News Release Archives

Poll: Nearly Half of Adults Would Be Interested in Prescription Weight-Loss Drugs, But Enthusiasm Fades Based on Lack of Coverage and Risk of Regaining Weight

Aug 4, 2023

News Release

Nearly half (45%) of the public are at least somewhat interested in taking a prescription weight-loss drug, including many who say they only want to lose a little weight, though many people lose interest when presented with potential financial and medical drawbacks, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll reveals.The poll gauges the public’s interest in using prescription drugs to lose weight as a relatively new class of drugs, initially approved to treat diabetes, is garnering…

New KFF Health News Podcast Explores How the Eradication of Smallpox in India Informs Public Health Ambitions and Challenges in 2023

Jul 18, 2023

News Release

KFF Health News today launched a new limited-series podcast, "Epidemic: Eradicating Smallpox," with host Dr. Céline Gounder, senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. The eight-episode podcast takes listeners on a journey to South Asia, the site of the last days of variola major smallpox. There, public health workers from India, Bangladesh, and around the world did what many thought was impossible: eradicate smallpox. "Eradicating smallpox was one of humanity’s greatest…

U.S. Has the Highest Rate of Gun Deaths for Children and Teens Among Peer Countries

Jul 18, 2023

News Release

Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations, according to a new KFF analysis. This puts the U.S. far ahead of peer nations in child and teen firearm deaths. Data show that U.S. firearm deaths for children and teens again surpassed motor vehicle deaths – the second leading…

One Year After the Launch of 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Hotline Has Received Nearly 5 Million Combined Calls, Texts, and Chats

Jul 14, 2023

News Release

Since its launch in July 2022, the 988 national suicide and crisis hotline has received about 4 million contacts, a 33 percent increase from the year before, according to a new KFF analysis of publicly available data through May 2023. The contacts include more than 2.6 million calls, over 740,000 chats, and more than 600,000 texts. The total number of contacts rises to almost 5 million when nearly 1 million additional contacts from the Veterans…

In 2022, Donor Governments Spent US$8.2 billion on Efforts to Fight HIV/AIDS Globally, Returning to 2020 Funding Levels and Still Below the High-water Mark of Almost a Decade Ago

Jul 13, 2023

News Release

A new report from KFF and The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reveals that donor governments disbursed US$8.2 billion in 2022 to combat HIV in low- and middle-income countries, returning to 2020 funding levels and still below the high-water mark of $8.6 billion in 2014. The funding supports HIV care and treatment, prevention, and other services in low- and middle-income countries. Although total donor government funding for HIV increased in 2022 compared to…

10 Prescription Drugs Accounted for $48 Billion in Medicare Part D Spending in 2021, or More Than One-Fifth of Part D Spending That Year

Jul 12, 2023

News Release

A new KFF analysis finds that the 10 top-selling prescription drugs under Medicare Part D comprised less than 1 percent of all covered drugs in 2021, but accounted for 22 percent, or $48 billion, of gross Medicare Part D drug spending that year. The analysis provides context for understanding the federal government’s new authority under the Inflation Reduction Act to negotiate prices for some high-spending drugs covered by Part D, Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug benefit…

New KFF Analysis Examines Rapidly Evolving Federal Policies For Substance Use Disorder Treatment for the Opioid Epidemic

Jul 11, 2023

News Release

A new KFF analysis finds that 24 percent more buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, was dispensed in 2022 than in 2019, the year before the pandemic brought a surge of opioid overdose deaths – and a focus on how to expand access and treatment. This upward trend in buprenorphine distribution, already in motion before the pandemic, continued throughout the COVID public health crisis, suggesting continued improvements in access to treatment even as…

Medicaid Expansion Has Had Beneficial Effects on Some Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes

Jun 29, 2023

News Release

A new KFF review of more than three dozen studies published between April 2021 and June 2023 finds that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act is associated with beneficial effects on a range of sexual and reproductive health outcomes. The studies, which echo findings of previous research, find that Medicaid expansion is associated with increased health insurance coverage prior to and after pregnancy, as well as increased access to, and utilization of, both prenatal…

What Do We Know About People with HIV Who Are Not Engaged in Regular HIV Care?

Jun 22, 2023

News Release

A new KFF analysis finds that between 2018 and 2020, one-in-five (21%) adults diagnosed with HIV were out of care. Compared to adults who were receiving regular HIV care, adults who were out of care were more likely to be Black and to report challenges in their interactions with the health system, multiple and complex barriers to accessing health care services, and unmet needs for ancillary care. Adults who were out of care were not…

New KFF National Survey of OBGYNs Finds Dobbs Decision Has Made It Harder to Treat Miscarriages and Other Pregnancy-Related Emergencies in Affected States; In States with Bans, Half Report Patients Who Were Unable to Obtain an Abortion They Sought

Jun 21, 2023

News Release

A new KFF survey of office-based OBGYNs finds widespread effects on their practices and patients since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization one year ago. In states with abortion bans, half say that they have patients who have been unable to obtain an abortion, about four in ten say that they have faced constraints on their care for miscarriages and pregnancy-related emergencies, and six in ten (61%) express concerns about…

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