Groupons For Medical Treatment? Welcome To Today’s U.S. Health Care
Groupon and other deal sites are the latest marketing tactic in medicine, offering bargain prices but potentially unnecessary, duplicative services.
Midwest Bureau
KFF Health News covers health care in the Midwest, with a bureau headquartered in St. Louis and staff reporters based in Iowa, Michigan, and South Dakota.
941-960 of 965 results
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How Political Maneuvering Derailed A Red State’s Path To Medicaid Expansion
When Kansas elected Laura Kelly as governor, Medicaid expansion looked like a shoo-in, with seemingly broad support across state government. It didn’t happen. A look at conservatives’ new health care playbook and the politics of obstruction. Health care for 130,000 Kansans hangs in the balance.
By Lauren Weber -
Back To School 2019: Backpack, Lunchbox And A Drug Test
As schools begin a new year, more districts will test students as young as 11 for illicit drug use even as other drug prevention efforts are scaled back. More than 1 in 3 school districts nationwide give students drug tests.
By Laura Ungar -
Judge Cites Opioid ‘Menace,’ Awards Oklahoma $572M In Landmark Case
The state judge ruled that drugmaker Johnson & Johnson contributed to the opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of 6,000 Oklahomans.
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The Collapse Of A Hospital Empire — And Towns Left In The Wreckage
Jorge A. Perez and his management company, EmpowerHMS, helped run an empire of rural hospitals. Now, in a staggering implosion, 12 of them have entered bankruptcy and eight have closed their doors, leaving hundreds of residents without jobs and their communities without lifesaving emergency medical care. So, what happened?
By Barbara Feder Ostrov and Lauren Weber -
After A Rural Hospital Closes, Delays In Emergency Care Cost Patients Dearly
The loss of the longtime hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., forces trauma patients to deal with changing services and expectations.
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Hepatitis A Races Across The Country
In the wake of the opioid crisis, the highly communicable hepatitis A virus is spreading in more than half the states and making its way into the general public. Underfunded health officials are valiantly trying to fight it with vaccines.
By Laura Ungar -
This Indiana Clinic Has Patient-Care Stats Worth Bragging About
A small health center in Goshen, Ind., near the border with Michigan, puts “listening to patients’ stories” first. “The rest is housekeeping.”
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Missouri Firm With Silicon Valley Ties Faces Medicare Billing Scrutiny
Amid an overall crackdown on private insurers’ Medicare billing practices, a new government audit and a whistleblower suit allege St. Louis-based Essence Group Holdings Corp.'s Medicare Advantage plans overcharged taxpayers.
By Lauren Weber and Fred Schulte -
How The Eastern Cherokee Took Control Of Their Health Care
An innovative hospital run by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina showcases an alternative model of health care that could have lessons for other tribal communities and beyond.
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Insurers Running Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions As Feds Struggle To Stop It
An enhanced government effort to catch insurers that overcharge Medicare faces resistance from the insurance industry.
By Fred Schulte and Lauren Weber -
Listen: Black Pharmacists Are Helping Close A Cultural Health Care Divide
KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony is interviewed on Illinois Public Media’s “The 21st” by Niala Boodhoo about how black pharmacists are helping fill a void for African American patients seeking culturally competent care.
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Sobering Up: In An Alcohol-Soaked Nation, More Seek Booze-Free Social Spaces
A national trend of boozeless bars is cropping up nationwide to create social spaces without the hangovers, DUIs and alcoholism culture. It’s part of a new push for sober options.
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AMA Abortion Lawsuit Puts Doctors In The Thick Of Debate
The doctors’ group, which had not been very vocal in recent years on the issue, is taking an assertive stance. The AMA said North Dakota’s laws interfere with doctor-patient relationships.
By Julie Rovner -
How Black Pharmacists Are Closing The Cultural Gap In Health Care
Independent black-owned pharmacies fill a void for African American patients looking for care that’s sensitive to their heritage, beliefs and values.
By Cara Anthony -
Churches Wipe Out Millions In Medical Debt For Others
In a mission of forgiveness, churches around the country are buying up medical debt for pennies on the dollar then erasing the debts of strangers. Since the start of 2018, at least 18 churches nationwide have abolished more than $34 million burdening America’s most debt-ridden patients.
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Not Funny: Midwife Slapped With $4,836 Bill For Laughing Gas During Her Labor
As nitrous oxide makes a comeback for pain relief during childbirth, one medical professional fights back over an overblown charge for using it.
By Lauren Weber -
What The Possible End Of Abortions In Missouri Means For Neighboring States
While Missouri’s final abortion clinic may stop providing the procedure this week, women in the state had already been seeking care in neighboring states as regulations increasingly limited abortion access.
By Lauren Weber -
Why Missouri’s The Last Holdout On A Statewide Rx Monitoring Program
For the seventh year in a row, Missouri will retain its lonely title as the only state without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. Fears about privacy violations and gun control scuttled the bill yet again, leaving a pastiche of half-step measures in place to fill the void in the fight against prescription drug abuse.
By Lauren Weber -
Listen: After Its Hospital Closes, A Pioneer Kansas Town Searches For What Comes Next
Deep questions underlie what is happening in Fort Scott, Kan.: Do small communities like this one need a traditional hospital at all? And, if not, what health care do they need?