Gov’t Task Force Finds Evidence Lacking to Support Visual Skin Cancer Screenings
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
July 26, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that insufficient evidence exists regarding the benefits and harms of visual skin cancer exams.
FAQ: Medicare Lays Out Plans For Changing Doctors’ Pay
By Mary Agnes Carey
April 29, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The effort, which will replace a controversial reimbursement schedule that began in 1997, is designed to move away from paying for quantity of services and focus instead on quality.
‘Don’t Cut Me!’: Discouraged By Experts, Episiotomies Still Common In Some Hospitals
By Jocelyn Wiener
July 19, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Overall rates are falling in California and nationally but data point to certain hospitals with extremely high percentages.
Pricey New Treatment Roils Issues Of How To Treat Prostate Cancer
By Julie Appleby
October 5, 2016
KFF Health News Original
High-intensity focused ultrasound, often not covered by insurance, leads to discussions about which patients benefit in the real world.
Despite New Access To Health Insurance, Drug-Treatment Rates For Ex-Offenders Barely Changed
By Jay Hancock
June 6, 2016
KFF Health News Original
More emerging prisoners are covered by Medicaid, but they still face barriers in navigating the health system, researchers said.
5 Things To Know About The Supreme Court’s Texas Abortion Decision
By Julie Rovner
July 1, 2016
KFF Health News Original
It was a big win for pro-abortion rights advocates, but abortion opponents are not daunted. Stay tuned for how it will affect presidential politics and the next generation of women voters.
Will Covered California Sell Health Coverage To The Undocumented?
By Ana B. Ibarra
April 26, 2016
KFF Health News Original
California is inching closer to a first-in-the-nation request for a federal ruling that would allow the state’s Obamacare exchange to sell health plans to immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
Medicare To Test New Payment Approaches For Some Prescription Medications
By Julie Appleby
March 9, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Regulators unveiled a two-part plan that will change payments and test ways in which the Medicare Part B program can change the incentives that some policy experts say encourage doctors to choose higher-cost medications.
FAQ: Hospital Observation Care Can Be Costly For Medicare Patients
By Susan Jaffe
August 29, 2016
KFF Health News Original
A guide to help Medicare patients receiving observation care.
Factors Beyond Coverage Limit Mental Health Care Access
By Shefali Luthra
June 6, 2016
KFF Health News Original
According to a new study, the health law’s insurance expansions have helped more people gain access to mental health services. But racial and ethnic disparities continue.
Inventing A Machine That Spits Out Drugs In A Whole New Way
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
May 26, 2016
KFF Health News Original
A refrigerator-sized machine could someday make lifesaving drugs on site when outbreaks occur or where medicine is in short supply, like on the battlefield.
Smokers’ Ranks Look Conspicuously Sparse In Obamacare
By Phil Galewitz
May 4, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Federal data suggest that many smokers aren’t confessing to their tobacco habit to avoid paying higher health care premiums, thwarting insurers.
Young Boy’s Struggle To Survive Sparked Push For Drugs For Terminally Ill
By Liz Szabo
October 3, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Ten-year-old Josh Hardy died last month. His struggle to survive helped to spur laws to get unapproved drugs to the terminally ill.
Medicaid Block Grants Advocated By GOP Could Reduce Federal Spending By $150B Over 5 Years
February 7, 2017
Morning Briefing
The analysis by consulting firm Avalere also suggests states would have to put in more money to keep the same services. In other news, efforts to overhaul the health law raise concerns about new Medicaid coverage among the homeless, Medicaid issues are on the agenda in the Kansas legislature and a doctor staffing company agrees to pay $60 million to settle allegations that it overbilled Medicaid and Medicare.
Anti-Abortion Forces Regroup In Wake Of Supreme Court Decision
By Julie Rovner
July 20, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The setback prompts some to change direction, others to stay the course.
Should Federal Retirees Opt For Medicare?
By Michelle Andrews
March 15, 2016
KFF Health News Original
When people retire from federal government jobs, they can keep their federal plan as primary coverage but may face penalties for late Medicare sign-ups later on.
Court Decision Leaves Undocumented Immigrants’ Health Care Options In Limbo
By Ana B. Ibarra
Photos by Heidi de Marco
July 29, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Deportation-relief programs would have meant access to subsidized health care.
How And Where To Dump Your Leftover Drugs — Responsibly
By Emily Bazar
June 1, 2016
KFF Health News Original
With the nation’s opioid crisis worsening, officials want you to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs. But finding a convenient take-back site requires time and patience.
Children Exposed To Hepatitis C May Be Missing Out On Treatment
By Elana Gordon, WHYY
July 28, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Hepatitis C can be passed from mothers to babies, but it often is not diagnosed until much later in a person’s life. Specialists are debating new screening practices to catch the disease earlier.
Immigration Ban Shakes Medical Industry That Relies Heavily On Foreign Professionals
January 31, 2017
Morning Briefing
In 2014, more than 15,000 foreign health care workers, nearly half of them physicians and surgeons, received H-1B visas, which are designed to bring skilled labor into the U.S. Meanwhile, hospitals are scrambling to identify patients who were scheduled to come into the country to receive medical care and will be affected by the ban.