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Vulnerable and marginalized communities are getting left behind in dental deserts, where patient volume exceeds provider capacity or too few dentists are willing to serve the uninsured or those on Medicaid.
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Doctors rushed a pregnant woman to a surgeon who charged thousands upfront just to see her. The case reveals a gap in medical billing protections for those with rare, specialized conditions.
In a nation with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, imprisonment speeds the aging process, research shows. Some experts complain the federal government isn’t collecting or releasing data that could identify disease patterns and prevent deaths.
In Wesley Chapel, Fla., near Tampa, residents will soon have three general hospitals within a five-minute drive. The new construction is part of a hospital-building boom across Florida unleashed almost four years ago, when the state dropped a requirement that companies obtain government approval to open new hospitals.
The pandemic gave federal officials expanded power to access crucial data about the spread of covid-19, but that authority will change when the public health emergency sunsets in May. That, along with the end of popular covid trackers, will make it harder for policymakers and the public to keep an eye on covid and other threats.
The federal government’s ambitious plan to end the HIV epidemic, launched in 2019, has generated new ways to reach at-risk populations in targeted communities across the South. But health officials, advocates, and people living with HIV worry significant headwinds will keep the program from reaching its goals.
Billions of dollars are headed to state and local governments to address the opioid crisis. Policy experts and advocates expect the federal government to play a role in overseeing the use of the money. Failure to do so, they say, could lead to wasted opportunities. And, since Medicaid helps pay health care costs, the feds could have a claim to portions of states’ opioid settlements.
KFF Health News and CBS News recently reported that multiple lawsuits allege the device has led to grievous injuries to patients’ mouths, resulting in loss of teeth.
When uninsured people are diagnosed with cancer, accessing resources and paying for treatment can be daunting. The safety nets meant to help often fall short, say cancer physicians and health policy experts who study access to care. Some patients find it easier to play the odds.
Georgia is among 35-plus states that have used an under-the-radar federal funding mechanism to boost payments for hospitals and other providers under Medicaid. But a government watchdog and a congressional advisory commission say sparse oversight makes it hard to tell if the “directed payments” program is meeting its goals.
A recent Gallup Poll suggests that Americans are putting off medical care because of costs. Inflation and rising rents make it harder for people to make ends meet.
Despite record enrollment in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, some consumers who bought coverage and agents who helped them do so have had a tough start to the new year: Many say it’s hard to find an in-network doctor or hospital.
Could a charity hospital founded by a crusading Dutch playwright, a group of Quakers, and a judge working undercover become a model for the U.S. health care system? In this episode of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Dr. Ricardo Nuila to find out.
A KHN and CBS News investigation found that a dental appliance called the AGGA has been used by more than 10,000 patients, and multiple lawsuits allege it has caused grievous harm to patients.
Pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage ends just two months after childbirth in Texas — some advocates and researchers say that cutoff contributes to maternal deaths and illnesses in the state.
Pharmaceutical companies have put the brakes on many states’ ability to execute prisoners using lethal injections. Lacking alternatives, states are trying to keep the public from learning details about how they carry out executions.
Spending the money effectively and equitably is a tall order for state and local governments, and a lack of transparency in the process is already leading to fears of misuse.
A Florida woman tried to dispute an emergency room bill, but the hospital and collection agency refused to talk to her — because it was her child’s name on the bill, not hers.
Doctors have no national standards on when to order urine tests to check whether adult ADHD patients are properly taking their prescription stimulants. Some patients are subjected to much more frequent testing than others.
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