Shedding New Light On Hospice Care: No Need To Wait For The ‘Brink Of Death’
By Judith Graham
September 7, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Hospice care often prompts fear and misunderstanding, but the services provided can lead to less pain and trauma at the end of life.
Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
By Fred Schulte and Elizabeth Lucas and Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune
September 5, 2018
KFF Health News Original
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.
Dying At Home In An Opioid Crisis: Hospices Grapple With Stolen Meds
By Melissa Bailey
August 22, 2017
KFF Health News Original
As more patients receive hospice care at home, some of the powerful, addictive drugs they’re prescribed are ending up in the wrong hands.
Medicare Unveils ‘Skeletal’ Site For Hospice Comparison Shopping
By Melissa Bailey
August 18, 2017
KFF Health News Original
This is the first federal website designed to help families choose a hospice, but experts aren’t impressed.
Paying Hospitals To Keep People Out Of Hospitals? It Works In Maryland.
By Jay Hancock
March 19, 2018
KFF Health News Original
The state’s ambitious payment overhaul has begun to demonstrate savings and a change in culture, say new reports.
Doctors Learn How To Talk To Patients About Dying
By Melissa Bailey
February 12, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Clinicians can be so focused on fixing problems and saving lives that they often avoid talking to patients about their prognosis.
Potential Competitor To Genomic Sequencing Giant Illumina Emerges From China
October 25, 2018
Morning Briefing
If the Chinese company’s technology can do what executives say it can, then the competition it brings into the marketplace could drive down the already-plummeting cost of genome sequencing. Other industry news focuses on hospices, health care systems, and hospitals.
Medicare Giving Hospices Pay Bump For Next Year
August 2, 2018
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, academic and rural hospitals will likely see a cut in funding.
Home Care Agencies Often Wrongly Deny Medicare Help To The Chronically Ill
By Susan Jaffe
Photos by Heidi de Marco
January 18, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Agencies sometimes turn away Medicare beneficiaries with chronic health problems by incorrectly claiming Medicare won’t pay for their services, say patient advocates.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ How Confused Are We?
November 2, 2017
KFF Health News Original
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post discuss the start of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, legislative efforts on Capitol Hill on taxes and children’s health insurance, and recommendations of the president’s opioid commission.
Watchdog Agency Calls On Regulators To Ramp Up Oversight Of Hospice Industry After Report On Fraud, Neglect
July 31, 2018
Morning Briefing
The report from the Office of Inspector General at HHS raises concerns that some hospices are milking the system by skimping on services while taking in daily Medicare payments.
As Exhausting As Hospice Work Is, These Caregivers Describe Their Roles As Sacred, Deeply Fulfilling
July 27, 2018
Morning Briefing
At the nonprofit Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, which serves 1,200 dying patients daily, many employees and volunteers have great job satisfaction and readily answer a common question: “How do you work here?” In other public health news: Alzheimer’s, HIV outreach, hip replacement research, all-plant burgers, carcinogenic chemicals and racial profiling.
This Thanksgiving, Carve Out Time To Talk About End-Of-Life Wishes
By JoNel Aleccia
November 22, 2017
KFF Health News Original
A vital tradition is gaining steam as more families use the holiday gathering to discuss and document advance-care plans.
The Long Goodbye: Coping With Sadness And Grief Before A Loved One Dies
By Judith Graham
December 21, 2017
KFF Health News Original
For those confronting the string of losses that accompany frailty or serious illness, experts offer salves.
These Annual Checkups Help Seniors Not Only Survive But Thrive
By Melissa Bailey
December 13, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Seniors are living longer and defying predictions of cognitive and functional decline. Wellness coaches guide them in setting goals for the year — whether physical, social, intellectual or spiritual.
KFF Health News Conversation On Advance Care Planning: What You Need To Know Now
November 8, 2017
Page
KFF Health News senior correspondent JoNel Aleccia moderates a discussion of the pressing issues surrounding end-of-life advance care planning.
‘Put The Fire Under Us’: Church Spurs Parishioners To Plan For Illness And Death
By Melissa Bailey
January 3, 2018
KFF Health News Original
Pastor Gloria White-Hammond wants to get all 600 congregants to write down their end-of-life wishes and discuss them with their families.
Hospice Care Has Become Booming Multibillion-Dollar Industry — And More And More Companies Want In
June 25, 2018
Morning Briefing
Humana is planning on buying two chains that together would create the industry’s biggest operator. But there’s more to hospice care than just profits. Meanwhile, some not-for-profit health systems are using methods to get around penalties on high employee compensation.
An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs
By Sandra G. Boodman
December 12, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about “deprescribing” or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
Humana To Scoop Up Curo As Part Of Plan To Create Nation’s Largest Hospice Operator
April 24, 2018
Morning Briefing
Humana, TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe had also previously announced plans to buy Kindred Healthcare’s hospice business.