KFFHN Weekly: March 29, 2024
A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?
Molly Castle Work
There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasn’t medically necessary.
Your Doctor or Your Insurer? Little-Known Rules May Ease the Choice in Medicare Advantage
Susan Jaffe
Disputes between hospitals and Medicare Advantage plans are leading to entire hospital systems suddenly leaving insurance networks. Patients are left stuck in the middle, choosing between their doctors and their insurance plan. There’s a way out.
California Is Expanding Insurance Access for Teenagers Seeking Therapy on Their Own
April Dembosky, KQED
A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parents’ consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the state’s culture wars.
Some Medicaid Providers Borrow or Go Into Debt Amid ‘Unwinding’ Payment Disruptions
Katheryn Houghton
Used to operating with scarce resources, Montana Medicaid providers say gaps in state payments have left them struggling further.
As AI Eye Exams Prove Their Worth, Lessons for Future Tech Emerge
Hannah Norman
With artificial intelligence in health care on the rise, eye screenings for diabetic retinopathy are emerging as one of the first proven use cases of AI-based diagnostics in a clinical setting.
After Appalachian Hospitals Merged Into a Monopoly, Their ERs Slowed to a Crawl
Brett Kelman and Samantha Liss
Ballad Health was granted the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in 2018. Since then, its emergency rooms have become more than three times as slow.
A Paramedic Was Skeptical About This Rx for Stopping Repeat Opioid Overdoses. Then He Saw It Help.
Lauren Peace, Tampa Bay Times
For years, addiction response teams have traveled around Florida to connect people who have overdosed with resources and recovery centers. Now, a handful have a new tool in their kit: buprenorphine, which can help prevent the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that lead to more drug use.
A Physician Travels to South Asia Seeking Enduring Lessons From the Eradication of Smallpox
Céline Gounder
Physician and podcast host Céline Gounder traveled to India and Bangladesh and brought back never-before-heard stories, many from public health workers whose voices have been missing from the record documenting the eradication of smallpox.
More Women Are Drinking Themselves Sick. The Biden Administration Is Concerned.
Lauren Sausser
Historically, alcohol use disorder has disproportionately affected men. But targeted advertising and changes in societal norms over the past 50 years have led to an upsurge in alcohol-related diseases and deaths among women. “It’s a very taboo topic,” one expert said.
At Stake in Mifepristone Case: Abortion, FDA’s Authority, and Return to 1873 Obscenity Law
Sarah Varney
The end goal for a conservative Christian group’s mifepristone case before the Supreme Court: a de facto nationwide abortion ban.
The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients
Judith Graham
It’s estimated that an older patient can spend three weeks of the year getting care — and that doesn’t count the time it takes to arrange appointments or deal with insurance companies.
Overdosing on Chemo: A Common Gene Test Could Save Hundreds of Lives Each Year
Arthur Allen
The FDA and some oncologists have resisted efforts to require a quick, cheap gene test that could prevent thousands of deaths from a bad reaction to a common cancer drug.
The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court this week heard its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, about an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. But while it seems likely that this case could be dismissed on a technicality, abortion opponents have more challenges in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health issues are heating up on the campaign trail, as Republicans continue to take aim at Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act — all things Democrats are delighted to defend. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who wrote a KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about Medicare and a very expensive air-ambulance ride. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Journalists Track Efforts to Curb the Opioid Crisis and Put Catholic Hospitals Under the Scope
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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