Latest KFF Health News Stories
Miracle Machine Makes Heroic Rescues — And Leaves Patients In Limbo
The use of ECMO, the most aggressive form of life support in modern medicine, has skyrocketed — but along with miraculous rescues, it can leave patients in limbo, kept alive with machines but with no prospect of survival outside the ICU.
Robin Hood To Rescue Of Rural Hospitals? New Math Promised On Medicare Payments
A proposed adjustment to the wage index, used in setting a hospital’s Medicare reimbursement payments, could be a lifeline for some rural facilities.
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.
Hospitals Accused Of Paying Doctors Large Kickbacks In Quest For Patients
Hospitals are eager to get particular specialists on staff because they bring in business that can be highly profitable. But those efforts, if they involve unusually high salaries or other enticements, can violate federal anti-kickback laws.
Lawmakers Push To Stop Surprise ER Billing
Millions of Californians are vulnerable to hefty surprise medical bills from their trips to the emergency room. Now, state lawmakers are considering a measure to cap how much out-of-network hospitals can charge privately insured patients for emergency care, which could serve as a model for other states.
UCSF Medical Center Backs Off Plan To Deepen Ties With Dignity Health
The University of California’s flagship San Francisco hospital system cut off negotiations with the Catholic-run health care system in the face of heated opposition from UCSF faculty and staff.
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.
Escalada de violencia contra trabajadores de salud conmociona a los hospitales
Presionan a centros de salud a tomar más medidas de seguridad para prevenir una forma de violencia que ha sido considerada por largo tiempo como “parte del trabajo”.
Escalating Workplace Violence Rocks Hospitals
Incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Hartos de esperar: pacientes abandonan las salas de emergencia sin recibir tratamiento
Los pacientes que dejan la sala de emergencias demasiado pronto “se exponen a un mayor riesgo de morbilidad e incluso de mortalidad”, dicen médicos.
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.
Listen: After Its Hospital Closes, A Pioneer Kansas Town Searches For What Comes Next
Deep questions underlie what is happening in Fort Scott, Kan.: Do small communities like this one need a traditional hospital at all? And, if not, what health care do they need?
As ER Wait Times Grow, More Patients Leave Against Medical Advice
Crowded emergency rooms are likely to blame. In 2017, the median ER wait time for patients before admission as inpatients to California hospitals was 336 minutes — or more than 5½ hours.
Walmart Charts New Course By Steering Workers To High-Quality Imaging Centers
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is recommending that employees and dependents use one of 800 imaging centers identified as providing trustworthy care.
Dealing With Hospital Closure, Pioneer Kansas Town Asks: What Comes Next?
After depending on the local hospital for more than a century, Fort Scott residents now are trying to cope with life without it.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ‘Conscience’ Rules, Rx Prices and Still More Medicare
Joanne Kenen of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about the Trump administration’s effort to allow health care practitioners and organizations to refuse to provide care or refer patients for services that violate their conscience or religion. Also this week, the administration orders TV ads for prescription drugs to include list prices. And Tennessee wants free rein from the federal government to run its Medicaid program. Plus, Rovner interviews Joan Biskupic, author of a new book on Chief Justice John Roberts, about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the 2012 ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
Market Muscle: Study Uncovers Differences Between Medicare And Private Insurers
Findings released Thursday by the Rand Corp. highlight how reimbursement rates vary nationally and the impact the charges have on the nation’s high cost of health care.
Effects Of Surgery On A Warming Planet: Can Anesthesia Go Green?
Two of the most commonly used anesthesia gases are similar medically but worlds apart when it comes to their impact on the planet.
Readers And Tweeters Parse Ideas — From Snakebites To Senior Suicide
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
FDA To End Program That Hid Millions Of Reports On Faulty Medical Devices
In the wake of a KHN investigation, the agency will no longer let device makers file reports of harm outside a widely used public database.
