KFF Health News

A little over a week before her EEG, Sadé Lewis — who has dealt with migraines since she was a kid — was given instructions that she didn’t remember ever getting before a previous EEG appointment. “The first thing I literally did was text it to my best friend, and I was, like, this is kind of anti-Black,” Lewis said.

Chronic exposure to air pollution can negatively affect people’s olfactory systems at a young age and may make them more susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The number of deaths attributed to malnutrition more than doubled from 2018 through 2022, according to preliminary death certificate data. The large majority of malnutrition deaths occur among Californians 85 and older.

Last month the governor tweeted that the state would stop doing business with Walgreens following the second-largest U.S. pharmacy chain saying it would not dispense an abortion pill. Turns out it's more complicated.

“There really isn’t much literature to guide you on how to do this,” said Dr. Margaret Chaplin, a Connecticut psychiatrist who treats patients with ADHD, mental illnesses, or substance use disorders.

California’s governor is asking the administration of President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, to authorize a new program called “transitional rent,” which would provide up to six months of rent or temporary housing for low-income enrollees who rely on the state’s health care safety net.

The changes go beyond more expensive testing. Addiction treatment could be imperiled, and nursing home staff training could become even more stringent.

Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is winding down state assistance for health care services to migrants seeking asylum. He’s lobbying the Biden administration to increase aid along the state’s southern border.

State Sen. María Elena Durazo and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West want to give health facility support staffers a raise. Hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics are expected to resist.