Policy-ish : Shots - Health News Who gets what sort of care often boils down to big decisions about policy. Find the latest on the federal health overhaul, the intersection of government regulation and health, and the battle to contain costs.
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On Wednesday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in a two-pill regimen to provide abortion and miscarriage care. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Facing public pressure, federal regulators have decided to let patients receive prescriptions for controlled substances via telehealth for at least another six months. d3sign/Getty Images hide caption

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d3sign/Getty Images

The pandemic-era rule that lets you get telehealth prescriptions just got extended

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Dustin and Jaci Statton in an engagement photo from 2021. Jaci found out she had a partial molar pregnancy and couldn't get the abortion she needed in Oklahoma. They traveled to Kansas for care. Rachel Megan Photography hide caption

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Rachel Megan Photography

'I'll lose my family.' A husband's dread during an abortion ordeal in Oklahoma

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Larry Jordan, 74, served 38 years in an Alabama prison and is in poor health now. One reason the U.S. trails other developed countries in life expectancy, experts say, is that it has more people behind bars and keeps them there far longer. Charity Rachelle/KFF Health News hide caption

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Charity Rachelle/KFF Health News

States filed lawsuits against corporations involved in the opioid crisis. Now, about $50 billion in settlement funds have begun to flow to state governments. Advocates want to make sure it is used to treat addiction. ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Hospice provides vital end-of-life support and palliative care to terminally ill patients. But it's costing Medicare billions. A new approach would eliminate waste in the program. Westend61/Getty Images hide caption

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Westend61/Getty Images

Your tax form could be a fast track to getting signed up for subsidized health insurance or Medicaid in certain states. d3sign/Getty Images hide caption

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d3sign/Getty Images

A smart move on tax day: Sign up for health insurance using your state's tax forms

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Wellspring Health Access clinic was set to open in June 2022 in Casper, Wyo., when it was damaged by arson in late May, 2022. If it opens this year, the women's health and abortion clinic would be the only one of its kind in the state. Mead Gruver/AP hide caption

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Mead Gruver/AP

The Affordable Care Act saw a record number of sign ups this year, but some people are having trouble finding doctors in their health plan networks. Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

A homeless encampment along a street in Skid Row on Dec. 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Two days earlier, LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency regarding homelessness in the city, where an estimated 40,000 residents are unhoused. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

When homelessness and mental illness overlap, is forced treatment compassionate?

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Dr. Leah Rethy is an internal medicine resident with Penn Medicine. Kimberly Paynter/WHYY hide caption

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Kimberly Paynter/WHYY

80-hour weeks and roaches near your cot? More medical residents unionize

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Samuel Camacho, a health insurance navigator with the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, assists people in enrolling for or renewing Medicaid. Maddie McGarvey for NPR hide caption

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Maddie McGarvey for NPR

Medicaid renewals are starting. Those who don't reenroll could get kicked off

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Prescription drug coverage is just one part of Medicare, the federal government's health insurance program for people age 65 and over. d3sign/Getty Images hide caption

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Why Medicare is suddenly under debate again

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The Texas State Capitol in Austin. Teens in the state can no longer get free birth control through federal Title X clinics without getting parental permission first. Eric Gay/AP hide caption

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Eric Gay/AP

Marcus and Allyson Ward were paying off a debt dating back to the birth of their twins, Theo and Milo. They are among 100 million Americans with medical debt, according to a KHN/NPR investigation. Taylor Glascock for KHN and NPR hide caption

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Taylor Glascock for KHN and NPR

Biophysicist He Jiankui addressed the last international summit on human genome editing in Hong Kong in 2018. His experiments in altering the genetic makeup of human embryos was widely condemned by scientists and ethicists at the time, and still casts a long shadow over this week's summit in London. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Experts weigh medical advances in gene-editing with ethical dilemmas

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Congress gave the Food and Drug Administration more power to hold drugmakers accountable as part of the mammoth spending bill that became law in December 2022. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

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Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

FDA has new leverage over companies looking for a quicker drug approval

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Jen Coghlan outside the home where she grew up in Perry, Iowa. Her father, Henry Ruhl, plans to leave the house to her, but Coghlan expects she'll have to sell it after he dies to settle a $226,611 from Medicaid for the care of her mother, who died in 2022. Coghlan says the family didn't realize that her mother was on Medicaid. KC McGinnis for KHN hide caption

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KC McGinnis for KHN

Lauren Miller, of Dallas, Texas, says that her state's abortion laws added to the stress and turmoil her family faced after one of her twins was diagnosed with a fatal condition in utero. Nitashia Johnson for NPR hide caption

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Nitashia Johnson for NPR

3 abortion bans in Texas leave doctors 'talking in code' to pregnant patients

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When he was in prison, Lee Reed was in agonizing back pain. His doctors told him he needed back surgery, because he was close to his release date, they said he'd have to get it done on the outside. Amy Osborne for Tradeoffs hide caption

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Amy Osborne for Tradeoffs

Red and blue states look to Medicaid to improve the health of people leaving prison

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