After Appalachian Hospitals Merged Into a Monopoly, Their ERs Slowed to a Crawl
By Brett Kelman Samantha Liss
March 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Ballad Health was granted the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in 2018. Since then, its emergency rooms have become more than three times as slow.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Judging the Abortion Pill
March 16, 2023
Podcast
Any day now a conservative federal judge in Texas could upend the national abortion debate by requiring the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, a drug approved in the U.S. more than 20 years ago that is now used in more than half of abortions nationwide. Meanwhile, a controversial study on masks gets a clarification, although it may be too late to change the public impression of what it found. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Health-Heavy State of the Union
February 9, 2023
Podcast
President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address leaned heavily on health care issues. Biden took a victory lap for recent accomplishments like capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. He also urged Congress to make permanent the boosted premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and he sparred with Republicans on threats to cut Social Security and Medicare. Also this week, both sides in the abortion debate are bracing for a court decision out of Texas that could, at least temporarily, make the abortion pill mifepristone illegal nationwide. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate Baicker of the University of Chicago about a possible middle ground in the effort to get universal health insurance coverage.
Clarity on Covid Count: Pandemic’s Toll on Seniors Extended Well Beyond Nursing Homes
By Judith Graham
August 6, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The latest research shows that although deaths in nursing homes received enormous attention, far more older adults who perished from covid lived outside of institutions. People with dementia and other severe neurological conditions, chronic kidney disease and immune deficiencies were hit especially hard.
Amgen Plows Ahead With Costly, Highly Toxic Cancer Dosing Despite FDA Challenge
By Arthur Allen
May 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The FDA told Amgen to test whether a quarter-dose of its lung cancer drug worked as well as the amount recommended on the product label. It did and with fewer side effects. But Amgen is sticking to the higher dose — which earns it an additional $180,000 a year per patient.
Why Many Nonprofit (Wink, Wink) Hospitals Are Rolling in Money
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
July 29, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Legal maneuvering, industry lobbying, and lax IRS oversight leave lots of room for “operating surpluses.”
Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How to Get Good Advice.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
November 24, 2020
KFF Health News Original
It’s a complex program with many options — as well as confusing rules and nuances. Here’s how to get reliable guidance.
Her Doctor’s Office Moved One Floor Up. Her Bill Was 10 Times Higher.
By Lauren Weber
March 26, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Same building. Same procedure. Same doctor. But now you’re charged a hospital facility fee. For one Ohio Medicare patient, the copay for a shot that used to cost her about $30 went up to more than $300.
Dentists Chip Away at Uninsured Problem by Offering Patients Membership Plans
By Phil Galewitz
September 17, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The plans are designed for people who don’t get dental coverage through their jobs and can’t afford an individual plan. For about $300 to $400 a year, patients receive certain preventive services at no charge and other procedures at a discount.
Readers and Tweeters Give Tips on Treating Diabetes and Long Covid
April 12, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Though Millions Are at Risk for Diabetes, Medicare Struggles to Expand Prevention Program
By Harris Meyer
July 21, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Medicare has proposed revamping its payment rules to get more people into a diabetes prevention plan that helps them eat better, exercise more and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Out of an estimated 16 million Medicare beneficiaries whose excess weight and other risk factors make them eligible, only 3,600 have participated since 2018.
Medicare Advantage Plans Too Often Deny Care, HHS Watchdog Reports
April 29, 2022
Morning Briefing
The inspector general’s office urged HHS officials to increase oversight of the private insurance plans.
When Copay Assistance Backfires on Patients
By Julie Appleby
March 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Drugmakers offer copay assistance programs to patients, but insurers are tapping into those funds, not counting the amounts toward patient deductibles. That leads to unexpected charges. But the practice is under growing scrutiny.
A Daily Pill to Treat Covid Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say
By JoNel Aleccia
September 24, 2021
KFF Health News Original
At least three promising antiviral treatments for covid-19 are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter.
Inflation To Impact Negotiations Between Health Providers, Insurers
June 29, 2022
Morning Briefing
Modern Healthcare warns negotiations between health providers and insurers may be “bloody” thanks to the impact of inflation, which rose for general goods more than health care in May. Separately, Medicare Advantage is chastised by government watchdogs for denying care and overcharging.
Seeking Medicare Coverage for Weight Loss Drugs, Pharma Giant Courts Black Influencers
By Rachana Pradhan
August 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Novo Nordisk, the dominant company in the multibillion-dollar market for weight loss drugs, focuses on Black lawmakers and opinion leaders to spread the message that obesity is a chronic disease that needs treatment.
CMS Eyes 8% Hike In Payments To Medicare Advantage Providers Next Year
February 3, 2022
Morning Briefing
The proposed adjustment in 2023 payments would be to address the financial impacts of social determinants of health and health equity in Medicare Advantage plans.
Apple, Bose and Others Pump Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Options, Filling Void Left by FDA
By Phil Galewitz
August 26, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A 2017 law designed to help lower the cost of hearing aids mandated that federal officials set rules for a new class of devices consumers could buy without needing to see an audiologist. But those regulations are still on hold.
Pushback At Medicare Plan To Limit Hospital Medical Complication Reports
June 6, 2022
Morning Briefing
Consumer groups and employers, USA Today reports, are resisting a plan by Medicare to limit public reporting of certain often-preventable complications that happen during hospital stays. Separately, Medicare Advantage insurance firms are accused of data mining patient records to make false bills.
Ouch. That ‘Free’ Annual Checkup Might Cost You. Here’s Why.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
January 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The designers of the Affordable Care Act might have assumed that they spelled out with sufficient clarity that millions of Americans would no longer have to pay for certain types of preventive care. But they didn’t reckon with America’s ever-creative medical billing juggernaut.
