California Hospitals, Advocates Seek Stable Funding to Retain Behavioral Health Navigators
By Vanessa G. Sánchez
March 1, 2024
KFF Health News Original
California has supported expanded use of medications in the fight against opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. But hospitals and addiction treatment advocates say the state needs to secure ongoing funding if it wants more behavioral health workers to guide patients into long-term treatment.
Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared to Wait for a Physical Therapist
By Mark Kreidler
November 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Physical therapists left the field en masse during the covid-19 pandemic, even as demand from aging baby boomers skyrocketed. While universities try to boost their training programs to increase the number of graduates, patients seeking relief from often debilitating pain are left to wait.
Hospitales de California y defensores buscan financiación estable para retener a navegadores de salud conductual
By Vanessa G. Sánchez
March 8, 2024
KFF Health News Original
En 2022, el año más reciente del que se dispone de datos, 7,385 californianos murieron por sobredosis relacionadas con opioides, de los cuales el 88% involucró fentanilo, un opioide sintético que puede ser 50 veces más potente que la heroína.
Covid and Medicare Payments Spark Remote Patient Monitoring Boom
By Phil Galewitz Holly K. Hacker
March 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Demand for help monitoring patients’ vital signs remotely has taken off since a Medicare change in 2019. Dozens of companies now push the service to help overburdened primary care doctors — and as a revenue stream. But some policy experts say its growth has outpaced oversight and evidence of effectiveness.
A Mom Owed Nearly $102,000 for Hospital Care. Her State Attorney General Said to Pay Up.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly
July 20, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As politicians bash privately run hospitals for their aggressive debt collection tactics, consumer advocates say one North Carolina family’s six-figure medical bill is an example of how state attorneys general and state-operated hospitals also can harm patients financially.
At Catholic Hospitals, a Mission of Charity Runs Up Against High Care Costs for Patients
By Rachana Pradhan
September 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Many Catholic health systems, which are tax-exempt, pay their executives millions and can charge some of the highest prices around — while critics say they scrimp on commitments to their communities.
Montana Passes Significant Health Policy Changes in Controversial Session
By Keely Larson
May 5, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The recently ended legislative session was marked by Medicaid reimbursement hikes, abortion restrictions, anti-LGBTQ+ statutes, behavioral health spending, and workforce and insurance measures.
Inflation Reduction Act Contains Important Cost-Saving Changes for Many Patients — Maybe for You
By Michael McAuliff
August 12, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The legislation, which the House is expected to pass Friday, would allow the federal government, for the first time, to negotiate the price of some drugs that Medicare buys. It also would extend the enhanced subsidies for people who buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality
By Harris Meyer
January 6, 2023
KFF Health News Original
While some doctors seem eager for a huge payoff, others are warily watching what happens when private equity firms take charge of orthopedic practices.
Sick Profit: Investigating Private Equity’s Stealthy Takeover of Health Care Across Cities and Specialties
By Fred Schulte
November 14, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Private equity firms have shelled out almost $1 trillion to acquire nearly 8,000 health care businesses, in deals almost always hidden from federal regulators. The result: higher prices, lawsuits, and complaints about care.
An Arm and a Leg: Wait, What’s a PBM?
By Dan Weissmann
July 13, 2023
Podcast
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are companies that negotiate the prices of prescription drugs. Hear about their role in raising drug prices and the ongoing efforts to regulate this complex industry.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': SCOTUS Ruling Strips Power From Federal Health Agencies
June 28, 2024
Podcast
In what will certainly be remembered as a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled a 40-year-old precedent that gave federal agencies, rather than judges, the power to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Administrative experts say the decision will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business. Also, the court decided not to decide whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care overrides Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Under Pressure, Montana Hospital Considers Adding Psych Beds Amid a Shortage
By Katheryn Houghton
September 14, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A hospital in Bozeman, Montana, is considering whether to add inpatient psychiatric care after a concerted push from mental health advocates. But even if it adds beds, hospitals across Montana provide a cautionary tale: finding enough workers to staff such beds is its own challenge, and some behavioral health units routinely reach capacity.
A Chilling Cure: Facing Killer Heat, ERs Use Body Bags to Save Lives
By JoNel Aleccia
July 22, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Doctors in Washington state used human body bags filled with ice and water to rapidly cool the sickest patients affected by record heat last month.
Need Amid Plenty: Richest US Counties Are Overwhelmed by Surge in Child Hunger
By Laura Ungar
March 18, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Hunger among kids is skyrocketing, even in America’s wealthiest counties. But given the nation’s highly uneven charitable food system, affluent communities have been far less ready for the unprecedented crisis than places accustomed to dealing with poverty and hardship.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Au Revoir, Public Health Emergency
February 2, 2023
Podcast
The Biden administration this week announced it would let the covid-19 public health emergency lapse on May 11, even as the Republican-led House was voting to immediately eliminate the special authorities of the so-called PHE. Meanwhile, anti-abortion forces are pressuring legislators to both tighten abortion restrictions and pay for every birth in the nation. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Hannah Wesolowski of the National Alliance on Mental Illness about the rollout of the national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
‘All You Want Is to Be Believed’: The Impacts of Unconscious Bias in Health Care
By April Dembosky, KQED
October 21, 2020
KFF Health News Original
One woman shares her experience trying to get care in a Bay Area hospital for COVID symptoms. At nearly every turn, a doctor dismissed her complaints. Is bias part of why people of color are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus?
In Search of a Baby, I Got Covid Instead
By Anna Almendrala
January 14, 2021
KFF Health News Original
As the pandemic raged, I made dozens of visits to a fertility clinic. Did I catch covid on one of those visits? I’ll never know, but the guilt is still there.
“Todo lo que quieres es que te crean”: el prejuicio inconciente en la atención de salud
By April Dembosky, KQED
October 21, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Los latinos y los afroamericanos suelen ser menos propensos a recibir analgésicos o atención avanzada que los pacientes blancos no hispanos con las mismas quejas o síntomas.
Can Ordinary COVID Patients Get the Trump Treatment? It’s OK to Ask
By JoNel Aleccia
October 20, 2020
KFF Health News Original
If you or a loved one has COVID-19, here’s what to consider before seeking experimental treatments.
