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Medicaid ‘unwinding’ decried as biased against disabled people

Jacqueline Saa has a genetic condition that leaves her unable to stand and walk on her own or hold a job. Every weekday for four years, Saa, 43, has relied on a home health aide to help her cook, bathe and dress, go to the doctor, pick up medications, and accomplish other daily tasks.

14 May 2024

Leveraging AI to connect social media discourse with public health trends

"Sticks and stones may break my bones," the old adage goes. "But words will never hurt me."

13 May 2024

Paid sick leave sticks after many pandemic protections vanish

Bill Thompson's wife had never seen him smile with confidence. For the first 20 years of their relationship, an infection in his mouth robbed him of teeth, one by one.

9 May 2024

They were shot at the super bowl parade — and might have bullets in their bodies forever

James Lemons, 39, wants the bullet removed from his thigh so he can go back to work.

8 May 2024

‘Breaking a promise’: California deficit could halt raises for disability workers

Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is reneging on a scheduled raise for the workers who care for their loved ones, and advocates warn of potential lawsuits if disability services become harder to get.

2 May 2024

Biden administration sets higher staffing mandates. most nursing homes don’t meet them.

The Biden administration finalized nursing home staffing rules Monday that will require thousands of them to hire more nurses and aides — while giving them years to do so.

22 Apr 2024

Rural jails turn to community health workers to help the newly released succeed

Garrett Clark estimates he has spent about six years in the Sanpete County Jail, a plain concrete building perched on a dusty hill just outside this small, rural town where he grew up.

22 Apr 2024

New insights to optimize telehealth for diabetes care

Grocery stores, airports and beaches aren't great places to have telehealth visits with your endocrinologist.

18 Apr 2024

Newsom offers a compromise to protect indoor workers from heat

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration has compromised on long-sought rules that would protect indoor workers from extreme heat, saying tens of thousands of prison and jail employees — and prisoners — would have to wait for relief.

18 Apr 2024

California health workers may face rude awakening with $25 minimum wage law

Nearly a half-million health workers who stand to benefit from California's nation-leading $25 minimum wage law could be in for a rude awakening if hospitals and other health care providers follow through on potential cuts to hours and benefits.

16 Apr 2024

Study uncovers how consensual touch can benefit a person's physical and mental wellbeing

Through a large-scale analysis, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have uncovered the ways in which consensual touch can benefit a person's physical and mental wellbeing.

8 Apr 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Florida limits abortion — for now

Florida this week became a major focus for advocates on both main sides of the abortion debate.

4 Apr 2024

Heat protections for California workers are in limbo after Newsom abandons rules

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration has abandoned proposed protections for millions of California workers toiling in sweltering warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other dangerously hot workplaces — upending a regulatory process that had been years in the making.

3 Apr 2024

Attacks on emergency room workers prompt debate over tougher penalties

Patients hurl verbal abuse at Michelle Ravera every day in the emergency room. Physical violence is less common, she said, but has become a growing threat.

3 Apr 2024

Defining how exercise affects cardiovascular health in people using wheelchairs

Delphia Brown (left) exercises at the Stephen A. Orthwein Center, a wheelchair-accessible gym in St. Louis operated by Paraquad, an organization that helps people with disabilities achieve independence.

2 Apr 2024

Digital payments revolutionize health worker compensation in Africa

Campaigns in Africa to stop polio and other diseases have a more stable, better-motivated workforce thanks to WHO's collaboration with countries and partners to pay frontline health workers through their mobile phones instead of in cash.

1 Apr 2024

California’s expanded health coverage for immigrants collides with Medicaid reviews

Medi-Cal health coverage kicked in for Antonio Abundis just when the custodian needed it most.

22 Mar 2024

Move to protect California’s indoor workers from heat upended by cost questions

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration unexpectedly yanked its support from a sweeping proposal that would have protected millions of California's indoor workers from dangerous heat, saying it can't endorse it without knowing the projected costs to the state.

21 Mar 2024

Collaborative care intervention provides cost savings and health benefits for cancer patients

Cancer patients who received specialized mental health support as part of their treatment plan are more likely to see improvements in their quality of life and reductions in pain, depression and fatigue, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

12 Mar 2024

Social workers bridge the gap in HIV care for hospitalized patients in Tanzania

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have shown that three months of social worker follow-up support to people hospitalized with HIV in Tanzania had health benefits at low cost.

11 Mar 2024