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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Can A Community Hospital Stay True To Its Mission After Sale To Large Corporation?

KFF Health News Original

After 130 years as a nonprofit with deep roots in western North Carolina, Mission Health announced in March that it was seeking to be bought by HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain.

California’s ACA Rates To Rise 8.7% Next Year

KFF Health News Original

The average increase in California is smaller than the double-digit hikes expected around the nation, due largely to a healthier mix of enrollees and more competition in its marketplace. Still, health insurance prices keep growing faster than wages and general inflation.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Drug Prices And Unicorns

KFF Health News Original

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico, and Erin Mershon of Stat News discuss a series of health policy court decisions on everything from prescription drug discounts to soda taxes. Plus, Rovner, interviews health care futurist and consultant Jeff Goldsmith.

Children With Disabilities Endure Long Waits For Life-Changing Medical Equipment

KFF Health News Original

Some California children with serious health care problems wait more than a year for wheelchairs, bath benches, commodes, specialized crutches and other crucial medical equipment. Critics blame the delays on a confusing bureaucratic maze of private insurers and public programs.

States Attacking ACA Would Suffer Most If Preexisting Conditions Shield Gets Axed

KFF Health News Original

A coalition of Republican states has launched a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, including provisions requiring insurers to offer coverage to people with preexisting conditions without raising rates. An analysis shows that some of these states have the highest proportion of such residents.

California Clinic Screens Asylum Seekers For Honesty

KFF Health News Original

As new federal policies make it harder to gain asylum in the U.S., foreign applicants try to improve their chances by having doctors evaluate their conditions — perhaps bolstering their stories of torture and violent persecution back home.