Latest KFF Health News Stories
A Nurse’s Lesson: Babies In Opioid Withdrawal Still Need Mom
One hospital in Connecticut gives babies and moms fighting addiction a quiet room where they can be together as the drugs leave their systems.
Tiny Opioid Patients Need Help Easing Into Life
More babies are being born dependent on opioids. The good news is they can safely be weaned from the drug. But there’s little research on which medical treatment is best, or its long-term effects.
Debate Arises Over HHS Plans For Privacy Rules On Addiction Treatment
The current guidelines, last updated in 1987, require patients to specify exactly who gets information about their care. But advocates of change say the new rule will fit in better in the era of sharing patient data through electronic medical records.
Needle Exchanges Can Now Get Federal Funding
Proponents hail the change in policy but say it doesn’t go far enough because federal dollars cannot be used to buy syringes.
Study Finds ‘Mortality Gap’ Among Middle-Aged Whites
A Commonwealth Fund report says that stalled progress in fighting leading causes of death for this group is a bigger culprit than substance abuse and suicide for worse-than-expected rates.
For Hospitals, Treating Violence Beyond The ER Is Good Medicine And Good Business
Hospitals increasingly view violence as a health concern and are developing initiatives designed to improve long-term community health.
Research Gives Context To Addressing Nation’s Drug Abuse Crisis, Review Finds
As presidential candidates, state officials and even President Barack Obama wrestle with how to handle drug addiction, scientists lay out some of the intersections between opioid prescriptions and heroin abuse in the New England Journal of Medicine, including findings that crackdowns on opioid prescriptions may not fuel increases in heroin use.
Medicaid To Fund More Addiction Treatment
Some Medicaid plans will now get federal funding for 15 days of inpatient treatment. But Pennsylvania fears the new rule will close a loophole the state has been using to pay for longer stints.
