MENLO PARK, Calif. – Amid a major federal health-reform debate, the Kaiser Family Foundation this month launched Kaiser Health News, a news service and Web site staffed by veteran health-policy journalists and editors and focused on in-depth reporting.

KHN will distribute its stories, news summaries, interviews and multimedia content at www.kaiserhealthnews.org and through major media outlets such as The Washington Post and National Public Radio. All content will be available for free to the public and the media.

Topics to be covered include national and state-level health care reform efforts, Medicare and Medicaid, policy challenges such as the financing of long-term care consumer issues.

The primary funding for KHN comes from Kaiser’s own budget, drawn from its endowment. In addition, The SCAN Foundation has provided a three-year grant to support in-depth coverage of health care issues of concern to America’s senior population. •