The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
A new government watchdog report outlines vulnerabilities in Medicare’s $17 billion hospice program, pointing to inadequate services, inappropriate billing and outright fraud.
After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.
Low staffing is a root cause of many injuries in nursing homes. Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Jordan Rau explains how he connected the dots between manpower and risk at facilities nationwide, using a federal tool known as the Payroll-Based Journal.
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Medicare said those homes either lacked a registered nurse for “a high number of days” over three months, provided data the government couldn’t verify or didn’t supply their payroll data at all.
Grants by top pharma group to lightly regulated, politically active nonprofits dwarf its conventional campaign spending.
KHN’s newsletter editor, Brianna Labuskes, wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Some residents of remote Surprise Valley in Northern California fear their hospital will close like so many others around the country, as hope wanes for financial support from a Denver entrepreneur. The businessman, Beau Gertz, had planned to raise money through lab billing for faraway patients.
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about the new push on health legislation by Republicans in the House, as well as developments on Medicaid work requirements, drug prices and the fate of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health stories of the week.
Dramatic policy swings, from an unprecedented expansion of transgender rights under the Obama administration to the unpredictable reduction of trans rights under President Donald Trump, have left many trans Americans feeling the whiplash.
After being promised a significant discount for paying cash upfront and forgoing insurance, a Wisconsin patient gets caught in the middle between hospital and insurer — and feels snookered by a last-minute surprise and billing snafu.
After a San Francisco speech focused mostly on Medicare, Seema Verma fielded questions that underscored the administration’s differences with California on other key health care issues.
Only about half of people with Alzheimer’s symptoms get a diagnosis, partly out of fear of an incurable decline, doctors suspect. But Jose Belardo says facing the future allows him to plan for it.
Seniors often don’t realize that private insurers are required to offer Medigap policies, or supplemental insurance, only when people first sign up for Medicare.
The Red Cross and some other organizations suggest that first aid for choking begin with five slaps on the back. The family of Dr. Henry Heimlich, who developed the abdominal thrusts to dislodge objects that prevent breathing, is launching a campaign to demand proof of why back slaps should come first.
Several major drugmakers vow to contain drug prices, but similar pledges since the 1990s have not had much impact.
Millions of Americans undergo procedures each year requiring medical scopes, but there’s growing concern about the risk of infection from dirty devices. Be prepared to ask questions — and bail if you’re not satisfied with the answers.
Did OxyContin maker admit opioids can be dangerous even when patients take them as prescribed — then walk it back?
Many people forced into labor or the sex trade seek medical help at some point, and health care workers are being trained to identify them to offer assistance.
Consumers, beware: Data brokers compile health and frailty profiles that have wide-ranging applications for drug companies, advertisers, insurers and other buyers.
