the first law in the nation to limit the disavowed term āexcited delirium,ā bills in other states are being introduced to help end use of the diagnosis. But momentum is being met with resistance from law enforcement and first responder groups, who cite free speech.
California has commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons provide a constitutional level of mental health care, which it could use to try to end one of the lawsuits that have federal courts overseeing the stateās prisons. But corrections officials wonāt disclose even basic details of the consultantsā contract, including its cost to taxpayers.
A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.
A court expert reported that California prisons continue to lag on 14 of 15 suicide prevention measures, and even regressed in some areas. The state could face more than $40 million in fines after a federal judge warned more than a year ago that she would impose penalties for each violation.
After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nationās growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis.
Ā© 2026 KFF