Latest KFF Health News Stories
Sickle Cell Patients, Families And Doctors Face A ‘Fight For Everything’
Premature death, a dearth of treatments, mistreatment in emergency rooms and a woeful lack of funding are just a few of the problems confronting people with sickle cell disease.
Medicare Penalizes Group Of 751 Hospitals For Patient Injuries
Each hospital will have its payments reduced by 1 percent for the year.
Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
Genetic testing firms declare bankruptcy and wipe out debt to the federal government.
In Era Of Increased Competition, Hospitals Fret Over Ratings
Hospitals are jockeying for patients and view the many different quality and safety ratings as a keen way to distinguish their services. But when those ratings nosedive, a hospital may retaliate.
Opioids After Surgery Left Her Addicted. Is That A Medical Error?
Doctors prescribed powerful opioids for a patient after back surgery but gave her little guidance on how to take them safely. Then, she says, they misdiagnosed her withdrawal symptoms. Some experts say this situation is akin to a hospital-acquired condition.
Your Plumber Offers A Money-Back Guarantee. Should Your Doctor?
Even though consumers don’t expect to pay for faulty service or goods, they are often forced to pay for bad health care. But a small number of hospitals and doctors are seeking to change that practice.
CVS-Aetna Merger A Bid To Bring Down Costs, Gain Competitive Edge
What will the mega-merger mean for consumers and the health care industry? Senior correspondent Chad Terhune offers insight.
Whistleblower: Medicaid Managed-Care Firm Improperly Denied Care To Thousands
An explosive report prepared by a SynerMed executive alleges the California firm, which oversaw care for 1.2 million patients, fabricated documents and violated state and federal regulations for years. The state says it left low-income patients on Medicaid managed care in “imminent danger.”
Hospitals With History Get A Second Life
The number of hospitals across the country has plummeted, but many old buildings are being resuscitated as apartments and condos.
Doctors Make Big Money Testing Urine For Drugs, Then Ignore Abnormal Results
Medicare and insurers struggle to oversee a booming business in testing urine samples. In some cases, pain doctors’ lack of follow-through can turn fatal.
Health Giant Sutter Destroys Evidence In Crucial Antitrust Case Over High Prices
“‘Fingers crossed’ that I haven’t authorized something the FTC will hunt me down for,” a staffer wrote after destroying the documents. Sutter, a huge Northern California Health system with 24 hospitals, said it destroyed them by mistake.
California Fines Anthem $5 Million For Failing to Address Consumer Grievances
The Department of Managed Health Care cited one example in which consumers and advocates had to call the insurer 22 times to contest a decision. Still, the complaint still was not resolved until the department became involved.
California Firm Running Physician Practices Is Closing Down as Scrutiny Ramps Up
State regulators and insurers are looking into SynerMed, which medical groups depend upon to handle their finances and business operations. The groups, serving 1 million patients, fear a messy fallout.
Hospice Workers Who Care For The Dying Don’t Plan Ahead Themselves
Fewer than half of health care workers at a nonprofit Florida hospice had completed advance directives for end-of-life care.
House Tax Bill Would Scrap Deduction For Medical Expenses
About 9 million people claimed about $87 billion in medical deductions in 2015.
‘No One Is Coming’: Hospice Patients Abandoned At Death’s Door
U.S. hospice agencies promise to be available around-the-clock to help patients dying in their homes. But a Kaiser Health News investigation shows that in an alarming number of cases, that promise is broken.
Training New Doctors Right Where They’re Needed
Eight teaching centers in California aim to train and retain doctors in medically underserved areas such as California’s Central Valley. They are among 57 such institutions across the country that may soon receive a boost in funding from Congress.
Latest Scandal Too Much For HHS Secretary Tom Price. He’s Out.
Tom Price resigned from running the Department of Health and Human Services after a series of news stories detailing how he tallied more than $400,000 in private plane travel paid for by taxpayers.
To Wage War On Superbugs, FDA Clears Way For Scope With A Disposable Piece
Agency says a removable cap will lower the risk of antibiotic resistant infections but some experts see it as a modest step in curbing the sort of deadly outbreaks that occurred a few years ago.
