Nurses Fighting State By State For Minimum Staffing Laws
Nurses say understaffing at hospitals should be illegal; hospitals say the laws tie their hands.
D.C. Hospitals And Nurses Fight Over Staffing Ratios
Hospitals say a proposal requiring minimum nurse-to-patient ratios would put them out of business. Nurses say the ratios are needed to ensure quality care.
Drug Coupons: A Good Deal For The Patient, But Not The Insurer
Makers of brand-name prescription drugs often offer discounts to help defray patients’ co-pay costs, but insurers say that drives up their overall health spending.
Medicaid Helps D.C. Clinic Care For Ex-Prisoners
After their release, former prisoners often don’t have a job and, therefore, don’t have health insurance. The health law’s Medicaid expansion could be changing that soon, though.
KHN has assembled an overview of Mitt Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts and the positions he has taken on the campaign trail.
Ten Things You Didn’t Know Were In The Affordable Care Act
The 2010 health law’s big-ticket items have been the stuff of political debate and policy controversy. But the law’s hundreds of pages include a number of other initiatives that have gained much less notice.
Study: Mass. Global Payment Approach Lowers Costs, Improves Care
There’s some encouraging news in the ongoing struggle to control health care costs without sacrificing quality. The Alternative Quality Contract, a global payment model put in place by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in 2009, has both curbed costs and improved the quality of care, according to a Harvard Medical School study published today […]
Costs Of Raising Children Grows, And Health Care Is A Big Reason
What’s the matter with kids today? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they’re more expensive. The USDA released its annual report Thursday on how much it costs to raise a child. The grand total for a child born in 2011 is $234,900 — $295, 560 if inflation is factored in — for all child-related […]
Number Of Cancer Survivors Growing, But So Are Their Health Problems
Two studies released this week paint a good news/bad news picture of life after cancer. The good news is that the number of cancer survivors in the U.S. is expected to increase by about 30 percent during the next decade to nearly 18 million, according to a report published this morning by the American Cancer Society […]
Secrets And Electronic Health Records: A Privacy Concern
Does your orthodontist or opthamologist need to know what you tell your psychotherapist in order to provide you with quality care? In the age of electronic medical records, a whole range of health care providers may have access to this information whether you want them to or not. The issue of how to ensure that […]
To Curb Spending On Elderly, Hospitals Try New Business Models
Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the massive storm cloud that is Medicare’s spiraling health care costs. The storm cloud, of course, is the out-of-control spending on health care for the elderly. For instance, more than 13 percent of all federal spending goes toward Medicare. Two thirds of that spending goes to the […]
As Patients’ Records Go Digital, Theft And Hacking Problems Grow
Data breaches put HHS
Feds Seek To Reduce Disparities In Childhood Asthma Rates
What do agriculture, transportation and justice have to do with childhood asthma? More than you think. Federal public health officials today announced a new inter-agency task force designed to eliminate the racial and ethnic gap among children suffering from asthma. The Departments of Agriculture, Justice and Transportation — as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and […]
