Latest KFF Health News Stories
Trump Administration Approves First Medicaid Block Grant, in Tennessee
The plan, long endorsed by conservatives, would give the state broad authority in running the health insurance program for the poor in exchange for capping its annual federal funding.
Con récord de internaciones por COVID, la crisis ahora es la falta de personal médico
Los hospitales en gran parte del país están tratando de hacer frente a un número sin precedentes de pacientes con COVID-19 con una creciente escasez de personal médico.
As Hospitals Fill With COVID Patients, Medical Reinforcements Are Hard to Find
More than 93,000 COVID patients are hospitalized across the country. But beds and space aren’t the main concern for hospital administrators — It’s the health care workforce.
Lack of Antigen Test Reporting Leaves Country ‘Blind to the Pandemic’
A KHN review found more than 20 states either don’t count or have incomplete data on the use of COVID-19 antigen tests, leaving the public in the dark about the true scope of the pandemic.
¿Puede este fin de semana de vacaciones disparar otra ola de casos de COVID?
El doctor Anthony Fauci advirtió el miércoles 2 de septiembre que los estadounidenses deben tener cuidado para evitar otro aumento en las tasas de infección.
Will Labor Day Weekend Bring Another Holiday COVID Surge?
Epidemiologists are having a hard time predicting whether Labor Day will be like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when celebrations fanned the flames in coronavirus hot spots around the South and West.
Trabajadores agrícolas en alto riesgo de contraer coronavirus y sin protección federal
Viven hacinados, durmiendo en literas y compartiendo baños y cocinas. Y aunque son trabajadores esenciales, suelen no tener seguro médico o licencia paga por enfermedad.
Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection to Harvest Crops
Skeptics say the lack of enforceable federal safety standards geared toward the coronavirus allows these employers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.
El Congreso dijo que los tests de COVID-19 debían ser gratuitos, pero ¿quién paga?
A fines de marzo, el Congreso aprobó dos leyes, que esencialmente establecieron no solo que las pruebas para COVID tenían que estar cubiertas, sino que los pacientes no debían pagar un centavo.
Congress Said COVID-19 Tests Should Be Free — But Who’s Paying?
Some large employers interpreted themselves as exempt from new federal laws that say tests for the coronavirus should be free to patients. Large academic medical centers are holding back from sending bills to these patients to avoid a backlash over surprise billing.
Tennessee’s Secret To Plentiful Coronavirus Testing? Picking Up The Tab
Just about anyone who wants a coronavirus test in the state of Tennessee can get one. How? The state got buy-in and lots of participation from private labs by assuring them it will pay them.
Before ‘Tidal Wave’ Of Illness, Nursing Home Thought It Had COVID-19 Contained
Though it already had one staff member testing positive for the coronavirus, the Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing did not tell 911 operators this fact as it called ambulances to take residents in respiratory distress to the hospital, a WPLN investigation reveals.
Long-Standing Racial And Income Disparities Seen Creeping Into COVID-19 Care
Many health officials around the nation have not released data on the ethnic and racial demographics of people tested for the new coronavirus. But public health experts said the anecdotes are adding up, and they fear the response to the pandemic will result in predictable health care disparities.
It’s Not Just Hospitals That Sue Patients Who Can’t Pay
Until very recently, the separate company that runs the emergency department at Nashville General Hospital in Tennessee was continuing to haul patients who couldn’t pay medical bills into court.
Smokers Need Not Apply: Fairness Of No-Nicotine Hiring Policies Questioned
U-Haul will not hire nicotine users in 21 states where it is legal to do so. Ethicists say such policies disproportionately affect the poor and are a sign of employers becoming overly involved in workers’ lifestyle choices.
One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma
Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest “Medicare for All” proposals would affect innovation and access to care.
‘Food Pharmacies’ In Clinics: When The Diagnosis Is Chronic Hunger
It’s hard to manage chronic conditions without a steady source of healthy food. That’s why more health care providers are setting up food pantries — right inside hospitals and clinics.
Hospitals Take Shot At Opioid Makers Over Cost Of Treating Uninsured For Addiction
A few hundred hospitals have banded together to sue drugmakers in state courts, but far more are staying on the sidelines to avoid ‘unflattering attention’ about their role in the opioid crisis.
Tenn. Block Grant Experiment Would Boost Federal Funding, State Medicaid Chief Says
In a Q&A with Kaiser Health News, Tennessee Medicaid Director Gabe Roberts says state officials are requesting a modified block grant from federal officials because it would save money and allow the state to keep some of that savings.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Tennessee Seeks Medicaid Changes
Tennessee wants to convert its Medicaid program to a block grant. But is its plan legal? Meanwhile, Congress continues to struggle with legislation to rein in prescription drug prices and surprise medical bills. This week, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Rovner also interviews Dr. Marty Makary, author of the new book “The Price We Pay” about why health care costs so much.
