Latest KFF Health News Stories
Listen: Five Oklahoma Hospitals Collapsed – What Happened?
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber joined StateImpact Oklahoma reporter Jackie Fortiér to discuss why a series of rural hospitals collapsed, leaving hundreds of residents without jobs and their communities without lifesaving emergency medical care.
Sickened By Billing Abuses, Readers And Tweeters Stand Up For Patients’ Rights
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
As Off-Label Use Spreads, Supplies Of Niche Drugs And Patients’ Patience Grow Short
The reasons behind one particular shortage of a therapy known as IVIG are complicated, stemming from increased demand and the medication’s long production window.
¿Qué fue peor: la borrachera de la despedida de soltero o la cuenta por tratar la resaca?
Recuperarse después de su despedida de soltero resultó en una factura médica que inicialmente fue de $12,460, en total. Más del doble del costo de su boda.
Which Was Worse: The Bachelor Party Hangover Or The Hangover From The ER Bill?
One groom’s bachelor party hangover illustrates how emergency room bills have become major headaches for many Americans.
Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
State regulators and even one medevac company have raised doubts about prepaid subscriptions and promised benefits offered by air ambulance companies.
UVA To Cut Back On Lawsuits Against Patients
But critics say the new policy still leaves some patients exposed to lawsuits and crippling bills.
UVA Suspends Medical Lawsuits In Wake Of KHN Investigation
KHN reported this week that the University of Virginia Health System has filed 36,000 lawsuits against patients the past six years.
Qué pueden hacer hospitales y consultorios para que los adultos mayores estén más seguros
Para los adultos mayores, especialmente para los que son frágiles, los centros médicos pueden ser difíciles de navegar y, a veces, hasta peligrosos.
In Search Of Age-Friendly Health Care, Finding Room For Improvement
Simple alterations — like better signs, seating, parking or door design — can make it easier for older patients to navigate health care facilities. Here are several changes doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals could make.
California Hospitals And Nursing Homes Brace For Wildfire Blackouts
Facing billions of dollars in legal claims for the role its equipment has played in a spate of deadly wildfires, California utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric plans to step up efforts to cut power to broad regions of the state during high-risk weather conditions. The potential for prolonged blackouts has prompted disaster preparations by hospitals, nursing homes and home care providers.
Virginia Governor And UVA Vow To Revamp Practice Of Suing Patients As CEO Exits
A Kaiser Health News investigation, which first appeared in The Washington Post, showed that the University of Virginia Health System has sued patients 36,000 times for more than $106 million.
‘UVA Has Ruined Us’: Health System Sues Thousands Of Patients, Seizing Paychecks And Claiming Homes
Over six years, the state institution filed 36,000 lawsuits against patients seeking a total of more than $106 million in unpaid bills, a KHN analysis finds.
Hospital Giant Sutter Health Faces Legal Reckoning Over Medical Pricing
A long-awaited class-action lawsuit against Sutter is set to open this month in San Francisco Superior Court. The hospital giant stands accused of violating California’s antitrust laws by leveraging its market power to drive out competition and overcharge patients.
Analysis: How Your Beloved Hospital Helps To Drive Up Health Care Costs
It’s easy to criticize pharmaceutical and insurance companies. But we spend much more on hospitals.
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.
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.
They Got Estimates Before Surgery — And A Bill After That Was 50% More
Patients are often told to be smart consumers and shop around for health care before they use it. What happens when people actually take that advice?
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.
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.
