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In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain, allowing physicians more flexibility. But doctors, patients, and advocates wonder if the updated standards will be too little, too late to help chronic pain patients in a country still focused on fighting the ongoing opioid crisis.
The state wants to stop paying Kaiser Permanente for treating severely mentally ill Medi-Cal patients in Sacramento and Solano counties and force the counties to take on the task. The counties’ leaders say they can’t afford it.
With their brains still developing and poor impulse control, teens who carry firearms might never plan to use them. But some do.
Since 2005, central Appalachia has recorded a tenfold increase in cases of severe black lung disease among long-term coal miners. Now, federal regulators are expected to propose a new rule to protect against silica dust, which causes the most severe form of black lung, progressive massive fibrosis.
Colorado is one of 10 states without a law requiring CPR training for high school students, but proposed legislation that recently passed the state House would only strongly urge schools to teach this lifesaving skill.
The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New rules may not be enough to solve the problems.
One listener tried to dispute a $1,300 “facility fee” with the treating hospital, his insurer, a bill-mediation service provided by his employer, and finally a debt collector. He didn’t win, but he learned valuable lessons about advocating for hospital discounts.
Very little in the proposed budget released by the Biden administration is likely to become law, particularly with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House. Still, the document is an important statement of the president’s policy priorities, and it’s clear health programs are among those he feels are important. Meanwhile, five women who were denied abortions when their pregnancies threatened their lives are suing Texas. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Harris Meyer, who reported and wrote the two latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” features. Both were about families facing unexpected bills following childbirth.
Older people often aren’t being screened for anxiety disorders, even though it is a common affliction — one masked by other problems when growing old.
Many Black patients also try to be informed and minimize questions to put providers at ease. “The system looks at us differently,” says the founder of the African American Wellness Project.
Bills being considered by Montana lawmakers would allow people to refuse routine vaccinations based on their conscience, along with setting new rules for schools, courts, and businesses.
Do you have an experience navigating prior authorization to get medical treatment that you'd like to share with us for our reporting?
States are turning to the big health insurance companies to keep Medicaid enrollees insured once pandemic protections end in April. The insurers’ motive: profits.
Big Pharma may be moving on from squeezing diabetes patients on insulin prices, but it’s the arbitrators that jack up prices for those who can least afford them.
The effort to end Guinea worm disease relies almost entirely on changes in people’s behavior. There is no cure, no vaccination. When the 39th president of the United States left office, Jimmy Carter campaigned to eradicate the disease.
Last year, state lawmakers adopted the country’s toughest online privacy restrictions. The law offers Congress a path forward on federal protections even as it serves as a cautionary tale for taking on Big Tech.
A Donald Trump-appointed federal judge agreed that even the possibility that the father’s daughters might access contraception without his permission violated the tenants of his Christian faith.
More than 600,000 people are released from prisons every year, many with costly health conditions but no medications, medical records, a health care provider, or insurance.
This installment of InvestigateTV and KHN’s “Costly Care” series looks at the case of a New Orleans woman whose thumb injury saddled her with a big ER bill for a tetanus shot and some minor care.
Financial pitfalls at the nation’s highest-elevation hospital serve as a cautionary tale as rural hospitals emerge from the pandemic on shaky ground.
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