Kaiser Health News – Page 26

From a multipronged attempt to reshape student lunches in Oakland to the addition of vegan options in the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, K-12 schools across California are rethinking and reformulating student meals.

No more tater tots? California schools put healthier lunches to the test

October 21, 2019 at 11:23 a.m.

When Miguel Villarreal addresses a crowded education conference, a group of school district administrators or a room full of curious parents, he often holds aloft a foil-wrapped package of Pop-Tarts...

Alisha Colyer applied for St. Joseph Medical Center's charity care around 2007 when her husband went to the emergency room for pneumonia. But the issue was never settled and years later a collection of medical bills helped push the couple into bankruptcy.

Patients eligible for charity care instead get big bills

October 18, 2019 at 12:53 p.m.

When Ashley Pintos went to the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., in 2016, with a sharp pain in her abdomen and no insurance, a representative...

Medicare fraudsters now tap telemedicine in medical equipment scams

October 18, 2019 at 12:49 p.m.

Dean Ernest had been living in a nursing home about a year when his son, John, got a call last winter asking if his father was experiencing back pain and...

Mark Asbrock, of Fairfield, Ohio, vapes while listening to speakers during a pro vaping rally on October 1, 2019, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

‘We vape, we vote’: How vaping crackdowns are politicizing vapers

October 16, 2019 at 11:48 a.m.

Vapers across the country are swarming Twitter, the White House comment line and statehouse steps with the message "We Vape, We Vote." They're speaking out after a slew of attacks...

"Quitlines" were designed to help people kick cigarette habits. Now, calls and texts from people who use e-cigarettes are climbing as more fall ill with a mysterious lung illness linked to vaping.

As vaping illnesses rise, so do pleas to quit-smoking help lines

October 14, 2019 at 11:22 a.m.

"I stopped for a few days and then I ended up buying new pods. The withdrawals got to me." "My friends are the ones who got me into vaping. And...

As Medicare enrollment nears, popular price comparison tool is missing

October 9, 2019 at 11:12 a.m.

Millions of older adults can start signing up next week for private policies offering Medicare drug and medical coverage for 2020. But many risk wasting money and even jeopardizing their...

Lori Pinkley has struggled with chronic pain since she was a teenager, but she's found relief from ultra-low doses of naltrexone, a drug that at higher doses is used to treat treat opioid addiction.

In tiny doses, an addiction medication moonlights as treatment for chronic pain

October 16, 2019 at 7:41 a.m.

Lori Pinkley, a 50-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri, has struggled with puzzling chronic pain since she was 15. She has had countless disappointing visits with doctors. Some said they couldn't...

Doctors and regional officials in Wisconsin, Illinois and elsewhere pieced together that a mysterious respiratory illness was much larger than it appeared. Their efforts linking the illness to vaping is a tale of teamwork, communication and long-serving public health officials tapping into their networks in an era of limited public health funding and diminished public health infrastructure.

Meet the health officials who alerted the world to the alarming vaping illness

October 3, 2019 at 3:26 p.m.

Dr. Lynn D'Andrea knew something was amiss when three teenagers with similar mysterious, dangerous lung injuries came into the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin one after another, gasping for air. As...

These health officials alerted the world to the alarming vaping illness

October 9, 2019 at 10:31 a.m.

Dr. Lynn D'Andrea knew something was amiss when three teenagers with similar mysterious, dangerous lung injuries came into the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin one after another, gasping for air. As...

Some college students might be surprised to know that they could potentially qualify for no-cost Medicaid, the public health insurance program for people with low income.

What college students need to learn about health insurance

October 16, 2019 at 7:40 a.m.

Health insurance may not be top of mind for the 2.9 million freshmen nationwide who just started college, but it's important. Whether you're an undergrad or graduate student, your options...

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