When Your Doctor Is Also A Lobbyist: Inside The War Over Surprise Medical Bills
By Rachana Pradhan
February 12, 2020
KFF Health News Original
As lawmakers consider bills to protect patients against surprise medical bills, doctors have waged a stealth on-the-ground campaign to win over members of Congress. Here’s how they did it.
Transparent Hospital Pricing Exposes Wild Fluctuation, Even Within Miles
By Harriet Blair Rowan
February 4, 2019
KFF Health News Original
A new federal rule requires hospitals to post their prices online. These lists reveal the wildly different charges for basic procedures and services, but consumers will have a hard time putting this information to use.
Massachusetts Stroke Patient Receives ‘Outrageous’ $474,725 Medical Flight Bill
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
December 21, 2018
KFF Health News Original
After a 34-year-old woman suffered a stroke in Kansas, doctors there arranged for her to be transferred to a Boston hospital, via an Angel MedFlight Learjet. The woman and her father believed the cost of the medical flight would be covered by her private insurance. Then they got the bill.
Pediatricians Put It Bluntly: Motherhood And Marijuana Don’t Mix
By Jenny Gold
August 27, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use marijuana because of serious concerns about neurological consequences for children, the American Academy of Pediatrics said on Monday.
Los pediatras son claros: no se debe mezclar marihuana y embarazo
By Jenny Gold
August 27, 2018
KFF Health News Original
La Academia Americana de Pediatría cita creciente evidencia del daño potencial de la marihuana para el desarrollo a largo plazo de los niños.
Hospitals Lure Diabetes Patients With Self-Care Courses, But Costs Can Weigh Heavily
By Julie Appleby
April 26, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Self-management classes can help the tens of millions of Americans now diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. But the education can come with a high price tag.
Lost on the Frontline
By The Staffs of KHN and The Guardian
August 10, 2020
KFF Health News Original
“Lost on the Frontline” is an ongoing project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who died from COVID 19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease.
Exodus By Puerto Rican Medical Students Deepens Island’s Doctor Drain
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
May 1, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Interest in medical schools is high in Puerto Rico, but many students look to the U.S. mainland for residencies because of higher pay and the commonwealth’s declining economy. The migration of young talent is both a symptom and an exacerbation of the island’s medical woes.
Surgeon General Murthy Wants America To Face Up To Addiction
By NPR Staff
November 17, 2016
KFF Health News Original
More people struggle with alcohol or drugs than have cancer, and 1 in 5 Americans binge drink. It all costs the nation $420 billion a year. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says we know how to help.
La otra crisis de Puerto Rico: el éxodo de médicos jóvenes
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
May 1, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Estudiar medicina es una opción popular entre los jóvenes puertorriqueños. Pero muchos graduados están yéndose, eligiendo mejores oportunidades de trabajo, a pesar de las crecientes y urgentes necesidades de salud de Puerto Rico.
Where There’s Willingness, There’s A Way For Congress And Trump To Fix Health Law
By Julie Rovner
April 4, 2017
KFF Health News Original
After the collapse of the Republican replacement plan, there may be a way to find consensus and repair the law.
New Funding Seeks To Help Clinics Swamped By Demand For Dental Care
By Zhai Yun Tan
July 20, 2016
KFF Health News Original
HHS awarded $156 million to 420 health centers around the country in the first grants ever specifically geared to dental care.
Patients, Fearing Pricey Follow-Ups, May Shy Away From Some Colon Cancer Tests
By Michelle Andrews
August 30, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Most screening tests for colon cancer are covered by insurance but if they come back positive, they may require a diagnostic colonoscopy and that may not be covered completely by insurance.
If You Want To Spend A Bundle On Your Bundle Of Joy, Go To Northern California
By Jenny Gold
July 6, 2016
KFF Health News Original
A new study shows that Sacramento and San Francisco are the two most expensive places to give birth among the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas. One possible reason: consolidation of hospitals and doctors.
Harmful Chemicals Are Everywhere — But What Does That Mean?
By Zhai Yun Tan
June 17, 2016
KFF Health News Original
A report by the Environmental Working Group measures how much Americans are exposed to a variety of chemicals that may be linked to cancer.
Missouri Hospitals Seek To Focus Readmission Penalties On Patient Poverty
By Lisa Gillespie
May 26, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The Missouri Hospital Association objects to the formula for setting the federal penalties because it does not factor in the number of patients who are poor or in bad health. It is seeking to generate consumer interest in the penalties.
Alabama Puts Hospitals At Forefront Of Medicaid Managed Care
By Phil Galewitz
February 17, 2016
KFF Health News Original
As officials seek to take control of costs in the health coverage for low-income residents, they are relying on hospitals, not private insurance companies, to run the program.
Federal Officials Award $156 Million To States To Improve Oral Health Services
June 17, 2016
Morning Briefing
The money goes to 420 health centers around the country to help underserved populations.
Pennsylvania, Maryland Pick Private Companies To Run Select Programs For Medicaid
August 31, 2016
Morning Briefing
The Pennsylvania contractors will manage long-term care for 420,000 low-income seniors and disabled enrollees, while in Maryland the companies are implementing a diabetes prevention program. Also in the news, a UnitedHealthcare official acknowledges that the company has lost money in its work helping run Iowa’s Medicaid managed care program.
Half Of Nation’s Hospitals Fail Again To Escape Medicare’s Readmission Penalties
By Jordan Rau
August 3, 2015
KFF Health News Original
The fines, in their fourth year, are assessed on hospitals that have patients frequently return and will cost nearly 2,600 hospitals $420 million in total.
