Cost and Quality Archives - Page 49 of 169

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ HHS Leaders Take To The Stump

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 new podcast panelist Anna Edney of Bloomberg News discuss this week’s spate of speeches by the leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services. They also discuss the slow progress on health legislation on Capitol Hill intended to fund the government and stabilize the individual insurance market. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health policy stories of the week.

March 8, 2018

When Wildfire Smoke Invades, Who Should Pay To Clean Indoor Air?

Public health agencies are set up to regulate easily controlled sources of air pollution. Wildfire smoke presents a different set of expensive challenges.

By Nora Saks, Montana Public Radio

March 8, 2018

Health Care Revamped At L.A. County Jails

The effort, overseen by the county’s health services department, aims to improve care for a population with high rates of chronic disease, mental illness and drug addiction.

By Anna Gorman

March 8, 2018

Medicaid Nation

States Strive To Curb Costs For A Crucial — But Exorbitant — Hemophilia Treatment

Saving the lives of people with the bleeding disorder can require high doses of expensive blood-clotting factor. Taxpayers foot much of the bill as manufacturers profit enormously.

By Barbara Feder Ostrov

March 6, 2018

CMS Issues Split Decision On Arkansas Medicaid Waiver

A top Senate Democrat calls the move “a mockery of the HHS ethics process" after Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma did not recuse herself in the decision to approve the Medicaid work requirement in Arkansas — the third state to get such a waiver.

By Phil Galewitz

March 5, 2018

While Talk About Opioids Continues In D.C., Addiction Treatment Is In Peril In States

The Trump administration has talked about prioritizing the opioid crisis, but states have seen little in the way of new resources. And, in some states, getting into treatment is becoming even harder.

By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio and Jackie Fortiér, StateImpact Oklahoma

March 5, 2018

Need A Medical Procedure? Pick The Right Provider And Get Cash Back

Incentives to encourage health care consumers to shop around gain momentum as a means to rein in spending.

By Julie Appleby

March 5, 2018

Simple surgeries. Tragic results.

As Surgery Centers Boom, Patients Are Paying With Their Lives

An investigation by Kaiser Health News and the USA TODAY Network discovers that more than 260 patients have died since 2013 after in-and-out procedures at surgery centers across the country. More than a dozen — some as young as 2 — have perished after routine operations, such as colonoscopies and tonsillectomies.

By Christina Jewett and Mark Alesia, USA Today Network

March 2, 2018

Buried In The Budget Bill Are Belated Gifts For Some Health Care Providers

How physical and occupational therapists triumphed in a two-decade-long quest to overturn limits on their compensation.

By Shefali Luthra

March 2, 2018

Ask Emily

Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead

When President Donald Trump signed the nation’s new tax law, he also killed the Affordable Care Act’s tax penalty — but not until 2019. Despite widespread confusion, experts caution that consumers still need to pay the tax penalty if they were uninsured last year or will be this year.

By Emily Bazar

Feb. 28, 2018

Bad Bedside Manna: Bank Loans Signed In The Hospital Leave Patients Vulnerable

Hospitals increasingly team up with lending institutions to offer low- or no-interest loans to patients to make sure their bills get paid. But critics say the complexity of hospital pricing means consumers should be cautious.

By Shefali Luthra

Feb. 21, 2018

Reducing Red Tape For Traveling Nurses

A multistate nursing agreement allows nurses to work in numerous states without the hassle and expense of obtaining licenses in each one. More than half of states have signed onto an upgraded version of the agreement — but not California.

By Anna Gorman

Feb. 20, 2018

Bill Of The Month

Listen: Got A Sky-High Bill? Don’t Write The Check.

Have you gotten a medical bill that sounds way too expensive or is just downright confusing? Send it to us. KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal talks with NPR Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep about the launch of “Bill Of The Month,” KHN and NPR's new crowdsourced investigation.

Feb. 16, 2018

Bill Of The Month

Bill Of The Month: A College Student’s $17,850 Drug Test

Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with NPR, kicks off a series that will examine and decode your perplexing medical bills.

By Fred Schulte

Feb. 16, 2018

In An Effort To Curb Drug Costs, States Advance Bills To Prod Feds On Importation

Legislatures in blue and red states alike are considering proposals that would allow them to import prescription drugs from Canada.

By Shefali Luthra

Feb. 16, 2018

Bill Of The Month

Pain Hits After Surgery When A Doctor’s Daughter Is Stunned By $17,850 Urine Test

Elizabeth Moreno got hit with a $17,850 bill from a Texas lab after leaving a urine sample at her doctor’s office.

By Fred Schulte

Feb. 16, 2018

FDA Head Vows To Tackle High Drug Prices And Drugmakers ‘Gaming The System’

In an exclusive interview, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb describes what he’s doing to spur competition and bring down drug prices.

By Sarah Jane Tribble and Liz Szabo

Feb. 15, 2018

Idaho Blue Cross Jumps Into Controversial Market For Plans That Bypass ACA Rules

Focus turns to whether the Trump administration will challenge Idaho’s move to allow such plans to be sold to individuals.

By Julie Appleby

Feb. 14, 2018

California’s Regulators To Investigate Aetna’s Medical Coverage Decisions

The investigations follow testimony in a lawsuit by a former Aetna medical director who said he relied on information from nurses, without reviewing patient records himself, when deciding which treatments to allow and deny.

By Barbara Feder Ostrov

Feb. 13, 2018

Maryland Offers Many Insured Men Free Vasectomy Coverage

But state officials are trying to get assurances from the Internal Revenue Service that the new law does not conflict with federal rules for health savings accounts.

By Michelle Andrews

Feb. 13, 2018

Trump 2.0

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