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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How will we reopen the economy?

President Donald Trump wants to reopen the country soon. But public health experts from across the ideological spectrum insist that won't be safe until the country can dramatically ramp up testing and contact tracing stemming from those infected.

16 Apr 2020

Exposure to heavy wildfire smoke may raise risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Exposure to heavy smoke during recent California wildfires raised the risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests up to 70%, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Apr 2020

Newer therapies may benefit patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease

Type 2 diabetes affects treatment options for patients who have both coronary artery disease and T2D, according to a new American Heart Association Scientific Statement, published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

13 Apr 2020

To ‘keep the lights on,’ doctors and hospitals ask for advance Medicare payments

Darrin Menard, a family physician in Lafayette, Louisiana, has spent the past month easing patients' anxieties about the coronavirus that has killed 10 people in his parish so far.

10 Apr 2020

Newsom’s ambitious health care agenda crumbles in a ‘radically changed’ world

This was supposed to be a big health care year for California.

9 Apr 2020

Women’s lifestyle modifications, even in middle age, have potential to prevent strokes

Middle age may not be too late for women to substantially reduce their stroke risk by not smoking, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and making healthy food choices, according to new research published today in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

9 Apr 2020

Smoking in childhood and adolescence leads to adult smoking

The younger you start smoking, the more likely you are to smoke daily as an adult, even into your 40s, and the harder it will be to quit, according to new data from a long-standing, international study published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

8 Apr 2020

'Smart toilet' looks for signs of disease

A Stanford study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering in April 2020 reports the development of a new kind of toilet that can pick up signs of an extensive range of diseases, from molecules in stool and urine. This could be extremely useful in repeatedly and inexpensively screening high-risk groups for certain conditions, including those for which a genetic tendency is possible – such as prostate cancer or certain kinds of kidney cancer.

6 Apr 2020

Medicaid nearing ‘eye of the storm’ as newly unemployed look for coverage

As the coronavirus roils the economy and throws millions of Americans out of work, Medicaid is emerging as a default insurance plan for many of the newly unemployed.

3 Apr 2020

Putting an end to the pandemic

From the plagues of medieval Europe to the influenza pandemic of 1918, the specter of the next public health disaster has gripped the minds of scientists, captivated the imaginations of writers and vexed conspiracy theorists.

1 Apr 2020

Extreme temperatures may double or triple deaths from cardiovascular disease

When temperatures reach extremes of an average daily temperature of 109 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease may double or triple.

30 Mar 2020

Hoping that insurance expansion will help tamp outbreak, 9 states reopen marketplaces

At least nine states are offering their uninsured residents another opportunity to sign up for a health plan this year as they seek new ways to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.

21 Mar 2020

As coronavirus spreads widely, millions of older Americans live in counties with no ICU beds

More than half the counties in America have no intensive care beds, posing a particular danger for more than 7 million people who are age 60 and up - older patients who face the highest risk of serious illness or death from the rapid spread of COVID-19, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows.

20 Mar 2020

Social policies may also have a positive effect on population health

A comprehensive review of U.S. social policies evaluated for their health outcomes found suggestive evidence that early life, income, and health insurance interventions have the potential to improve health.

19 Mar 2020

Homeless heart attack patients receive less treatment and are more likely to be readmitted

Homelessness has become a social crisis and public health problem around the world, affecting people of all ages. Most homeless people are at a disadvantage with few resources, and may or may not have adequate health insurance.

19 Mar 2020

African-American men less likely to use more targeted biopsy option for prostate cancer

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found in a retrospective study that African-American men are less likely to use a more targeted biopsy option for prostate cancer, despite an increased incidence in this group of patients.

17 Mar 2020

Trump wrongly said health insurers will pay for all coronavirus treatment

As coronavirus cases multiply in the United States, one concern Americans have is what they can expect to pay if they seek treatment.

13 Mar 2020

Uninsured older adults in China less likely to receive needed inpatient care

A new study, published this week in the International Journal of Health Services, found that older adults without health insurance in China were 35% less likely to receive needed inpatient care compared to those with job-based health insurance.

12 Mar 2020

The startling inequality gap that emerges after age 65

In an era when "deaths of despair" — from substance abuse and suicide — are on the rise among middle-aged Americans, those who reach age 65 are living longer than ever.