KFF Health News

Honey, sweetie, dearie: The perils of elderspeak

Paula Span, KFF Health News — Sun, 18 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Caregiving experts are warning people about elderspeak, which tends to talk down to older adults and can be controlling and demeaning. Many elders see endearments as insincere and a way to be bossy.

Seeking spending cuts, GOP lawmakers target a tax hospitals love to pay

Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News — Sun, 11 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Sun, 11 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT /news/2025-05-11/seeking-spending-cuts-gop-lawmakers-target-a-tax-hospitals-love-to-pay Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News

Public health risks of urban wildfire smoke prompt push for more monitoring

Katharine Gammon, KFF Health News — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

When the catastrophic Los Angeles fires broke out, John Volckens suspected firefighters and residents were breathing toxic air from the burning homes, buildings, and cars, but it was unclear how much risk the public faced.

Families of transgender youth no longer view Colorado as a haven for gender-affirming care

Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Colorado was long considered a haven for gender-affirming care. But under this Trump administration, hospitals in the state have limited the treatments available for people under 19. Some services have been restored, but trans youth and their families say the state isn鈥檛 the rock they thought it was.

As opposition to fluoride grows, rural America risks a new surge of tooth decay

Brett Kelman — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Many rural counties are short on dentists, and if they lose water fluoridation, tooth decay could surge to levels that have not been seen in decades, experts warn.

Hospital gun-violence prevention programs may be caught in US funding crossfire

Stephanie Wolf, KFF Health News — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Dozens of programs around the country that aim to uncover the social and economic factors that contributed to someone ending up in the ER with a bullet wound are nervously watching recent moves by the White House. Some organizers believe their programs will be just fine, but others are looking to shore up alternative funding sources.

Colorado鈥檚 naloxone fund is drying up, even as opioid settlement money rolls in

Claire Cleveland, KFF Health News — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:24:40 GMT

A fund created in 2019 has helped save people from opioid overdoses. However, funding for the program is running out.

Thanks to Reddit, a new diagnosis is bubbling up across the nation

Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Social media has helped spread the word about a treatment that involves getting Botox in the neck. It鈥檚 for a condition that鈥檚 gaining awareness but still often dismissed: the inability to burp.

Colorado dropped Medicaid enrollees as red states have, alarming advocates for the poor

Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Colorado defended its high disenrollment rates following the covid crisis by saying that what goes up must come down. Advocates and researchers disagree.

Medicaid for millions in America hinges on Deloitte-run systems plagued by errors

Samantha Liss, KFF Health News , Rachana Pradhan, KFF Health News — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states 鈥� including contracts with governments in Montana and Colorado 鈥� and the federal government for supplying technology it says will modernize Medicaid. However, a KFF Health News investigation of eligibility systems found widespread problems.