KHN Weekly Edition: 080621
At Urgent Care, He Got 5 Stitches and a Big Surprise: A Plastic Surgeon’s Bill for $1,040
By Rachana Pradhan
The Biden administration is weighing how to treat urgent care clinics as part of broad regulations banning surprise, out-of-network medical bills. At the heart of the matter: What counts as an emergency?
Watch: Cyclist Hits Olympic-Size Medical Bills After Crash
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal appears on "CBS This Morning" to discuss the latest installment of the KHN-NPR Bill of the Month investigative series.
Clarity on Covid Count: Pandemic’s Toll on Seniors Extended Well Beyond Nursing Homes
By Judith Graham
The latest research shows that although deaths in nursing homes received enormous attention, far more older adults who perished from covid lived outside of institutions. People with dementia and other severe neurological conditions, chronic kidney disease and immune deficiencies were hit especially hard.
‘Wisdom and Fear’ Lead 90% of U.S. Seniors to Covid Vaccines
By Phil Galewitz
The success in getting shots to older adults is likely due to states prioritizing that effort when the vaccines became available and motivation among the elderly after the virus killed so many in their age group.
Restoring a Sense of Belonging: The Unsung Importance of Casual Relationships for Older Adults
By Judith Graham
Relationships with people you know only superficially can help develop a sense of belonging and provide motivation to engage in activities. Research has found that older adults who have a broad array of “weak” as well as “close” ties enjoy better physical and psychological well-being and live longer than people with less diverse social networks.
Claims That CDC’s PCR Test Can’t Tell Covid From Flu Are Wrong
By Victoria Knight
Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram incorrectly claim that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is withdrawing its covid test because it can’t differentiate between that virus and flu viruses. These statements could be an attempt to blur the high cumulative numbers of covid cases.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Delta Blues
Covid is back with a vengeance, with some people clamoring for booster shots while others harden their resistance to getting vaccinated at all. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is pushing hard on drugmaker Pfizer’s request to upgrade the emergency authorization for its vaccine and give it final approval. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Analysis: Don’t Want a Vaccine? Be Prepared to Pay More for Insurance.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal and Glenn Kramon
Health insurers could do more to encourage vaccination, including letting the unvaccinated foot their bills.
Feds to Nix Work Requirements in Montana Medicaid Expansion Program
By Andrea Halland
State health officials say the federal government will likely reject any work or community engagement requirements, which were key to Republican lawmakers agreeing to extend the program that insures 100,000 low-income Montana adults.
Facing Recall, Newsom Draws Support From Health Care Allies
By Samantha Young
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in September, fueled in part by anger over his pandemic policies. The health care industry has ponied up more than $4.8 million so far to defend the first-term Democrat.
A Health Care Giant Sold Off Dozens of Hospitals — But Continued Suing Patients
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
Community Health Systems, a large, for profit hospital chain, shrank from more than 200 to 84 facilities. It is continuing to sue patients for hospitals that now exist as little more than legal entities.
Hard Lessons From a City That Tried to Privatize Public Health
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
Facing bankruptcy, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department in 2012, and the city essentially went two years without a government-run public health system. Five years later, this major American city offers a grim cautionary tale.
Providence-KP Team Up to Attract Patients in California’s Growing High Desert Region
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Providence, the country’s 10th-biggest hospital chain, says it’s too expensive to upgrade an older hospital, so it will join forces with giant Kaiser Permanente to build a new one.
Pharmacies Face Extra Audit Burdens That Threaten Their Existence
By Markian Hawryluk
Pharmacy benefit managers have curtailed in-person audits of pharmacy claims during the pandemic, switching to virtual audits done by computer. That has markedly increased the number of claims they can review — and the chances for payment denials — squeezing pharmacies and bringing in more cash for the benefit companies.
2+2=? Senate Uses Murky Math as It Shelves Drug Pricing Rule to Fund Infrastructure
By Michael McAuliff
The Medicare rule, designed by the Trump administration to take money away from drug industry brokers and provide refunds to patients, has not been implemented. But budget analysts say if it were, it would cost the government money. So senators are pushing the rule aside and claiming to save billions of dollars, which they want to use instead on new projects.
New Moms Latched On to Remote Breastfeeding Help. Will Demand Wane as Pandemic Fades?
By Kate Ruder
The pandemic forced new parents to find help with breastfeeding online. Now, some offerings are remaining virtual to help expand access to lactation support.
Why is the South the Epicenter of Anti-Abortion Fervor?
By Sarah Varney
The Supreme Court, come autumn, will consider a Mississippi law that bans nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That’s hardly the most restrictive abortion law passed in the South. How did anti-abortion views become concentrated in the South?
12,000 Square Miles Without Obstetrics? It’s a Possibility in West Texas
By Charlotte Huff
Big Bend Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in a sparsely populated region of West Texas, announced that because of a nursing shortage its labor and delivery unit must close for days at a time and patients must go instead to a hospital an hour away.
Long Drives, Air Travel, Exhausting Waits: What Abortion Requires in the South
By Sarah Varney
Restrictive abortion regulations enacted across the South require women to drive across state lines to find safe services. With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a challenge to Roe v. Wade, abortion rights defenders say long drives and wait times could become the norm across much of America.