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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Bounties and Bonuses Leave Small Hospitals Behind in Staffing Wars

KFF Health News Original

A hospital in Wisconsin sued to keep seven employees from taking jobs with a competitor. A health system in South Dakota is offering nurses $40,000 signing bonuses. Facilities with fewer resources are finding it difficult or impossible to compete for health care workers.

States Were Sharing Covid Test Kits. Then Omicron Hit.

KFF Health News Original

The omicron variant upended a system in which states shared rapid covid tests with those that needed them more. Cooperation has turned into competition as states run out of supplies, limit which organizations get them, or hold on to expired kits as a last resort.

‘Heart’ of Little Shell: Newest Federally Recognized Tribe to Open First Clinic

KFF Health News Original

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana plans to open the nation’s newest Indian Health Service clinic in Great Falls on Jan. 31 — marking the first time the tribe will have its culture reflected in health care offerings.

South Dakota Voters to Decide Medicaid Expansion

KFF Health News Original

Despite state Republican leaders’ rigid opposition to expanding the health program designed for low-income residents, advocates successfully gathered enough signatures to get the measure on the fall ballot.