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A comprehensive statewide survey shows Colorado cut its uninsured rate in half, with one in five state residents on Medicaid. But out-of-pocket health expenses can still be hard for families to afford.
The Census Bureau reports that the uninsured rate fell from 13.3 percent of the population to 10.4 percent. Still 33 million people had no insurance.
A report on aging in L.A. County finds pronounced differences in life expectancy and in the health of older residents, depending on ethnicity and neighborhood.
Motivated by financial incentives and consumer demands, medical centers are creating programs to infuse more compassion and understanding into the doctor-patient relationship.
Research in JAMA concludes that even after accounting for factors such as experience, age and research, women do not get promoted as often to full professor jobs in academic medical centers.
Millions of Americans over 60 are risking illnesses by skipping their shots.
As the fall enrollment window begins for job-based insurance, workers may see a number of changes in provisions such as wellness programs, dependents’ coverage and specialty drug spending.
California would become the fifth state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients who request it.
In an analysis, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review concluded that price cuts are needed to control the budgetary impact.
The government expected accountable care organizations to save Medicare millions by now, but the program is falling short of targets, records show. KHN also has performance data for all 353 ACOs in 2014.
This model of care is one of the ways created by the Affordable Care Act to reduce health care costs while improving quality of care. You can also watch the accompanying video that explains ACOs.
If Gov. Jerry Brown signs the measure, all pharmacies will have to provide medication instructions in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean, the most common languages in California after English.
The number of heart valve surgeries has risen more than 50 percent since 2012, demonstrating the hospital industry’s record of finding new ways to fill beds and increase revenue even as advances in health and technology shrink demand for inpatient care. Still, patient risk and cost concerns persist.
Doctors and patients haven’t discussed the cost of medical care. But that conversation is becoming vital, and medical schools are trying to teach their students how to think – and talk – about cost.
Hospital ownership of doctors’ practices “dramatically increases” odds that a doctor will admit patients there instead of another, nearby hospital, researchers say.
Congress faces budgetary decisions, worrying advocates for medical research, teen pregnancy prevention and other federal initiatives.
KHN consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers questions about Medicare beneficiaries’ costs associated with doctors who have concierge medicine practices, insulin pumps and respite care.
Many Native Americans rely entirely on free care from the financially strapped Indian Health Service. Advocates say signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act can broaden their choices.
Opponents of a state plan to move tens of thousands of seriously ill or disabled children into Medicaid managed care plans applaud the move to postpone the transfer.
The state reported a record number of serious West Nile illnesses in 2014, including cases of meningitis and encephalitis, according to federal data. Thirty-one people died.
