Latest KFF Health News Stories
Colorado Bill Would Encourage, But Not Require, CPR Training in High Schools
Colorado is one of 10 states without a law requiring CPR training for high school students, but proposed legislation that recently passed the state House would only strongly urge schools to teach this lifesaving skill.
After People on Medicaid Die, Some States Aggressively Seek Repayment From Their Estates
States take drastically different approaches to recovering Medicaid money from deceased participants’ estates. Demands for repayment of Medicaid spending can drain the assets a person leaves behind, depending on where they lived.
Wave of Rural Nursing Home Closures Grows Amid Staffing Crunch
Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.
¿Clínica de urgencias o sala de emergencias? Cómo decidir donde recibir la atención adecuada
Las personas heridas o enfermas deben decidir con cuidado, en un momento de estrés, cuál es el mejor lugar para buscar ayuda. Y deben tomar esa decisión en medio de un número creciente de opciones.
The Decision of Where to Seek Care Is Complicated by the Multitude of Options
The proliferation of care options — particularly urgent care centers and free-standing emergency departments — can make the head spin. Facilities have little incentive to clear up the confusion of where to go. But for patients, the wrong choice can mean big bills and possibly poor health outcomes.
How Medicare Advantage Plans Dodged Auditors and Overcharged Taxpayers by Millions
Facing rare scrutiny from federal auditors, some Medicare Advantage health plans failed to produce any records to justify their payments, government records show. The audits revealed millions of dollars in overcharges to Medicare over three years.
Addiction Treatment Proponents Urge Rural Clinicians to Pitch In by Prescribing Medication
The number of U.S. health care providers certified to prescribe buprenorphine more than doubled in the past four years, and treatment advocates hope to see that trend continue.
Un nuevo uso de las aplicaciones de citas: perseguir infecciones sexuales
Con un surgimiento de las infecciones de transmisión sexual, trabajadores de salud pública encuentran en los apps de citas un espacio ideal para mensajes de prevención y rastreo de contactos.
A New Use for Dating Apps: Chasing STDs
For contact tracers of sexually transmitted diseases, telephones and text messages have become ineffective. Dating apps increasingly are their best bet for informing people of their exposure risks.
Mistrust and Polarization Steer Rural Governments to Reject Federal Public Health Funding
As the covid-19 pandemic grinds on, Elko County, Nevada, still lacks a public health department. Yet its elected leaders rejected federal funds that could have helped it create one. Decisions like the one in Elko, and ones made by officials with other state and local governments, leave health experts concerned about whether the country’s public health infrastructure will be prepared to handle future health challenges.
Abortion Issue Helps Limit Democrats’ Losses in Midterms
Although control of Congress was still undecided Wednesday, Republicans seemed poised to take power in the House, while the fate of the Senate remained too close to call. Economic issues were at the top of voters’ minds, but abortion access also played a large role in their decisions.
For Republican Candidates, Talk About Moms and Babies Is a Thorny Issue
The abortion issue looms large over the midterm elections, and some in the Republican Party, long associated with efforts to restrict access, are looking to reassure voters they have women’s health in mind.
Mental Health Crisis Teams Aren’t Just for Cities Anymore
In many cities, social workers and counselors are responding to mental health emergencies that used to be solely handled by police. That approach is spreading to rural areas even though mental health professionals are scarcer and travel distances are longer.
As State Institutions Close, Families of Longtime Residents Face Agonizing Choices
Iowa, under federal pressure to improve care for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, is set to join 45 other states that have closed most or all of their state institutions for such residents.
Abortion Is Shaking Up Attorneys General Races and Exposing Limits to Their Powers
Abortion access is shaping races for legal office across the country, from local district attorneys to attorneys general. But it’s also highlighting the boundaries of their offices.
La línea de salud mental 988 se expande, pero no demasiado en las zonas rurales
La línea 988 de National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, que se lanzó el 16 de julio, fue diseñada como una herramienta universal de apoyo a la salud mental para quienes llaman en cualquier momento y desde cualquier lugar.
The US Mental Health Hotline Network Is Expanding, but Rural Areas Still Face Care Shortages
On July 16, a three-digit number, 988, became the centerpiece of a nationwide effort to unify responses to Americans experiencing mental health crises. But many people, especially those in rural areas, will continue to find themselves far from help if they need more support than call operators can offer.
Nurse Midwives Step Up to Provide Prenatal Care After Two Rural Hospitals Shutter Birthing Centers
Dozens of Iowa hospitals have closed their birthing units. A team of University of Iowa nurse midwives can’t reopen them, but they’ve found a way to provide prenatal checkups and other crucial services in two towns.
Rural Hospital Rescue Program Is Met With Skepticism From Administrators
A new federal rescue program that pays rural hospitals to shutter underused inpatient units and focus solely on emergency rooms and outpatient care hasn’t generated much interest yet.
Montana Hires a Medicaid Director With a Managed-Care Past
Montana, one of about a dozen states still managing its own Medicaid programs, has a new Medicaid director who championed handing the management of the program to private companies in Iowa and Kansas.
