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5 Things to Know About Health Care Changes in Montana

By Matt Volz May 7, 2021 KFF Health News Original

The covid pandemic drove major changes to Montana health policies, including the permanent expansion of telehealth regulations, a pullback on local public health officials’ authority and the easing of vaccination requirements for workers and students.

Covid-Inspired Montana Health Insurance Proposal Wouldn’t Kick In for 2 Years

By Sara Reardon March 19, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Montana is looking to join most other states in requiring small businesses to offer laid-off employees temporary continuity of their health care plans. But the bill, if it passes, likely won’t take effect in time to help people directly affected by the pandemic.

Biden Pledges Better Nursing Home Care, but He Likely Won’t Fast-Track It

By Rachana Pradhan and Harris Meyer March 3, 2022 KFF Health News Original

CMS chief Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says the agency reserves its power to quickly institute new regulations for “absolute emergencies.” On staffing, nursing home residents might need to wait years to see any real change.

Seeking to Shift Costs to Medicare, More Employers Move Retirees to Advantage Plans

By Susan Jaffe March 3, 2022 KFF Health News Original

Private and public employers are increasingly using the government’s Medicare Advantage program as an alternative to their existing retiree health plan and traditional Medicare coverage. As a result, the federal government is paying the “overwhelming majority” of medical costs, according to an industry analyst.

Injuries Mount as Sales Reps for Device Makers Cozy Up to Surgeons, Even in Operating Rooms

By Fred Schulte August 9, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Aggressive sales tactics have allegedly led surgeons to use defective or wrong-size implants, screws or other products on patients, including former Olympian Mary Lou Retton.

Local Pharmacists Fill Rx Void as Big Brands Pull Out of Rural Areas

By Markian Hawryluk December 20, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Stores like Walmart and Shopko opened pharmacies in small towns, either buying out the local pharmacy or driving it out of business. What happens when those chains later withdraw, leaving communities with no pharmacy?

Readers and Tweeters Shed Light on Vaccine Trials and Bias in Health Care

October 28, 2020 KFF Health News Original

Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

The Checkup Is in the Mail? Soliciting Letter Carriers to Help Deliver Health Care

By Elisabeth Rosenthal September 23, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: Have letter carriers spend less time delivering mail and take time to perform home visits and basic health checks on the growing population of frail and elderly.

Democrats Gave Americans a Big Boost Buying Health Insurance. It Didn’t Come Cheap.

By Noam N. Levey March 24, 2021 KFF Health News Original

The $1.9 trillion covid relief bill expands subsidies for private insurance plans. That will lighten the burden on consumers, but it locks taxpayers into yet more support for the health care industry.

$11M for North Carolina Work-Based Rehab Raises Concerns

By Aneri Pattani and Taylor Knopf, NC Health News April 6, 2022 KFF Health News Original

As overdoses surge and opioid settlement dollars flow, funding to North Carolina rehab foreshadows national discussion about the best approaches to treatment.

Sign-Up Window for Free COBRA Coverage for Many Laid-Off Workers Closes This Week

By Michelle Andrews July 28, 2021 KFF Health News Original

The most recent covid relief law offered federal funding to pay insurance premiums for workers who lost their jobs and opted to keep their workplace insurance through COBRA. But the window to take advantage of the subsidized coverage is closing: Many workers would need to enroll in the program by July 31.

California Makes It Easier for Low-Income Residents to Get and Keep Free Health Coverage

By Rachel Bluth July 20, 2021 KFF Health News Original

State lawmakers aim to expand Medicaid enrollment by dedicating billions of dollars in coming years to simplifying paperwork, extending pregnancy coverage and opening the program to thousands of new enrollees, including older unauthorized immigrants and people who need nursing home care.

COVID-Like Cough Sent Him To ER — Where He Got A $3,278 Bill

By Phil Galewitz May 25, 2020 KFF Health News Original

A dad in Denver tried to do everything right when COVID symptoms surfaced. Still, he ended up with a huge bill from an insurer that had said it waived cost sharing for coronavirus treatment. What gives?

Community Clinics Shouldered Much of the Vaccine Rollout. Many Haven’t Been Paid.

By Rachana Pradhan and Rachel Bluth October 11, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a “massive cash flow problem.”

Drugmakers’ Spending on Stock, Dividends and Executive Pay Exceeds Research, Democrats Say

By Michael McAuliff July 9, 2021 KFF Health News Original

The pharmaceutical industry argues that large profits are needed to fund extensive research and innovation. But Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, seeking to bolster their effort to let Medicare negotiate drug prices, say major drug companies plow more of their billions in earnings back into propping up their stock and enriching executives and shareholders.

Effort to Decipher Hospital Prices Yields Key Finding: Don’t Try It at Home

By Bernard J. Wolfson July 9, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Your dutiful columnist tried to make use of a federal “transparency” rule to compare the prices of common medical procedures in two California health care systems. It was a futile exercise.

Doctors’ Lobby Scores ‘Major Victory’ on Bill to Hold Physicians Accountable

By Samantha Young June 28, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Patients and some lawmakers have long blasted the Medical Board of California for failing to discipline negligent or abusive physicians. But the politically powerful California Medical Association, which represents doctors, has mobilized against the latest attempt to give the board more money and power to investigate complaints.

Confronting Our ‘Frailties’: California’s Assembly Leader Reflects on a Year of Covid

By Samantha Young May 27, 2021 KFF Health News Original

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon says covid exposed long-standing health care inequities that must be addressed. He told KHN he wants to get more people insured, boost broadband access so more patients can use telehealth and increase funding to local health departments.

Getting a Prescription to Die Remains Tricky Even as Aid-in-Dying Bills Gain Momentum

By Katheryn Houghton March 30, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montana’s legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patient’s consent as a defense.

Scientists Examine Kids’ Unique Immune Systems as More Fall Victim to Covid

By Liz Szabo September 17, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Doctors are trying to figure out why some kids become much sicker than others and, in rare cases, don’t survive.

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