Cost and Quality

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Para familias sin recursos, conseguir fórmula para bebés siempre ha sido un problema

KFF Health News Original

La continua escasez de leche de fórmula ha causado un tremendo estrés a las familias de todo el país, especialmente a las que dependen del programa WIC. Oara este grupo de mamás, la dificultad para conseguirla no es algo nuevo.

For Many Low-Income Families, Getting Formula Has Always Been a Strain

KFF Health News Original

Finding formula for children with allergies and other dietary restrictions was challenging even before the current shortage for families who rely on the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food assistance program.

Despite a First-Ever ‘Right-to-Repair’ Law, There’s No Easy Fix for Wheelchair Users

KFF Health News Original

Colorado lawmakers approved a measure that will make it easier for people to fix their power wheelchairs when they wear out or break down, but arcane regulations and manufacturers create high hurdles for nationwide reform.

Why So Slow? Legislators Take on Insurers’ Delays in Approving Prescribed Treatments

KFF Health News Original

Insurers say prior authorization requirements are intended to reduce wasteful and inappropriate health care spending. But they can baffle patients waiting for approval. And doctors say that insurers have yet to follow through on commitments to improve the process.

Senate GOP Puts Up Roadblocks to Bipartisan House Bill for Veterans’ Burn Pit Care

KFF Health News Original

The Senate could start work this week on a bipartisan bill to make it much easier for veterans to get health care and benefits if they get sick from exposure to massive, open-air incineration pits in war zones. The legislation has gained minimal support among Senate Republicans, who say they are concerned about the cost and the ability of Veterans Affairs to handle such a large new mission.

States Watching as Massachusetts Takes Aim at Hospital Building Boom and Costs

KFF Health News Original

A Massachusetts health care cost watchdog agency helped block plans of the state’s largest hospital system to expand into the suburbs. Now, other states are looking at whether Massachusetts’ decade-old model of controlling health costs is worth emulating.

Why Cheap, Older Drugs That Might Treat Covid Never Get Out of the Lab

KFF Health News Original

The hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin fiascoes have soured many doctors on repurposing drugs for covid. A few inexpensive old drugs may be as good as some of the new antivirals, but they face complex obstacles to get to patients.

Battle Lines Are Drawn Over California Deal With Kaiser Permanente

KFF Health News Original

A controversial proposal to grant HMO giant Kaiser Permanente a no-bid statewide Medicaid contract is headed for its first legislative hearing amid vocal opposition from a coalition of counties, competing health plans, community clinics, and a national health care labor union.

Private Equity Ownership of Nursing Homes Triggers Capitol Hill Questions — And a GAO Probe

KFF Health News Original

In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden decried these financial arrangements, which two members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee had already asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate.

Patients’ Perilous Months-Long Waiting for Medicaid Coverage Is a Sign of What’s to Come

KFF Health News Original

The pandemic crisis has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, already delaying access to the insurance program in Missouri. As the public health emergency ends, low-income people nationwide could find it even harder to have coverage.

Record Fines Might Mean California Is Finally Serious About Improving Medi-Cal

KFF Health News Original

California regulators issued record fines against L.A. Care, the state’s largest Medi-Cal managed-care plan, for providing inadequate care to its enrollees. But whether the penalties are a sign that the state will make a more forceful effort to improve Medi-Cal’s overall quality of care remains to be seen.

Missouri Tried to Fix Its Doctor Shortage. Now the Fix May Need Fixing.

KFF Health News Original

Five states have created “assistant physician” licenses that allow medical school graduates to practice without completing residency training. But a federal indictment in Missouri of one assistant physician has some original supporters trying to rein in the medical specialty.

Want Vulnerable Californians to Have Healthier Pregnancies? Doulas Say the State Must Pay Up.

KFF Health News Original

California was supposed to start paying doulas this year to help Medicaid enrollees have healthy pregnancies. But the benefit has been delayed because doulas feel lowballed by the state’s proposed reimbursement rate, which is below what most other states pay.

Listen: An Unsettling Investigation Into the Closure of a Chain of Pain Clinics

KFF Health News Original

KHN senior correspondents Jenny Gold and Anna Maria Barry-Jester joined KVPR’s Kathleen Schock on “Valley Edition” to discuss their investigation into the abrupt closure of one of California’s largest chain of pain clinics — and the patients left behind.