Latest News On Emergency Medicine

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Dr. J. Ronald Verrier Was Busy Saving Lives Before The Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Dr. J. Ronald Verrier, a surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, spent the final weeks of his audacious, unfinished life tending to a torrent of patients inflicted with COVID-19. He died April 8 at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York, at age 59, after falling ill from the novel coronavirus.

California Nurse Thrived In ER and ICU, But Couldn’t Survive COVID-19

KFF Health News Original

Jeff Baumbach, 57, was a seasoned nurse of 28 years when the novel coronavirus began to circulate in California. He’d worked in the ER, the ICU and on a cardiac floor. Hepatitis and tuberculosis had been around over the years but never posed a major concern.

Mysterious Heart Damage, Not Just Lung Troubles, Befalling COVID-19 Patients

KFF Health News Original

Most of the attention in the COVID-19 pandemic has been on how the virus affects the lungs. But evidence shows that up to 1 in 5 hospitalized patients have signs of heart damage and many are dying due to heart problems.

Appendicitis Is Painful — Add A $41,212 Surgery Bill To The Misery

KFF Health News Original

A young man averted medical disaster after a friend took him to the nearest hospital just before his appendix burst. But more than a year later, he’s still facing a $28,000 balance bill for his out-of-network surgery.

Le cobran $41,212 por sacarle el apéndice

KFF Health News Original

Nadie le dijo que el hospital estaba fuera de la red del plan médico que tenía a través de su trabajo. En cualquier caso, no hubiera podido irse a otro lugar. Su apéndice estaba a punto de reventar.

Loopholes Limit New California Law To Guard Against Lofty Air Ambulance Bills

KFF Health News Original

A new state law limits what consumers owe if they’re transported by an air ambulance that’s not part of their insurance network to the amount that they’d be charged if they used an in-network provider. But the law won’t protect millions of consumers whose health plans aren’t regulated by the state.

Reduce Health Costs By Nurturing The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints

KFF Health News Original

Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.

Analysis: In Medical Billing, Fraudulent Charges Weirdly Pass As Legal

KFF Health News Original

After my husband had a bike accident, we were subjected to medical bills that no one would accept if they had been delivered by a contractor, or a lawyer or an auto mechanic. Such charges are sanctioned by insurers, which generally pay because they have no way to know whether you received a particular item or service — and it’s not worth their time to investigate the millions of medical interactions they write checks for each day.

San Francisco Hopes To Improve Care For People With Mental Illness Living On Streets

KFF Health News Original

Dr. Anton Nigusse Bland, a veteran of public health psychiatry, was appointed by San Francisco’s mayor earlier this year to a newly created job: director of mental health reform. His main task is to improve mental health and addiction treatment for people experiencing homelessness.

Battling The Bullets From The Operating Room To The Community

KFF Health News Original

St. Louis trauma surgeon Dr. Laurie Punch is on a mission to stop the bleeding of her patients and the violence-plagued communities around her. But the single mom worries she and her 7-year-old will have to move from their home, where bullets buzz in her backyard.