Latest KFF Health News Stories
Shingles Vaccination Rate Soars But Leaves Many Behind
A federal study finds 35% of people 60 and older were vaccinated for shingles by 2018, up from 7% in 2008, but low-income people and those who are Black or Hispanic are far less likely to get vaccinated.
Fear Of Coronavirus Propels Some Smokers To Quit
Increasing evidence suggests people who smoke are more likely to become severely ill and die from COVID-19 than nonsmokers. Some people are using that as inspiration to quit.
El miedo al coronavirus motiva a fumadores a dejar el hábito
Los primeros estudios sugieren que los fumadores que desarrollan COVID-19 tienen 14 veces más probabilidades de necesitar un tratamiento intensivo en comparación con los no fumadores.
‘It’s Not Over Until It’s Over’: 5 Things To Know About Hitting The COVID-19 Peak
President Donald Trump says the country has seen a peak in new cases, but that doesn’t mean the end of the pandemic, experts say. Buckle in — we could be social distancing into 2022.
What Does Recovery From COVID-19 Look Like? It Depends. A Pulmonologist Explains.
Reports offer a glimmer of hope, especially for older adults.
The Startling Inequality Gap That Emerges After Age 65
The good news: Life expectancy for people who make it to 65 has increased. Yet, coastal and urban people fare better than those in rural and middle America.
U.S. Medical Panel Thinks Twice About Pushing Cognitive Screening For Dementia
Because seniors are at higher risk of cognitive impairment, proponents say screening asymptomatic older adults is an important strategy to identify people who may be developing dementia and to improve their care. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force cited insufficient evidence the tests are helpful.
Reduce Health Costs By Nurturing The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints
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.
A Reality Check On Artificial Intelligence: Are Health Care Claims Overblown?
As happens when the tech industry gets involved, hype surrounds the claims that artificial intelligence will help patients and even replace some doctors.
Affordable Mental Health Care? It’s Getting Even Tougher to Access
More than a decade after Congress passed a law mandating equal access for mental and physical health care, Americans struggle to find affordable, in-network mental health providers.
¿Cuidado de salud mental asequible? El acceso es cada vez más difícil
En 2017, 70,237 estadounidenses murieron por sobredosis de drogas y 47,173 por suicidio, según los CDC. En 2018, casi el 20% de los adultos sufrieron una enfermedad mental.
Nursing Home Safety Violations Put Residents At Risk, Report Finds
A federal audit of 19 California nursing homes released today found hundreds of violations of safety and emergency standards, putting vulnerable nursing home residents at increased risk of injury or death during a wildfire or other disaster.
Fumar vs vapear. Investigadora dice que no es una comparación correcta
Los productos para vapear exponen a los consumidores a productos químicos de una manera fundamentalmente diferente, dice experta.
Cigarettes Vs. Vaping: That’s The ‘Wrong Comparison,’ Says Inhalation Researcher
Ilona Jaspers, an inhalation toxicologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, believes the common notion of comparing e-cigarettes with traditional, combustible cigarettes is the wrong analogy because the vaping products expose consumers to chemicals in a fundamentally different way.
Warren Trots Out Her Own Harvard Law Research
Warren’s claim on health insurance and bankruptcy is narrow enough to hold up.
California’s New Transparency Law Reveals Steep Rise In Wholesale Drug Prices
Pharmaceutical companies raised the wholesale cost of their drugs by a median of nearly 26% from 2017 to early 2019, according to California’s first-ever report stemming from a new drug price transparency law. Prices for generic drugs rose nearly 38% during that time.
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.
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.
Americans More Likely Than Swedes To Fill Prescriptions For Opioids After Surgery
New research published in JAMA Network Open quantified for the first time international differences in doctors’ prescribing habits and patients’ use of these highly addictive painkillers.
Hablando francamente sobre salud mental en las redes sociales
Hoy, las personas comparten en Facebook y Twitter historias que de otro modo mantendrían en privado: relatos de ansiedad, depresión, abuso y adicciones. Hay controversia sobre si es bueno o no.
