Latest KFF Health News Stories
Investors’ Deep-Pocket Push To Defend Surprise Medical Bills
As lobbyists purporting to represent doctors and hospitals fight attempts to control surprise medical bills, it has become increasingly clear that the force behind the effort is not just medical professionals, but also investors from private equity firms.
Firing Doctor, Christian Hospital Sets Off National Challenge To Aid-In-Dying Laws
In Colorado case, the right to aid a cancer patient’s death runs up against faith-based hospital policies. As more states have passed laws, about 1 in 6 acute care beds nationally is in a hospital that is Catholic-owned or -affiliated.
In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’
As the Indian government reluctantly loosens its prescription opioid laws after decades of lobbying by palliative care advocates desperate to ease their patients’ pain, the nation’s sprawling, cash-fed health care system is ripe for misuse.
Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India
What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.
Mysterious Vaping Lung Injuries May Have Flown Under Regulatory Radar
Doctors who saw patients with a mysterious lung illness in the past suspected vaping as the cause but didn’t know where to report such cases.
Doctors Fight Legislation Prompted By Sex Abuse Scandals
In response to recent high-profile sex abuse cases, some California lawmakers want doctors to give patients more information about pelvic exams, and then get a signature proving they did. Doctors in the Golden State and beyond are pushing back.
Hace años, este doctor relacionó un misterioso mal pulmonar con el “vaping”
Este verano, funcionarios federales comenzaron a investigar un brote nacional de enfermedades pulmonares graves relacionadas con el vapeo que ha afectado a más de 150 pacientes en 16 estados.
Years Ago, This Doctor Linked A Mysterious Lung Disease To Vaping
In an exclusive interview, a West Virginia physician says that back in 2015 he had a sense a patient’s illness “probably wasn’t the first case ever seen nor would it be the last.” Was it a sentinel event?
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All About Medicare
Before “Medicare for All,” there was just Medicare, the federal program that provides insurance to 60 million Americans. This week, KHN’s Julie Rovner talks to Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation about how Medicare works and whom it serves. Then, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join Rovner to talk about some current Medicare issues being debated in Washington, D.C.
Doctors Can Change Opioid Prescribing Habits, But Progress Comes In Small Doses
Research out Wednesday indicates that guidelines are making strides in cutting back the number of pain pills doctors offer after specific types of surgeries.
Para ahorrar dinero, pacientes y cirujanos se encuentran en Cancún
El turismo médico no es un fenómeno nuevo. Pero sí lo son las compañías que contratan médicos estadounidenses para que viajen al exterior a operar a pacientes de los Estados Unidos.
To Save Money, American Patients And Surgeons Meet In Cancun
The patient is from Mississippi. The surgeon is from Wisconsin. They meet in a Mexican resort for knee replacement surgery. Because the care costs so much less than in the U.S, the patient’s health plan pays her $5,000.
Doctors Argue Plans To Remedy Surprise Medical Bills Will ‘Shred’ The Safety Net
A case of questionable logic.
When A Doctor’s Screen Time Detracts From Face Time With Patients
Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, but when not used well they can strain the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Wei Wei Lee, an internist with the University of Chicago Medicine, has developed strategies to make sure tech is a tool, not a barrier.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Real Lessons Doctors Can Learn From Fake Patients
Are physicians asking patients the right questions in order to provide good care? Laser-focused on biomedical symptoms, some doctors miss the psychosocial factors that can be a barrier to good health. In Episode 7 of the podcast, we hear about a creative study that uncovers how some medical errors happen.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
American Medical Students Less Likely To Choose To Become Primary Care Doctors
Only 41.5% of internal medicine positions were filled by U.S.-trained fourth-year students getting traditional medical degrees, the lowest share on record. Similar trends were seen this year in family medicine and pediatrics.
State Broadens Investigation Of Doctors For Issuing Questionable Vaccination Exemptions
The Medical Board of California is investigating at least four doctors for issuing questionable vaccine exemptions for numerous children. The investigations come amid the nation’s worst measles outbreak in more than a quarter-century.
AMA Abortion Lawsuit Puts Doctors In The Thick Of Debate
The doctors’ group, which had not been very vocal in recent years on the issue, is taking an assertive stance. The AMA said North Dakota’s laws interfere with doctor-patient relationships.
Surgeons’ Opioid-Prescribing Habits Are Hard To Kick
A new data analysis by KHN and Johns Hopkins researchers shows that even as the CDC issued warnings, surgeons handed out many times the number of opioid pills needed for post-op pain.
