Elisabeth Rosenthal
KFF Health News
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Elisabeth:
Guns Are the Biggest Public Health Threat Kids Face. Why Aren’t They Getting the Message?
Today’s public service announcements on gun safety feel somewhat sanitized. It’s time to act with the same kind of visceral public campaign that helped de-glorify smoking. Would filmmakers commit t… → Read More
The Debt Crisis That Sick Americans Can’t Avoid
The federal government is stepping in to assist student loan borrowers. But little public attention has been focused on what is — statistically, at least — a bigger, broader debt crisis in our coun… → Read More
Will the US Overcome Its Covid Complacency Even as the Threat Returns?
One million Americans have died from covid-19 — far more per capita than in any other developed country. A new variant is doubling case rates in some states, and more than 300 people are dying a da… → Read More
Is My Drug Copay Coupon a Form of Charity — Or a Bribe?
Drug copayment assistance is a form of profitable charity — and, yes, that’s an oxymoron. Amid skyrocketing drug prices, it’s understandable that patients desperately need help affording medi… → Read More
The end of the Covid emergency could mean a huge loss of health insurance
If there has been a silver lining to this terrible covid-19 pandemic, it is that the rate of Americans without health insurance dropped to a near-historic low, in response to various federal initia… → Read More
The End of the Covid Emergency Could Mean a Huge Loss of Health Insurance
It is a perilous time to throw low- and middle-income Americans off the insurance cliff: A new omicron subvariant is spreading, and a program that provided coronavirus testing and covid-19 treatmen… → Read More
Polio, Chickenpox, Measles, Now Covid. It’s Time to Consult History on School Vaccine Mandates
As some states adopt covid vaccine requirements, not everyone agrees mandates for children are the way forward. Taking a page from history: We have two paths to putting the pandemic behind us: a qu… → Read More
Public opinion is unified on lowering drug prices. Why are leaders settling for less?
Democrats and Republicans are crystal clear in polls that they want government to be allowed to negotiate down high drug prices. Americans pay nearly three times as much for drugs as patients in do… → Read More
Public Opinion Is Unified on Lowering Drug Prices. Why Are Leaders Settling for Less?
Politicians and many health experts have done their best to see the glass half-full in the plan put forward by congressional Democrats and the president. But it’s “a far cry” from what other nation… → Read More
Analysis: A Procedure That Cost $1,775 in New York Was $350 in Maryland. Here’s Why.
The state’s unique health system controls what hospitals can charge for services. → Read More
The Checkup Is in the Mail? Soliciting Letter Carriers to Help Deliver Health Care
Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: Have letter carriers spend less time delivering mail and take time to perform home visits and basic health checks on the growing population of frail and elderly. → Read More
Don’t want a vaccine? Be prepared to pay more for insurance.
The vaccine resisters offer all kinds of reasons for ignoring efforts to nudge them to get inoculated. So, how about an economic argument? Get a COVID-19 shot to protect your wallet. → Read More
Don’t want a Covid vaccine? Be prepared to pay more for insurance
Insurers could try to penalize unvaccinated people. → Read More
Analysis: Don’t Want a Vaccine? Be Prepared to Pay More for Insurance.
Health insurers could do more to encourage vaccination, including letting the unvaccinated foot their bills. → Read More
Analysis: Necessary or Not, COVID-19 Booster Shots Are Probably on the Horizon
In today’s pharmaceutical universe, a simple “safe and effective” determination by the Food and Drug Administration to approve a drug can be manipulated to sell products of questionable value. And drugmakers can profit handsomely. → Read More
Why We May Never Know Whether the $56,000-a-Year Alzheimer’s Drug Actually Works
It could take years for follow-up studies to prove Aduhelm slows the disease — or doesn’t. Meanwhile, its maker will profit. → Read More
Analysis: Why We’ll Likely Never Know Whether a COVID-19 Lab Leak Happened in China
If international scientific sleuths are hoping to see a lab log or find a whistleblower, that sort of information won’t be revealed. In China today, it is dangerous to say what you know if it challenges the official government narrative. → Read More
Telemedicine Is a Tool — Not a Replacement for Your Doctor’s Touch
The pandemic has demonstrated that virtual medicine is great for simple visits. But many new types of telemedicine promoted by start-ups more clearly benefit providers’ and investors’ pockets, rath… → Read More
Analysis: How the US Invested in the War on Terrorism at the Cost of Public Health
After 9/11, as our defenses against international and bioterrorism hardened, our defenses against infectious diseases shrank. By the time a deadly virus arrived on our shores last year, nearly two-thirds of Americans were living in counties that spend more than twice as much on policing as they spend on public health. → Read More
Analysis: The Trump Health Care Policies That Deserve to Stick Around
President Joe Biden may want to continue the previous administration’s efforts to lower drug prices and make medical costs transparent. → Read More