Latest KFF Health News Stories
Reporter’s Notebook: In Health Care, A Good Price (Or Any Price) Is Hard To Find
Not only are health prices hidden, industry players are contractually obligated to keep them secret. That’s why answering a simple question — how much does it cost to have a baby in Mountain View, Calif.? — became a journalistic quest.
FDA Moves To Guard Against Abuse Of ‘Orphan Drug’ Program
Following a KHN investigation, the Food and Drug Administration has moved to speed up approvals of “orphan drugs” while closing a loophole that allowed drugmakers to skip pediatric testing.
Postcard From The Hill: Senators Shelve Histrionics In Search Of Obamacare Fix
The Senate health committee is putting aside partisan bickering this month to seek a legislative remedy to a possible spike in Obamacare premiums this fall.
Quiz: How Well Are You Paying Attention?
To strengthen your core knowledge of health care policy, it helps to be a regular reader of Kaiser Health News. Here’s a pop quiz to gauge what you have learned.
Cuestionan la necesidad de una vacuna contra la meningitis B para universitarios
Expertos dicen que farmacéuticas están apelando al miedo de los padres para promover dos vacunas contra le meningitis B entre estudiantes universitarios, luego de dos brotes en campus.
Guess Who Pays The Price When Hospital Giants Hire Your Private Practitioner?
Gobbling up doctors’ independent practices is lucrative for hospital systems — but not necessarily a good deal for the physicians or consumers, critics say. Northern California is a case in point.
Meningitis B Vaccine’s High Price Poses A Health Care Conundrum For College-Bound
This immunization may mark a shift among some vaccine makers to higher-priced, “niche” preventives that protect against very specific and sometimes rare illnesses.
5 Governors Press Congress For Fast Bucks To Secure Obamacare Market In 2018
State leaders tell senators that federal dollars are needed this fall to keep insurers participating in Obamacare next year and prevent big hikes in premiums.
Shedding New Light On Hospice Care: No Need To Wait For The ‘Brink Of Death’
Hospice care often prompts fear and misunderstanding, but the services provided can lead to less pain and trauma at the end of life.
Vital Health Officials You’ve Never Heard Of: Insurance Commissioners In The Hot Seat
The fate of the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplaces remains in play as state insurance commissioners take a central role in the debate.
How Below-The-Radar Mergers Fuel Health Care Monopolies
Most acquisitions by hospitals of physician practices are too small to trigger antitrust attention, study says. But a buying spree of “onesies and twosies” doctor practices has driven competition down and prices up.
Another Way For Anti-Vaxxers To Skip Shots For Schoolkids: A Doctor’s Note
No longer able to get exemptions for personal beliefs in California, parents opposed to inoculations seem to be obtaining medical exemptions for their children, according to a new study.
Rep. Chris Collins’ Australian Stock Bet Looks Bleaker
Innate Immunotherapeutics, the Australian biotech firm whose largest shareholder is Buffalo, N.Y.-area congressman Chris Collins, said it expects to close after its multiple sclerosis drug failed in trials.
St. Kitts Launches Probe Of Herpes Vaccine Tests On U.S. Patients
After a Kaiser Health News report on an offshore herpes vaccine trial that skirted FDA regulations, St. Kitts and Nevis officials claim they had no knowledge of the testing. An investigation is underway.
Pioneering Cancer Gene Therapy Gets Green Light — And $475,000 Price Tag
The USA’s first approved gene therapy — to be used to fight leukemia that resists standard therapies — will cost $475,000 for a one-time treatment.
Facebook Live: The Prescription Drug Pricing Pipeline
In this Facebook Live, KHN’s Julie Appleby talks with Stephanie Stapleton and answers readers’ questions about the prescription drug pricing pipeline and the industry stakeholders who have a role in what you pay.
En la Clínica Mayo enseñan a controlar el dolor sin opioides
Un programa que ya ha cumplido 40 años ayuda a personas con dolor crónico a mejorar sus vidas sin tomar medicamentos que pueden ser adictivos.
Mayo Pain Expert: Holistic Approach Helps Patients Ditch Opioids
Painkillers were never designed to be used over the long term, says the head of the Mayo Clinic’s pain rehabilitation center. Instead, patients should try other approaches, including relaxation therapies. But getting insurers to cover them might take coaxing.
Polémica por ensayo de una vacuna contra el herpes en el extranjero
El ensayo clínico de una vacuna contra el herpes común fuera de los Estados Unidos ha generado una controversia médica y una investigación gubernamental.
Offshore Human Testing Of Herpes Vaccine Stokes Debate Over U.S. Safety Rules
Prominent businessmen and an American university supported offshore testing of an experimental vaccine.
