Some children are healthy enough to leave the hospital after a medical stay but have no place to go. Across the country, the practice of allowing children to remain hospitalized “beyond medical necessity” has become a costly problem, and states have struggled to address the issue.

Decades of research indicate that interventions that bring down people’s cost of living, such as ensuring they have access to stable housing and food, are linked to lower suicide rates.

The White House’s strategy for tackling the drug and addiction crisis, released this week, sets lofty public health goals but highlights deep inconsistencies with the administration’s own funding cuts and other policies.

Witnessing a shooting, hearing gunfire, losing someone, or living in a violent area can leave people with chronic pain and stress long afterward.

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Democrats and Republicans on a House panel that oversees Medicare had strong words about high hospital pricing at a hearing this week, but it remains unclear whether reality will match the rhetoric when it comes to reining in those prices. Meanwhile, a study found the 988 suicide prevention hotline reduced suicides significantly in its first two years. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Using Hurricane Helene as a teachable moment, a group of doctors outlined concrete steps that lawmakers can take to reverse a crisis in getting substance use medications during natural disasters.

Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. It’s a tragic and entrenched problem. A new approach to prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies that give people reasons to live.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completed his tour of House and Senate committees this week, ostensibly to promote President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for his department but also to answer for some of his more controversial positions, particularly on vaccines. Meanwhile, Trump signed an order to facilitate the use of hallucinogens to treat mental health conditions. Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, as part of our “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews Harvard public health professor David Blumenthal.

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