Kyle Pfannenstiel

Kyle Pfannenstiel

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Kyle Pfannenstiel is a reporter for the Idaho Capital Sun focusing on health care. He previously covered rural health care and the COVID-19 pandemic for the Post Register and Report for America and worked as a night reporter at the Idaho Press. He fell in love with storytelling as a reporter at The Argonaut, the student newspaper at University of Idaho, and later worked as media relations manager at the university. His family is from Idaho Falls. He lives in Boise, where he spends his time cycling, brewing coffee and walking with his two small poodles.

Instagram’s parent company to pay Idaho up to $127M to settle social media addiction lawsuit
Idaho could receive more than $100 million under a settlement in a child social media addiction lawsuit by the tech giant Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram. The settlement, announced Wednesday, was reached in the midst of a lawsuit trial...
Idaho State Police want to speed up DNA tests. The state just broke ground on a new forensic lab.
Correction: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. due to incorrect information shared by Idaho State Police about the funding source for the new facility. The forensics lab’s construction is funded through state general funds appropriated in 2022 through House...
Idaho law student writes bill to ban sale of human remains — before she can even practice law
When Desalyn Swank applied to law school at University of Idaho, she said she made it clear she wanted to reform the state’s laws. Before her first year at law school ended, she already had. This year, the Idaho Legislature...
Governor appoints justice to Idaho Supreme Court to fill upcoming vacancy
Idaho Gov. Brad Little named an Idaho Supreme Court justice to fill a vacancy left by the retiring chief justice. Little appointed Fourth District Judge Jason Scott to fill outgoing Chief Justice Richard Bevan’s seat on the state’s highest court...
After falling out, East Idaho hospital reaches deal to re-join network for health insurer
After a public contract dispute that led an East Idaho hospital to become out of network with a major health insurer, the two businesses agreed to a contract. The deal brings Portneuf Medical Center in-network for Regence BlueShield of Idaho...
Southwest Idaho resident contracts meningitis from West Nile Virus infection, health officials say
A Canyon County resident over the age of 65 is Idaho’s first reported human case of West Nile virus meningitis this year, public health officials announced Monday. The infected person was hospitalized but is recovering at home, the Idaho Department...
In Idaho, an insurer says health care costs may rise after hospital taps Congress’s billing tool
Months after one of Idaho’s largest health insurers asked the state for help with unusual billing practices by a North Idaho hospital, the insurer is still waiting for assistance. Blue Cross argues that Post Falls ER & Hospital is out-of-network...
In Idaho, health officials are trying to curb the rat infestation — with a $250K fund
The board that oversees Idaho’s largest public health district on Friday approved a quarter million dollar fund to fight invasive rats. The Central District Health board approved $250,000 in unspent reserve funds toward a “rodent abatement and prevention project.” The...
If Idaho insurer met hospital’s pay raise, state employees’ costs would rise, official says
A new working group of state lawmakers tasked with probing the practices of health insurers is laying out its goals. At its first meeting, members of the Idaho Legislature’s Health Insurers Working Group lobbed questions for nearly an hour at...
These paramedics do more than emergency calls. Idaho wants more of them. This grant could help.
Dave Walls remembers winning an argument with Medicaid. At first, the state-run public assistance program wouldn’t cover an in-home caregiving service for a patient that he was helping out. But after he pointed out coverage guidelines on the state’s website...
After contract dispute with East Idaho hospital, Legislature’s task force to study health insurers
After a major health insurer dropped an East Idaho hospital from its network, Idaho Republican legislative leaders founded a new working group of state lawmakers tasked with studying the practices of health insurance companies. The formation of the taskforce, formally...
Idaho reports three heat-related deaths amid hot, smoky weather
Three Idahoans over the age of 55 died from heat-related complications in the past week, state health officials announced Thursday. The cluster of deaths — the first heat-related deaths reported in Idaho this year — came as temperatures in the...