Latest KFF Health News Stories
A Peek at Big Pharma’s Playbook That Leaves Many Americans Unable to Afford Their Drugs
Brand-name drug prices in the U.S. — more than three times the price in other developed countries — are related neither to the amount of research and development required to bring them to market nor their therapeutic value, recent research shows. Have drugmakers overplayed their hand?
A New Medicare Proposal Would Cover Training for Family Caregivers
The federal government is proposing having Medicare pay professionals to train family caregivers how to perform tasks like bathing and dressing their loved ones, and properly use medical equipment.
Médicos son reacios a preguntar el estatus migratorio de pacientes, a pesar de nueva ley de Florida
Médicos, enfermeras y expertos en política sanitaria afirman que la ley ataca a personas marginadas que ya tienen dificultades para navegar el sistema de salud y que les disuadirá aún más de buscar ayuda médica.
Community With High Medical Debt Questions Its Hospitals’ Charity Spending
Pueblo, Colorado, residents have higher-than-average medical debt, while the city’s two tax-exempt hospitals provide relatively low levels of charity care.
Doctors Hesitate to Ask About Patients’ Immigration Status Despite New Florida Law
Florida’s new immigration law requires hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status at admission and in emergency rooms, and report that information plus the cost of care for residents without legal status. Doctors and nurses who oppose the policy seem reluctant to criticize lawmakers for fear of political retribution.
North Carolina Hospitals Have Sued Thousands of Their Patients, a New Report Finds
An analysis of court records by the state treasurer and Duke researchers finds Atrium Health, originally a public hospital system, accounted for almost a third of the legal actions against North Carolina patients over roughly five years.
Feds Say Hospitals That Redistribute Medicaid Money Violate Law
Federal officials are trying to clamp down on private arrangements among some hospitals to pay themselves back for the Medicaid taxes they’ve paid. State health officials and the influential hospital industry argue that regulators have no jurisdiction over the agreements.
Funyuns and Flu Shots? Gas Station Company Ventures Into Urgent Care
A Tulsa-based gas station chain is using its knowledge of how to serve customers and locate shops in easy-to-find spots to enter the urgent care industry, which has doubled in size over the past decade. Experts question how the explosion of convenient clinics will affect care costs and wait times.
Promising Better, Cheaper Care, Kaiser Permanente’s National Expansion Faces Wide Skepticism
Kaiser Permanente, the California-based health care giant, is looking to dramatically expand its national presence. It’s committed $5 billion to a new unit called Risant Health and has agreed to acquire Pennsylvania-based Geisinger, but skeptics wonder how it will export its unique model to other states.
Patients in California County May See Refunds, Debt Relief From Charity Care Settlement
As hospitals are criticized for skimping on financial assistance, Santa Clara County has agreed to notify 43,000 former patients of possible billing reductions as part of a settlement. Some patients had sued, alleging the county’s hospital system sent them to collections for bills they shouldn’t have received.
Proposed Rule Would Make Hospital Prices Even More Transparent
A Biden administration proposal would help standardize the data on prices that hospitals provide to patients, increase its usefulness to consumers, and boost enforcement. Previous rules gave hospitals too many loopholes.
Parents See Own Health Spiral as Their Kids’ Mental Illnesses Worsen
The day-to-day struggles that parents of kids with mental health conditions must navigate have led to their own crisis: The stress can take a physical toll that disrupts parents’ ability to provide care, say psychologists, researchers, and advocates for families.
Journalists Sum Up the Costs to Patients of New Weight Loss Drugs and Hospital Mergers
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Pruebas de sangre para detectar cáncer generan esperanza, pero también preocupación
Muchos expertos dicen que aún no está claro si las pruebas hacen más bien que mal, y que tener una ya disponible comercialmente les preocupa.
Watch: As Opioid Settlement Money Starts to Flow, States and Local Officials Debate How to Use It
PBS NewsHour featured KFF Health News’ Aneri Pattani as it reported on how this debate is playing out in North Carolina and Ohio.
Your Exorbitant Medical Bill, Brought to You by the Latest Hospital Merger
After decades of unchecked mergers, health care is the land of giants, with huge medical systems monopolizing care in many cities, states, and even whole regions of the country. This decreases patient choice, impedes innovation, erodes quality of care, and raises prices. And federal regulators have been slow to act.
New Alzheimer’s Drug Raises Hopes — Along With Questions
Clinics serving Alzheimer’s patients are working out the details of who will get treated with the new drug Leqembi. It won’t be for everyone with memory-loss symptoms.
A Blood Test That Screens for Cancer: Does It Do More Harm Than Good?
The first of a new wave of cancer-detection blood tests likely saved Gilbert Milam Jr.’s life. But many cancer researchers, wary of overtesting, argue it’s premature to prescribe the Galleri test widely.
Lo que hay que saber para no perder Medicaid
Gran parte de los beneficiarios de Medicaid que perdieron la cobertura fue porque no completaron el papeleo necesario para permanecer en el seguro.
Voters Rejected an Anti-Abortion Measure. State GOP Lawmakers Passed a Similar Bill Anyway.
The new Montana law contains a couple of significant differences from the measure voters rebuffed last fall.
