Latest News On Pennsylvania

Latest KFF Health News Stories

The Big Squeeze: More Enrollees and Smaller Networks Plague Some ACA Plans

KFF Health News Original

Despite record enrollment in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, some consumers who bought coverage and agents who helped them do so have had a tough start to the new year: Many say it’s hard to find an in-network doctor or hospital.

Venden opioides mezclados con tranquizilantes para animales en vecindario de Philadelphia

KFF Health News Original

Los traficantes utilizan xilacina, un sedante barato no autorizado, para cortar el fentanilo, un opioide sintético 50 veces más potente que la heroína. El nombre callejero de la xilacina es “tranq”, y el fentanilo cortado con xilacina se llama “tranq dope”.

As Opioids Mixed With Animal Tranquilizers Arrive in Kensington, So Do Alarming Health Challenges

KFF Health News Original

The veterinary tranquilizer xylazine, the choice du jour of local drug dealers to cut fentanyl, leads to necrotic ulcers and leaves street medics and physicians confused about how best to deal with this wave of the opioid crisis.

Behavioral Telehealth Loses Momentum Without a Regulatory Boost

KFF Health News Original

As flexible treatment options spurred by the covid pandemic wane, patients relying on medications classified as controlled substances worry that without action to extend the loosened rules, it’ll be harder to get their meds.

En cárceles de Pennsylvania, guardias utilizan gas pimienta y pistolas paralizantes para controlar a personas con crisis de salud mental

KFF Health News Original

En muchos casos, los guardias utilizaron armas, como pistolas paralizantes y aerosoles de pimienta, para controlar y doblegar a presos con condiciones psiquiátricas graves que podrían haberles impedido seguir órdenes, o entender lo que estaba sucediendo.

In PA County Jails, Guards Use Pepper Spray and Stun Guns to Subdue People in Mental Crisis

KFF Health News Original

An investigation of records from 25 county jails across Pennsylvania showed that nearly 1 in 3 “use of force” incidents by guards involved a confined person who was having a psychiatric crisis or who had a known mental illness.

Abrumados por los costos, hospitales crean sus propias agencias de enfermería

KFF Health News Original

Cada vez más sistemas hospitalarios están creando equipos internos de personal para hacer frente a la escasez de enfermeras provocada por la pandemia, y para tratar de vencer a las agencias privadas de personal temporal con sus propias armas.

Squeezed by Temp Nurse Costs, Hospital Systems Create Their Own Staffing Agencies

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals have depended on travel nurses to fill shifts, especially during covid surges. Now some larger systems, reeling from high contract labor costs, have created staffing units, aiming to lure nurses who want more work flexibility and better pay than staff RNs get.

In Rural America, Deadly Costs of Opioids Outweigh the Dollars Tagged to Address Them

KFF Health News Original

Some people say it’s reasonable for densely populated areas to receive more settlement funds, since they serve more of those affected. But others worry this overlooks rural communities disproportionately harmed by opioid addiction.

KHN Investigation: The System Feds Rely On to Stop Repeat Health Fraud Is Broken

KFF Health News Original

A months-long KHN examination of the system meant to bar fraudsters from Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health programs found gaping holes and expansive gray areas through which banned individuals slip to repeatedly bilk taxpayer-funded programs.

Hospital Financial Decisions Play a Role in the Critical Shortage of Pediatric Beds for RSV Patients

KFF Health News Original

Yes, the U.S. is experiencing an unusual spate of childhood RSV infections. But the critical shortage of hospital beds to treat ailing children stems from structural problems in pediatric care that have been brewing for years.

The Disability Tax: Medical Bills Remain Inaccessible for Many Blind Americans

KFF Health News Original

Health insurers and health care systems across the country are violating disability rights laws by sending medical bills that blind and visually impaired people cannot read, a KHN investigation has found. By hindering the ability of blind Americans to know what they owe, some bills get sent to debt collections.