The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
About 12 percent of people 85 and older who died had no assets left and 20 percent had only their homes, according to the research. But even people who die much younger can face similar financial problems.
The American Psychiatric Association is releasing a new resource, Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide To DSM-5, to give patients and their families a better understanding of what these conditions involve and arm them with tools to advocate for their care.
Federal officials release data showing prescription histories of hundreds of thousands of doctors and identifying the most common and costly drugs.
Some say Cardinal’s first year’s performance has eased fears about care in Charlotte, N.C., but gaps and challenges remain.
Backers of Medicaid expansion celebrated in Helena as Gov. Steve Bullock signed the bill extending the health coverage to an estimated 45,000 more Montanans.
As part of an experiment run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, doctors, nurses and managers at Baptist Health System in San Antonio joined forces to cut costs for hip and knee replacements, getting patients on their feet sooner, saving taxpayers money and increasing their own earnings.
Researchers with the National Women’s Law Center find insurers around the country are failing to provide contraception and other care without copays.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott sues the federal government, saying the state is being coerced to accept the expansion or lose dollars for other health care programs for the poor.
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers readers’ questions about cost and coverage.
Tennessee’s TennCare program awaits federal rules to limit insurer profits and set stricter standards for quality and doctor networks — the biggest rules change for Medicaid managed care in a decade.
A Burbank doctor, with the support of the AMA, says the Medical Board of California violated his patients’ privacy by checking his prescribing practices in a state database without a court order. The board says it needs that access to protect patients from harm.
Federal efforts are driving hospitals to see patients as customers.
The federal government has been issuing warnings about the dangers of overdosing and addiction to methadone for nearly a decade. But only in the past two years have states started removing it from their Medicaid “preferred drug lists.”
Some families likely received lower subsidies than they were entitled to or were denied Medicaid coverage because of faulty calculations related to children who receive Social Security income.
The first study to track drinking patterns at the county level finds that women are driving big increases in heavy drinking.
Under Medicare’s hospice benefit, patients agree to forgo curative treatment, but they can continue to receive coverage for health problems not related to their terminal illness. Federal officials suspect some of those expenses should be covered by hospice.
A teen from a Taiwanese immigrant family struggles with depression as her mother worries and tries to understand. Asian American families like this one often have trouble seeking and finding appropriate treatment.
Wynne Lee, 17, struggled with depression and cultural expectations for several years. The teen from Diamond Bar, California, is like many kids from Asian American families who often have trouble finding appropriate treatment.
Federal officials have warned several states that their reluctance to expand Medicaid could cost them special federal funding to treat the uninsured.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch filed Freedom of Information Act requests after whistleblowers alleged that workers at the Wentzville, Mo. center played games, read or worked very slowly because they had so little to do beginning in fall, 2013 after the facility opened. Serco Inc. said that it paid workers overtime in spring and summer of 2014 because of the large number of backlogged applications as a result of healthcare.gov’s computer problems.
