KHN Weekly Edition: Dec. 2, 2022
An Unexplained Injury Discovered After Eye Surgery. What Should Happen Next?
Fred Clasen-Kelly
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, an expert says. Here’s how patients can respond.
The Business of Clinical Trials Is Booming. Private Equity Has Taken Notice.
Rachana Pradhan
Private equity-backed Headlands Research heralded its covid-19 vaccine trials as a chance to boost participation among diverse populations, then it shuttered multiple sites that conducted them.
Watch: The Politics of Health Care in California
KHN senior correspondent Angela Hart discussed the most pressing health care issues in California with the nonpartisan group Democracy Winters in mid-November, touching on a variety of issues, from the state’s effort to transform its Medicaid program to its plan to produce generic insulin.
The Disability Tax: Medical Bills Remain Inaccessible for Many Blind Americans
Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht
Health insurers and health care systems across the country are violating disability rights laws by sending medical bills that blind and visually impaired people cannot read, a KHN investigation has found. By hindering the ability of blind Americans to know what they owe, some bills get sent to debt collections.
Addiction Treatment Proponents Urge Rural Clinicians to Pitch In by Prescribing Medication
Tony Leys
The number of U.S. health care providers certified to prescribe buprenorphine more than doubled in the past four years, and treatment advocates hope to see that trend continue.
Montana’s New Sex Ed Law Ensnares English and History Lessons, Too
Carly Graf
A broadly worded Montana law meant to alert parents of upcoming lessons about human sexuality has led cautious school administrators to include notifications about literature, history, and science lessons, as well.
Her Apartment Might Have Put Her Son’s Health at Risk. But ‘I Have Nowhere Else to Go.’
Renuka Rayasam and Fred Clasen-Kelly
The United States is suffering from a severe shortage of affordable housing. But elected officials have done little to fix a problem that puts many Americans at greater risk for sickness and shortens lives.
Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Start With Research
Melba Newsome
Improving lung cancer outcomes in Black communities will take more than lowering the screening age, experts say. Disparities are present in everything from the studies that inform when people should get checked to the availability of care in rural areas.
A New Use for Dating Apps: Chasing STDs
Darius Tahir
For contact tracers of sexually transmitted diseases, telephones and text messages have become ineffective. Dating apps increasingly are their best bet for informing people of their exposure risks.
Should Older Seniors Risk Major Surgery? New Research Offers Guidance
Judith Graham
An important new study offers much-needed data to inform older Americans of the risks and benefits they must weigh when facing major surgery.
Rural Colorado Tries to Fill Health Worker Gaps With Apprenticeships
Kate Ruder
A Grand Junction program is training and retaining nurse and personal care aides in areas where the aging population is creating a need for them. But challenges remain for these workers.
When Malpractice Occurs at Community Health Centers, Taxpayers Pay
Phil Galewitz and Bram Sable-Smith
Federally funded clinics and their doctors are protected against lawsuits by federal law, with taxpayers footing the bill. The health centers say that allows them to better serve their low-income patients, but lawyers say the system handcuffs consumers with a cumbersome legal process and makes it harder for the public to see problems.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Medicaid Machinations
The lame-duck Congress has returned to Washington with a long health care to-do list and only a little time. Meanwhile, some of the states that have not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act are rethinking those decisions. 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 topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Fred Clasen-Kelly, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a mysterious mishap during minor surgery.
Readers and Tweeters Decry Medical Billing Errors, Price-Gouging, and Barriers to Benefits
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.