Latest KFF Health News Stories
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The State of Federal Health Agencies Is Uncertain
The Supreme Court opined for the first time that Trump administration officials may be exceeding their authority to reshape the federal government by refusing to honor completed contracts, even as lower-court judges started blocking efforts to fire workers, freeze funding, and cancel ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, public health officials are alarmed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ public handling of Texas’ widening measles outbreak, particularly the secretary’s less-than-full endorsement of vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Stephanie Armour of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A Runner Was Hit by a Car, Then by a Surprise Ambulance Bill
A San Francisco man had friends drive him to the hospital after he was hit by a car. Doctors checked him out, then sent him by ambulance to a trauma center — which released him with no further treatment. The ambulance bill? Almost $13,000.
Blood Transfusions at the Scene Save Lives. But Ambulances Are Rarely Equipped To Do Them.
More than 60,000 people bleed to death every year in the United States. Many of those deaths occur before the patient reaches a trauma center where blood transfusions can be given.
Readers Offer ‘Solo Agers’ Support and Reflect on Ancestors
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Toddler’s Backyard Snakebite Bills Totaled More Than a Quarter Million Dollars
For snakebite victims, antivenom is critical — and costly. It took more than $200,000 worth of antivenom to save one toddler’s life after he was bitten by a rattlesnake.
Deadly High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Is on the Rise
More pregnant women are being diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure, which risks the life of the parent and child. Montana is one of the states improving screening and treatment as health facilities work to match care with best practices.
Urgent Care or ER? With ‘One-Stop Shop,’ Hospitals Offer Both Under Same Roof
Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.
What’s Behind New Combined Urgent Care-ER Facilities
It’s Saturday afternoon, and your 4-year-old is bleeding from a gash on his face after a playtime mishap. Should you go to the emergency room or the urgent care clinic? VHC Health in Arlington, Va., plans to soon join a small but growing number of hospitals moving to resolve this dilemma by offering both types […]
It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s a Medical Response Drone.
What if the first responder on the scene of a cardiac arrest were a drone carrying an automated external defibrillator? When every second counts, public safety professionals are increasingly eyeing drones — which can fly 60 miles an hour and don’t get stuck in traffic — to deliver help faster than an ambulance or EMT. […]
Rescue From Above: How Drones May Narrow Emergency Response Times
Public safety and health care organizations are using drones to speed up lifesaving treatment during medical emergencies in which every second counts.
Rescate desde el cielo: cómo los drones pueden reducir el tiempo de respuesta a una emergencia
Cada año más de 356,000 personas sufren un paro cardíaco fuera de un hospital. Cada minuto que pasa sin intervención médica disminuye las probabilidades de supervivencia en un 10%.
The Nation’s 911 System Is on the Brink of Its Own Emergency
911 outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency response communications due in part to wide disparities in capabilities and funding.
El sistema de emergencias del 911 está al borde del colapso
Mientras que algunos estados, ciudades y condados ya han modernizado sus sistemas de emergencia del 911 o han hecho planes para actualizarlos, muchos otros están rezagados.
The national 911 emergency response system is in the midst of its own code red. The lack of federal funding to upgrade aging 911 systems has created significant disparities in state emergency response services, with older operations plagued by outages and longer response times. Last month, for instance, Massachusetts was hit with a statewide 911 […]
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': SCOTUS Ruling Strips Power From Federal Health Agencies
In what will certainly be remembered as a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled a 40-year-old precedent that gave federal agencies, rather than judges, the power to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Administrative experts say the decision will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business. Also, the court decided not to decide whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care overrides Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Republicans Are Downplaying Abortion, but It Keeps Coming Up
Torn between a base that wants more restrictions on reproductive health care and a moderate majority that does not, it seems many Republicans would rather take an off-ramp than a victory lap when it comes to abortion. But they can’t escape talking about it.
$2 Million Disbursed to Victims and Community Groups in Wake of Super Bowl Mass Shooting
The United Way of Greater Kansas City gave $1.2 million to victims and $832,000 to 14 community groups Thursday, hoping to reach other victims from the violence at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, as well as those working to prevent gun violence.
Distribuyen $2 millones entre víctimas del tiroteo del Super Bowl y grupos comunitarios
Desde el tiroteo, algunas víctimas y sus familias han recibido facturas médicas por miles de dólares, por tratamientos en salas de emergencia, viajes en ambulancia, atención médica continua por las heridas de bala o consejería de salud mental.
Closing of Rural Hospitals Leaves Towns With Unhealthy Real Estate
Dozens of small cities and towns across the United States struggle not just with health care access and the loss of jobs, but also with the burden of what to do with big, empty buildings.
Super Bowl Parade Shooting Survivors Await Promised Donations While Bills Pile Up
Families of the people hurt during the Feb. 14 mass shooting are carrying what one expert calls “victimization debt.” In the third story of our series “The Injured,” we learn about the strain of paying small and large medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs.
