Latest KFF Health News Stories
Politicians Hop Aboard ‘Medicare-For-All’ Train, Destination Unknown
Candidates are charging toward midterm elections on a platform of single-payer and universal coverage rhetoric. Yet “Medicare-for-all” and single-payer mean different things to different people.
Planes privados de Medicaid reciben millones, pero… ¿quién supervisa el negocio?
Las aseguradoras contratistas de Medicaid, que ofrecen servicios llamados de atención administrada, están en el banquillo: expertos cuestionan los servicios que ofrecen.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Facebook Live: What About Those Sky-High Air Ambulance Costs?
This Facebook Live discussion explores an aspect of the health care cost continuum that often flies below the radar.
As Billions In Tax Dollars Flow To Private Medicaid Plans, Who’s Minding The Store?
Insurance companies profit from government contracts but are subject to little oversight of how they spend the money or care for patients. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has only exacerbated the problem.
Hospitales infantiles claman de nuevo por la ayuda de los votantes, pero ¿la necesitan?
A pesar de la naturaleza positiva de estos pedidos, algunos expertos en salud y analistas electorales cuestionan que los hospitales le pidan dinero tantas veces a los contribuyentes.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Republicans’ Preexisting Political Problem
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss how protections for people with preexisting conditions have become a top issue in the elections, Trump administration efforts to make prescription drug prices more public and the start of Medicare’s annual open-enrollment period. Plus, Rovner interviews California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Children’s Hospitals Again Cry For Help From Voters. But Are They Really Hurting?
California’s 13 children’s hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren’t justified.
Health Care Tops Guns, Economy As Voters’ Top Issue
Nearly three-quarters of voters say that health care is the most important issue for them, but fewer than half are hearing much from candidates about it, according to a poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
GOP Gubernatorial Candidate John Cox: Limit Government In Health Care
John Cox, California’s Republican candidate for governor, contends that policies on abortion, health insurance and health care access should be guided by the conservative ideals of free market competition and personal responsibility. He hasn’t offered specific policy positions on health care, except that government should largely stay out of it.
Candidato republicano a la gobernación: limitar al gobierno en la atención de salud
Cox ha sido menos enfático en sus opiniones sobre el aborto en el estado azul de California, donde los republicanos, demócratas e independientes favorecen de manera el derecho de la mujer a elegir.
Enfermedad similar a la polio desconcierta a médicos y aterra a padres
Afecta principalmente a niños pequeños y causa parálisis. Los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades investigan casos en 22 estados.
Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Baffles Medical Experts While Frightening Parents
Federal health officials are investigating 127 cases of the disease, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.
States Act To Safeguard Young Cancer Patients’ Chances To Have Children
Fighting cancer often involves toxic therapies that can cause infertility. In the past couple of years, five states have moved to require that plans pay for services such as egg removal and storage.
Medicare For All? CMS Chief Warns Program Has Enough Problems Already
Seema Verma, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, tells private insurance officials that a push by some Democrats to expand Medicare would only increase troubles the program already faces.
FDA Allows Food Makers To Fortify Corn Masa To Halt Birth Defects, But Few Do
The decision aimed at adding folic acid — a vitamin that can prevent devastating defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord — to flours, chips and tortillas hasn’t caught on with many makers of widely used corn products.
Influential Leapfrog Group Jumps In To Rate 5,600 Surgery Centers
In the wake of a KHN/USA Today Network investigation, Leapfrog will check the safety and quality of outpatient centers.
Drugmakers Funnel Millions To Lawmakers; A Few Dozen Get $100,000-Plus
Drugmakers’ contributions to lawmakers have peaked as surging drug prices emerge as a hot-button political issue. In the past decade, Congress has received nearly $79 million from 68 pharma PACs, run by employees of companies that make drugs treating everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction.
Listen: Health Care Issues Reverberate In The States
Although many health policies are set in Washington, states also have a big stake in making sure their residents have access to affordable and effective health care. Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News joins a panel on the 1A radio broadcast looking at recent moves by states on health issues.
TV Ads Must Trumpet Drug Prices, Trump Administration Says. Pharma Tries A Plan B.
Drug pricing is a top issue in the run-up to the midterm elections.