Surgeons Are Finding Plastic Particles Lodged In Patients’ Arteries
March 7, 2024
Morning Briefing
In one study, 58% of 304 patients who underwent procedures in their neck had microscopic and nanoscopic pieces of “jagged-edged” plastic in the plaque lining the blood vessel. Other news is on HIV, exercise, and ketamine.
Trabajadores comunitarios persuaden a inmigrantes mayores de tener cobertura de salud
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report
February 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Hasta octubre, el mes más reciente para el que hay disponibles datos, más de 300,000 adultos mayores inmigrantes que no tienen residencia legal se habían inscrito en el Medi-Cal completo, un 30% más que la proyección original del estado.
Thousands Got Exactech Knee or Hip Replacements. Then, Patients Say, the Parts Began to Fail.
By Fred Schulte
October 10, 2023
KFF Health News Original
In a torrent of lawsuits, patients accuse Florida device maker Exactech of hiding knee and hip implant defects for years. The company denies the allegations.
Measles Cases In US Have Already Surpassed Last Year’s Total: CDC Data
March 25, 2024
Morning Briefing
The CDC says that 64 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. through the first 3 months of the year. The total for 2023 was 58 cases. Other stories report on flu, pollen, Down syndrome, and other public health news.
Redes sociales alimentan obsesión por las drogas para bajar de peso, sin hablar de riesgos
By Darius Tahir Hannah Norman
April 18, 2023
KFF Health News Original
La competencia para hacerse con un mercado que podría valer $100.000 millones al año, solo para los fabricantes de medicamentos, ha desencadenado una ola de publicidad que preocupa a las autoridades sanitarias y médicos de todo el mundo.
Death Is Anything but a Dying Business as Private Equity Cashes In
By Markian Hawryluk
September 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Investors are banking on increased demand in death care services as 73 million baby boomers near the end of their lives.
Cómo el optimismo puede cerrar la brecha de cobertura de Medicaid
By Phil Galewitz Daniel Chang
November 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Más de 2 millones de personas de bajos ingresos, la mitad de ellos en Florida y Texas, no tienen seguro porque están atrapados en una brecha de cobertura. Y sus estados no han expandido Medicaid.
States Have Yet to Spend Hundreds of Millions of Federal Dollars to Tackle Covid Health Disparities
By Phil Galewitz Lauren Weber Sam Whitehead
May 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded states and local health departments $2.25 billion to help people of color and other populations at higher risk from covid. But a KHN review shows public health agencies across the country have been slow to spend it.
An Arm and a Leg: Meet the Middleman’s Middleman
By Dan Weissmann
June 25, 2024
Podcast
Why are patients facing bigger bills than they expect for out-of-network care? In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” the show explains the hidden mechanics of MultiPlan, a data firm that helps health insurers set these rates and make bigger returns.
Washington State Retools First-in-the-Nation Long-Term Care Benefit
By Michelle Andrews
April 18, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The WA Cares Fund program, which would provide workers in the state a lifetime benefit of $36,500, was set to begin collecting money through a payroll tax in January, but it was delayed while lawmakers made adjustments to address equity problems. Now the payroll deductions will begin in July 2023, and benefits will become available in 2026.
Primera oficial para el clima de LA dice que ayudar a comunidades vulnerables es clave para alcanzar metas climáticas
By Heidi de Marco
July 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
El calor extremo puede causar calambres, agotamiento por calor e insolación. El calor extremo contribuyó a la muerte de unas 12,000 personas en Estados Unidos cada año entre 2010 y 2020, según un estudio de la Universidad de Washington. Es probable que esas cifras aumenten.
People With Health Insurance Now Own The Most ‘Bad Debt’ To Hospitals
January 17, 2024
Morning Briefing
It’s a major shift: The Guardian wrote that in 2018, just 11% of hospitals’ bad debt came from insured “self-pay” accounts. By 2022, the proportion who didn’t pay their bills jumped to 58% of all hospitals’ bad debt. Other news is on health insurance premiums, drug pricing, and more.
Dangerous Levels of Lead Were Found in the Water of About Half the Schools Tested in Montana
By Katheryn Houghton
March 2, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Officials testing water found high lead levels in more than 100 of the state’s nearly 600 school buildings. But as of mid-February, half the state’s schools had yet to provide samples.
1,000 People A Day Signed Up In North Carolina’s Medicaid Expansion
February 15, 2024
Morning Briefing
When North Carolina launched its Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1, it was estimated some 600,000 people would get coverage over two years. In the first two months, 58% of that goal has been reached. Also in the news: nearly all states have extended postpartum coverage; and California’s new Medi-Cal eligibility rules.
One California University Has Unified Town and Gown to Fight Covid. Why Haven’t Others?
By Mark Kreidler
March 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The University of California-Davis has spent close to $50 million preventing the spread of covid on campus — and among residents and workers in the adjacent city of Davis. By most accounts, this town-gown experiment has paid off nicely.
‘The Country Is Watching’: California Homeless Crisis Looms as Gov. Newsom Eyes Political Future
By Angela Hart
February 9, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters his second term, his legacy as governor and path forward in the Democratic Party hinge on his making visible headway on California’s homeless crisis. We lay out the possibilities — and challenges — as he unleashes an $18 billion battle plan.
California’s Medicaid Experiment Spends Money to Save Money — And Help the Homeless
By Angela Hart
April 19, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitious experiment in health care is supposed to cut costs as it fills the needs of hard-to-reach people. The program’s start is chaotic and limited, but it shows promise.
As US Nears 1 Million Covid Deaths, One Hard-Hit County Grapples With Unthinkable Loss
By Phil Galewitz
April 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The United States is nearing 1 million deaths from covid — an almost incomprehensible number of lives lost that few thought possible when the pandemic began. Pennsylvania’s Mifflin County offers a snapshot into how one hard-hit community, with over 300 dead, is coping.
As Workers Struggle With Pandemic’s Impact, Employers Expand Mental Health Benefits
By Michelle Andrews
November 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Many job-based health plans broadened their mental health and substance use coverage to make sure workers had the support they needed this year as pandemic stress lingered, the annual KFF survey finds. Also, the proportion of employers offering health insurance to their workers remained steady, and increases for premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses were moderate.
Colorado Hospitals in ‘Critical Condition’ as State Weathers Another Surge
By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio
December 15, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Patients with other ailments are frustrated, and nurses and doctors are stressed and burned out, as unvaccinated covid-19 patients fill ICU and acute care beds.
