Latest KFF Health News Stories
721 Hospitals Penalized For Patient Safety
Medicare is penalizing 721 hospitals with high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes that can harm patients, known as “hospital-acquired conditions.” Penalized hospitals will have their Medicare payments reduced by 1 percent over the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015. To determine penalties, Medicare evaluated three types of HACs. One is central-line associated bloodstream infections, or CLABSIs. The second is catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTIs. The final one, Serious Complications, is based on eight types of injuries, including blood clots, bed sores and falls. Here are the hospitals that are being penalized:
For Some Families, Coverage With Separate Deductibles Might Be The Best Choice
Smart shoppers will dig deep to find out if their family coverage has one deductible for the whole family or separate “embedded” deductibles for each family member. The answer could make a big difference in your out-of-pocket costs.
Medicare Cuts Payments To 721 Hospitals With Highest Rates Of Infections, Injuries
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
Even With Coverage Expansion, Access To Mental Health Services Poses Challenges
A 50-state analysis details incidence rates of mental illness and access to care across the country.
Too Little, Too Late For Many New Yorkers Seeking Hospice
Evidence shows hospice care can extend life and save money, but only if patients and doctors dare ask for the help. One New Yorker said hospice gave her back a normal life — at peace, pain subdued.
Rx For Reform: NC Pharmacists Try To Boost Health And Cut Costs
The federal government has invested $15 million in a North Carolina experiment that gives community pharmacists a new role in patient care.
Popularity Of Outpatient Surgery Centers Leads To Questions About Safety
The recent death of Joan Rivers, who suffered cardiac arrest at a center in New York, highlights some of the concerns among consumer advocates.
Few Women Have Coverage For Egg Freezing
Although egg freezing is the perk du jour at some high profile companies, too often such options are not available, even for women with serious illnesses such as cancer.
Fantastic Voyage: Tiny Sensors May Soon Monitor Seniors’ Medicines From Inside
New nano-meds, miniscule robots embedded in a pill, send signals to an external monitor to record each new medication as it slides through the digestive tract. This will be especially useful for older people, who may not be able to keep track of a panoply of medicines.
Small Businesses Drop Coverage As Health Law Offers Alternatives
Small employers are canceling medical plans and leaving workers to buy insurance through the law’s online marketplaces — sometimes to everyone’s benefit.
Making The Human Condition Computable
For centuries, the central challenge in health care was ignorance. Now, health care is being flooded with information. But commerce and medicine are still trying to figure out what do with all that data.
Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers
For-profit carriers complain the upstarts have an unfair edge because of low-interest federal loans.
Wellness At Work: Popular But Unproven
Almost all large employers offer at least one wellness plan, but studies showing these efforts really save money are scarce.
Doctors’ Testimony Crucial As Border Children Seek Asylum
Medical-legal partnerships in New York and Los Angeles help some unaccompanied minors navigate immigration hearings.
Obamacare Creates Boom For Federal Contractors
Surging contracts related to the Affordable Care Act have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services a fount of revenue for private business.
HHS’s Contracting Bonanza in 8 Charts
The Affordable Care Act and related programs have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services the No. 3 federal agency for outsourcing work to private business, after the Pentagon and the Energy Department.
Some Newly Covered Illinois Residents Still Struggle To Pay For Health Care
Even with insurance, high deductibles can put care out of reach.
Federal Officials Urge Marketplace Consumers To Look For Better Deals In 2015
People who bought coverage on healthcare.gov for this year could likely find cheaper premiums if they shop again.
Growth In U.S. Health Spending In 2013 Is Lowest Since 1960
The report credits slower growth in spending for private health insurance, Medicare, hospitals, physicians and clinical services.
Big Data Offer New Strategy For Public Health Campaigns
In Chicago, data analytics methods once used in political campaigns helped identify women needing mammograms.
