A Mathematical Solution for US Hospitals?
An immigrant mathematician is on a mission to save U.S. hospitals billions of dollars and improve the lives of doctors, nurses, and patients. At one hospital, it’s working.
All Coverage
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Two Patients Faced Chemo. The One Who Survived Demanded a Test To See if It Was Safe.
Worried that President Donald Trump’s FDA might not act, a panel of cancer experts recommended that doctors consider testing before dosing patients with a commonly used but sometimes deadly cancer drug. It came too late for many patients.
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Newsom’s Push To Block Law Could Save California Nursing Homes Over $1 Billion
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a state law that requires nursing homes to have 96 hours of backup power in the case of emergencies, potentially giving the industry a break from spending over $1 billion on facility upgrades. Patient advocates say rolling back the nursing home industry requirements for preparedness could jeopardize the safety of residents.
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Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Continues Assault on Obamacare
The domestic policy legislation the House advanced in May includes the most substantial rollback of the Affordable Care Act since President Donald Trump and his Republican allies tried to pass legislation in 2017 that would have largely repealed President Barack Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment.
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Native Americans Hurt by Federal Health Cuts, Despite RFK Jr.’s Promises of Protection
The Indian Health Service was mostly spared in the federal government’s widespread staffing cuts, but tribal governments and organizations have lost funding elsewhere in the melee of federal health agency cuts.
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Ballad Health’s Hospital Monopoly Underperformed. Then Tennessee Lowered the Bar.
Ballad Health, a state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in Tennessee and Virginia, can now be deemed a “clear and convincing” benefit to the public with performance that would earn a “D” on most grading scales, according to Tennessee state documents.
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Watch: In a ‘Dead Zone,’ Doctors Don’t Practice and Telehealth Doesn’t Reach
Chief rural health correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble explains how millions of rural Americans live in counties with doctor shortages and where high-speed internet connections aren’t adequate to access advanced telehealth services.
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Trump Administration Is Ending Multiple HIV Vaccine Studies, Scientists and Officials Say
The cuts will shutter two major HIV vaccine research efforts, and a National Institutes of Health senior official said the agency has been instructed not to issue any more HIV vaccine research funding in the next fiscal year, with few exceptions.
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Live From AHCJ: Shock and Awe in Federal Health Policy
This episode was taped live on Friday, May 30, at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Los Angeles. Host Julie Rovner moderated a panel featuring Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for policy at The Commonwealth Fund; Berenice Núñez Constant, senior vice president of government relations and civic engagement at AltaMed Health Services; and Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The panelists discussed the national, state, and local implications of funding cuts made over the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the potential fallout of reductions that have been proposed but not yet implemented. The panelists also took questions from health reporters in the audience.
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RFK Jr. Says Healthy Pregnant Women Don’t Need Covid Boosters. What the Science Says.
Despite opposition by the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services, existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a covid vaccine during pregnancy all points the same way: The shots are important for maternal and fetal health.
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Role Reversal: Millions of Kids Are Caregivers for Elders. Why Their Numbers Might Grow.
As state officials anticipate Medicaid funding cuts that could strip resources for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions, an army of unpaid caregivers waits in the wings: children. At least 5.4 million kids are estimated to be caring for family members at home, a number likely to rise if Medicaid cuts hit professional home-based services.
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Journalists Draw Link Between Internet Dead Zones, Threatened Medicaid Cuts, and Health
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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At Trump’s FDA, Anti-Regulatory Approach and Cost-Cutting Put Food Safety System at Risk
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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American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration
Canada has seen a surge of American doctors seeking to move north in the months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
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Opioid Settlement Windfall: Where the Billions Are Going
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have been paying billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over their role in the overdose epidemic. How to spend the money remains an open question.
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Feds Chop Enforcement Staff and Halt Rules Meant To Curb Black Lung in Coal Miners
The Trump administration has paused implementation of a rule limiting miners’ exposure to airborne silica dust days after a federal court agreed to put it on hold to hear an industry challenge. The protections are meant to head off a surge in cases of black lung disease. Meanwhile, any enforcement of new standards might be meager due to workforce cuts.
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Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths
Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.
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A Medicaid Patient Had a Heart Attack While Traveling. He Owed Almost $78,000.
Federal law says Medicaid must cover out-of-state emergency care. But a Florida man got a five-figure bill after a South Dakota hospital declined to charge his state’s Medicaid program.
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Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
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In Arizona County That Backed Trump, Conflicted Feelings About Cutting Medicaid
Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican proposals to cut perceived waste in the program.
