Latest KFF Health News Stories
Holistic Mental Health Treatments Gaining Traction, As More Shy Away From Medication
For the first time in this country, experts say, psychiatry’s critics are mounting a sustained, broadly based effort to provide people with practical options.
The Tiny Patch Of Land In Miami That’s A Zika Hot Zone
The New York Times offers a profile on the mosquito mecca that is a 500-square-foot section in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Meanwhile, officials investigate the first possible homegrown case outside of Miami, cooler temperatures keep mosquitoes away from the Olympics and the big players in pharma are sitting out the race for a vaccine.
Arthritis Medication At Center Of Biosimilar Battle Between AbbVie And Amgen
In other pharmaceutical news, Pfizer closes a plant in India. And news outlets cover efforts to sync up drug refill timelines as well as proposed legislation to prevent overmedicating California foster children.
Doctor Shortages A Roadblock To Bringing Back Needed House-Call Model
More than half of Americans live more than 30 miles away from full-time providers of home-based medical care, a new study finds, but there just aren’t enough doctors and nurses to offer the care they need.
In Effort To Curb Errors, Hospitals Encourage New Residents To Ask For Help
The goal of the program is to increase communication between newer residents who are more reluctant to ask questions and more seasoned doctors who can help.
Feds To Crack Down On Abuse Of Nursing Home Patients On Social Media
The move by regulators comes after a media report about facility employees posting demeaning photos and videos of nursing home residents to platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram.
GOP Policy Experts Begin Etching Health Law ‘Grand Bargain’ In Case Of Clinton Presidency
They’re particularly focused on waivers that would allow states to replace the law’s insurance exchange structure with their own models.
Insurers In Tennessee Get OK To Refile Higher Rate Requests
The state’s insurance regulator said the decision was made to prevent possible withdrawal from the exchanges. In other health law news, some colleges in Ohio are dropping student health insurance.
Study: ACA’s Expanded Medicaid Safety Net Dramatically Improving Access To Care
The study finds that in states that have expanded Medicaid patients were 16.1 percentage points more likely to have had a checkup in the past year, and 12 points more likely to be getting regular care for a chronic condition.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Elderly Hospital Patients Arrive Sick, Often Leave Disabled
Some hospitals try to avoid sharp declines in the health of elderly patients by treating them in special units geared to their specific needs. This story is the first in a KHN series on the challenges hospitals face with an aging population.
1965: The Year That Brought Civil Rights To The Nation’s Hospitals
A conversation with author David Barton Smith examines how civil rights activists working at the Social Security Administration and the Public Health Service in the 1960s used the new Medicare law to end racial discrimination at hospitals.
‘Lost In Translation:’ Hospitals’ Language Service Capacity Doesn’t Always Match Need
A study in Health Affairs finds that nationwide hospital-based language services are not available in a systematic way.
In Later Years, Disabilities End Blacks’ Active Lives Sooner Than Whites’
Elderly black women suffer most from shorter active life expectancy free of disabilities, showing no improvement since the early 1980s, Health Affairs study finds.
Syncing Up Drug Refills: A Way To Get Patients To Take Their Medicine
A study published in Health Affairs concludes that the idea of coordinating prescription refill timelines for people with multiple chronic conditions could improve their medication adherence and health outcomes.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Outlets report on health news from California, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Virginia and Illinois.
In Ohio, CareSource Helps Medicaid Beneficiaries With More Than Health Care
Also, Kansas Health Institute reports that the state has cleared the waiting list for Medicaid physical disability services.
Homeless Health Care Led To Innovations Like EHRs, Integrated Practices And Mobile Medicine
In other public health news, researchers study the impact of the 24-hour news cycle on mass shootings. And other news stories cover a development in Alzheimer’s research, a link between asthma and fracking and a controversial study on flossing benefits.
When A State Has No Insanity Plea, Those With Serious Mental Illness Face Harsh Sentences
NPR’s Shots continues its report on the use of the “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea.