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A North Carolina state treasurer’s report found hospitals give conflicting information about whether they profit from Medicare patients. Experts said the findings are significant because they suggest the federal government has failed to closely watch the billions of dollars in tax breaks that nonprofit hospitals have received.
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent of a school shooter of charges related to the child’s crime, finding a mother in Michigan guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly opening a new legal avenue for gun control advocates. Meanwhile, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, a medical publisher has retracted some of the journal studies that lower-court judges relied on in their decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Colorado is requiring insurers that offer public option plans to collect demographic data on health providers, including race and sexual orientation. The aim is to connect patients with the right provider, but providers are worried about their privacy.
Recent leaps in medical research have lent urgency to the quest to develop a vaccine against Epstein-Barr, a ubiquitous virus that has been linked to a range of illnesses, from mononucleosis to multiple sclerosis and several cancers.
Dr. Mai Pham left her corporate career to spark change in a system that is failing millions of Americans with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in six weeks, as Democrats came to the rescue of divided House Republicans over annual spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1. But the brinksmanship is likely to repeat itself early in 2024, when the next temporary spending patches expire. Meanwhile, a pair of investigations unveiled this week demonstrate how difficult it still is for seniors to get needed long-term and rehabilitation care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Coal mining ended in Germany’s Saarland a decade ago, but the transition away from coal has been smoother than in West Virginia, which has more medical debt than any state in America.
One Chicago woman gave birth to twins 10 weeks prematurely, and the children needed extensive care. The medical bills topped out at around $80,000. Desperate, the parents loaded up credit cards, borrowed from relatives, and delayed repaying student loans.
A small infection related to diabetes on one New York man’s foot set off a cascade of medical emergencies and financial struggles that his family is still struggling to cope with.
Shortly after birth, babies are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for life-threatening conditions. States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.
With prices of necessities rising dramatically, many older Americans are having trouble making ends meet. They often don’t know that help is available from a variety of programs, and some sources of financial assistance are underused.
Colorado researchers publish a tool to help gun owners and family members plan ahead for safe firearm use and transfers in the event of disability or death.
Billions of dollars invested in mRNA vaccines and covid research could yield health care dividends for decades to come.
Because polio has been vanishingly rare in the United States for nearly a half-century, doctors may not consider it when diagnosing patients with typical symptoms. Here are the signs and the science behind an infectious disease that is largely a mystery to modern society.
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.
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
If a judge decides someone cannot make their own decisions, the person can be placed under a court-appointed guardianship, also known as a conservatorship. Some states are beginning to allow less-restrictive alternatives.
Snuggle-ready dogs comfort anxious patients at dental offices, but some patients worry about the risks, from slobber to nips. North Carolina is thought to be the first state with regulations to ensure the dogs are appropriately trained.
The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office say seniors enrolled in the program are suffering and taxpayers are getting bilked for billions of dollars a year.
At a camp for kids in Nashville, physical therapists use “constraint-induced movement therapy.” It makes life tougher, temporarily, in hopes of strengthening the campers’ ability to navigate the world.
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