How Much Difference Will Eli Lilly’s Half-Price Insulin Make?
By Bram Sable-Smith
March 12, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Eli Lilly released a half-price generic version of its own short-acting insulin. At $137.35 per vial, the generic insulin is priced at about the same level as Humalog was in 2012.
Death Toll From Legionnaires’ Outbreak During Flint Water Crisis Could Be Devastatingly Worse Than Previously Reported
September 12, 2019
Morning Briefing
A Frontline investigation found that during the year-and-a-half the outbreak spanned 115 people in Flint died of non-viral pneumonia. The official count was 12.
Measure To Cap Dialysis Profits Pummeled After Record Spending By Industry
By Ana B. Ibarra Anna Gorman
November 8, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The dialysis industry raised nearly $111 million in a successful bid to defeat the measure, which also was opposed by hospitals and doctors. The union that sponsored the measure collected about one-sixth that amount.
Si no hay efectivo, no hay corazón. Centros de trasplantes piden prueba de pago
By JoNel Aleccia
December 5, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Casi todos los más de 250 centros de trasplantes de la nación requieren que los pacientes verifiquen cómo cubrir las facturas.
In California, Novel Initiatives Test Cities’ Power — And Will — To Tame Health Costs
By Rob Waters
October 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Union-backed initiatives in Palo Alto and Livermore, Calif., aim to cap charges by hospitals and doctors, seeking to build on national furor over rising medical bills. The measures arise in health care markets that are among the most expensive in the nation.
Spending Against Dialysis Ballot Measure In California Breaks Record
By Harriet Blair Rowan
October 23, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Dialysis companies have contributed more than $110 million to defeat an initiative on California’s Nov. 6 ballot that would limit their profits — breaking the $109 million record set by the pharmaceutical industry in 2016.
Congress Targets Misuse Of Hospice Drugs
By Melissa Bailey
October 4, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In the bipartisan opioid bill headed to the president’s desk, hospice workers would be allowed to destroy patients’ unneeded opioids, reducing the risk that families misuse them.
Dialysis Giant DaVita Defends Itself In Court And At The Polls
By Samantha Young
October 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Although dialysis provider DaVita Inc. has taken major financial hits this year, including a $383.5 million jury award in response to wrongful death lawsuits, it still rakes in profits. The company faces its biggest threat next month, when California voters weigh in on a ballot initiative that could force it to leave the state.
Patient Advocacy Or Political Ploy? Union, Industry Square Off Over Dialysis Initiative
By David Tuller Harriet Blair Rowan
October 5, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The measure, which will appear on the November ballot, seeks to cap industry profits. The SEIU-UHW union has raised almost $17 million, but opponents from the industry have invested more than four times that.
Pharma Deploys Small Army Of Advocates To Fight Against The Budget Deal That Reportedly Contains Pricing Reforms
July 22, 2019
Morning Briefing
It isn’t clear yet what kind of policies Congress is considering that could hurt the pharmaceutical industry’s bottom line, but it has been reported that the reforms could cost the industry $115 billion. In other pharmaceutical news: the CVS-Aetna merger, hep C treatment and prisoners, biotech, and President Donald Trump’s drug pricing strategy.
Year One Of KHN’s ‘Bill Of The Month’: A Kaleidoscope Of Financial Challenges
December 21, 2018
KFF Health News Original
A crowdsourced investigation in which we dissect, investigate and explain medical bills you send us.
Dangerous Heat Wave In Midwest, Along East Coast Prompts Officials To Find Ways To Protect Vulnerable Homeless, Seniors
July 19, 2019
Morning Briefing
Around the country, cities are mobilizing outreach teams, armed with supplies of water, to check on residents living on the streets or in housing without air conditioning. “We are treating this as the emergency it is,” said Josh Kruger, communications director for the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services. In the District of Columbia, where the heat index is supposed to reach 115 this weekend, the mayor has declared a state of emergency and is keeping shelters open round the clock so people can try to cool off.
Sticker Shock Jolts Oklahoma Patient: $15,076 For Four Tiny Screws
By Liz Szabo
May 14, 2018
KFF Health News Original
A woman with foot pain was floored by the high cost of titanium screws used in her surgery. “Unless the metal [was] mined on an asteroid, I do not know why it should cost that amount,” she says.
After Opioid Overdose, Only 30 Percent Get Medicine To Treat Addiction
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
June 19, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Patients revived from an opioid overdose who get methadone or Suboxone treatment for addiction afterward are much more likely to be alive a year later, says a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Luego de una sobredosis de opioides, solo el 30% recibe tratamiento contra la adicción
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
June 19, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Solo 3 de cada 10 pacientes revividos tras sufrir una sobredosis de opioides reciben el tratamiento de seguimiento que puede evitar una futura tragedia.
Bipartisan Senate Budget Deal Boosts Health Programs
By Julie Rovner Shefali Luthra
February 7, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The agreement would add $2 billion to the National Institutes of Health and fund community health centers around the country. But it does not include provisions to help stabilize the federal health law’s marketplaces.
How A Drugmaker Turned The Abortion Pill Into A Rare-Disease Profit Machine
By Sarah Jane Tribble
April 10, 2018
KFF Health News Original
An abortion drug invented decades ago is being used to treat Cushing’s syndrome — and it’s bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year.
Medicare Penalizes Group Of 751 Hospitals For Patient Injuries
By Jordan Rau
December 21, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Each hospital will have its payments reduced by 1 percent for the year.
Opioid Crisis Hits Home: Uncle’s Overdose Spurs Medicaid Official To Change Course
By Emmarie Huetteman
January 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Andrey Ostrovsky, who until last month was chief medical officer for Medicaid, quit his job so he could more directly fight the stigma of drug addiction.
La muerte de un tío por sobredosis impulsa a oficial de Medicaid a actuar
By Emmarie Huetteman
January 29, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Un oficial de los Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid se enteró casi dos años después que uno de sus tíos más queridos había muerto víctima de las drogas. Esa verdad lo impulsó a un cambio de rumbo.
