Medicare’s Paying Less for Cataract Surgery. Eye Doctors Are Turning to Lucrative Lasers.
More cataract patients, wanting not only restored but improved vision, are paying extra for their doctors to use a laser when a scalpel would do.
All Coverage
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You Want To Join a Clinical Trial. Here’s What To Know About the Hurdles.
The Department of Health and Human Services has launched an effort to streamline clinical research, and legislation is pending in Congress. But patients and providers face participation challenges.
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Drive for Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns in Southwest
Federal efforts to revive uranium mining in the West and decrease reliance on Russian uranium are raising concerns about drinking water for tribal communities reckoning with the industry’s deadly legacy.
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What Geriatric Emergency Departments Do Differently
These specialized units can help keep older patients out of the hospital, lower their healthcare costs, and more.
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Newsom Promotes Affordable Insulin, but California’s Generic Label Off to a Slow Start
California is the first to launch state-branded insulin as Gov. Gavin Newsom tries to disrupt the pharmaceutical industry. But the new CalRx drug label has been slow to reach pharmacies and patients.
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Kennedy’s Quiet Hunt for Autism Culprits Stalls as Trump Orders Baseless Changes to Childhood Shots
The Trump administration is working to implement the president’s new order on childhood vaccines, which he publicly faulted for a rise in autism — even as health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s closed-door research has yet to produce evidence linking them.
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Gounder Brings Clarity to Egg Freezing, AI Virus Creation, and New Trump Vaccine Order
KFF Health News editor-at-large for public health Céline Gounder made several TV appearances recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a roundup.
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Hospitals, Leery of Unpaid Bills, Increasingly Seek Payments Before Care Is Delivered
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
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Perspective
My Husband Was Kicked Out of Hospice for Dying Too Slowly
Some seriously ill patients improve on hospice. About 1 in 16 patients enrolled in hospice care lose eligibility as a result. Here’s how to get appropriate care after receiving a terminal diagnosis.
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Trump Team’s Use of Arcane Budget Rule Threatens Medicaid Coverage
Coverage for hundreds of thousands of Arkansas Medicaid enrollees next year is in question after the Trump administration refused to renew a key state waiver. The state might not be the last to have to adjust to an arcane rule change under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
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Trump’s Vaccine Agenda
President Trump is trying to unilaterally change the number and schedule of childhood vaccines in the U.S., though it remains unclear how much of an impact his orders will have. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month.”
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Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
The “KFF Health News Minute” brings original healthcare and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week.
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People With Disabilities Say Medicaid’s Limits on Income Stifle Career Advancement
Special Medicaid programs in many states allow disabled people to work while receiving benefits, and most limit how much participants can earn and the assets they can hold. Some Iowans are pushing lawmakers to remove those limits, which they say can dampen their career prospects.
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Readers Speak Out on Work Requirements, Federal Data Grab, Opioid Payback Cash
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Years After He Quit Smoking, a Lung Cancer Scan Saved His Life
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and older adults are at higher risk. But only about a quarter of patients eligible for screening are up to date.
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Hospitals Say They Found a Tool To Help Reduce Childbirth Risks: Wristbands
North Carolina and other states have embraced “I Gave Birth” wristbands as a way to encourage women to seek help when they have postpartum complications. They’re gaining steam as the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid threaten postpartum care.
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Hospital Prepayment Requirements Add New Wrinkles to Patients’ Financial Responsibility
Hospitals and other medical providers are increasingly asking for payment before providing care, collecting more of what patients might owe as rising insurance deductibles add to Americans’ financial pressures.
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Patients Wary of Governments, Companies Pushing AI as a Rural Healthcare Solution
The $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program is set to flood rural America with new AI health tools. That’s despite little evidence on whether health-related AI can improve access to care and patient health in those communities.
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A Federal Policy Is Complicating How Organizations Battle the Opioid Crisis
Drug test strips are credited with saving lives, but a new policy will limit how funds can be used for them. Advocates of harm reduction strategies who responded to a mass overdose in Baltimore say distributing them will get harder. Federal officials say the strips enable drug use.
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Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push Up Healthcare Costs
A federal disclosure rule is offering new insight on the effect of healthcare monopolies on pricing, following a wave of U.S. mergers.
