Kellie Schmitt

Looking for story leads on the underlying factors driving health in your community? The 2018 County Health Rankings offer a wealth of datapoints on what influences a community’s health.

Two of the country's leading researchers and a top reporter on gun violence in the U.S. discuss how to cover the epidemic of violence as an urgent and overlooked public health problem.

While ACA repeal efforts have stalled, the individual mandate is gone and Medicaid work requirements are proliferating. Two expert observers weigh in on states' growing role in shaping health policy.

After the state expanded Medicaid under the ACA, Washington state health officials noticed that people who were focused on survival were letting their health needs fall by the wayside.

The use of crowdfunding to cover medical costs has grown rapidly in recent years. The trend provides insights into gaps in health coverage, but also poses some problems health reporters should keep in mind.

Experts increasingly point to the high cost of care in America — not necessarily the overuse of care — as the chronic illness of the U.S. system. Here's one model for reporting on the story in your local market.

The opioid epidemic has given rise to an illicit gold rush as patient brokers and treatment centers profit off desperate addicts, funneling them to shoddy treatment centers and fraudulent “sober” homes at a profit of thousands per head.

According to one recent report, Alabama ranks highest when in scores for American Indian children, while Maine is tops for Latinos. What’s going on here?

In the wake of recent reports that the 2020 Census is facing a funding shortfall, advocates worry about the consequences of undercounting vulnerable populations.

A recently-published Stanford University study found that race influences the quality of care premature babies receive. Though, the lead researcher was clear that the study was not about uncovering racial bias.