Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

La actividad física es clave para aliviar el Parkinson, pero las minorías no acceden a estos programas

KFF Health News Original

Cuando se presenta el mal de Parkinson, las neuronas que producen dopamina se destruyen lentamente. Un pequeño estudio realizado por investigadores de la Universidad de Yale demostró que, si los pacientes hacen seis meses de ejercicios, las neuronas productoras de dopamina crecen más sanas.

California Bill Would Require State Review of Private Equity Deals in Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Proposed legislation would require the state attorney general’s consent for a wide range of private equity acquisitions in health care. The hospital lobby negotiated an exemption for for-profit hospitals.

Watch: How Patients Get Charged Hospital Prices for Doctor’s Office Care

KFF Health News Original

This installment of InvestigateTV and KFF Health News’ “Costly Care” series digs into patients’ getting charged hospital prices for doctor’s office care. For five years, a patient got the same injection from the same office. Then it changed how it billed and she owed more than $1,100 for one treatment.

Exercise Is Key for Parkinson’s Relief. But Bias, Underdiagnosis Hold Black Patients Back.

KFF Health News Original

Exercise is considered fundamental treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a progressive condition that attacks the central nervous system. But there’s a huge equity gap, researchers say, with Black people missing from popular treatment programs.

‘Scared to Death’: Nurses and Residents Confront Rampant Violence in Dementia Care Facilities

KFF Health News Original

Clashes between residents — verbal, physical, and sexual — can be spontaneous and too unpredictable to prevent. But the chance of an altercation increases when memory care homes admit and retain residents they can’t manage, according to a KFF Health News examination of inspection and court records and interviews with researchers.

How Little Denmark Got Homegrown Giant Novo Nordisk To Lower Ozempic Prices

KFF Health News Original

As Congress pushes for Medicare to cover payment for anti-obesity drugs, Denmark — Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk’s home — has limited coverage of the drug after cost overruns “emptied all the money boxes in the entire public health system.”

Small-Town Patients Face Big Hurdles as Rural Hospitals Cut Cancer Care

KFF Health News Original

For rural patients, getting cancer treatment close to home has always been difficult. And now chemotherapy deserts are expanding across the United States as hospitals winnow services to save money, creating financial and logistical hurdles for people seeking lifesaving care.

Harris’ California Health Care Battles Signal Fights Ahead for Hospitals if She Wins

KFF Health News Original

Kamala Harris fought health care consolidation during her tenure as California’s attorney general, and she could escalate the fight nationally if she wins in November. Still, the pace of mergers has accelerated.

Urgent Care or ER? With ‘One-Stop Shop,’ Hospitals Offer Both Under Same Roof

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.

What’s Behind New Combined Urgent Care-ER Facilities

KFF Health News Original

It’s Saturday afternoon, and your 4-year-old is bleeding from a gash on his face after a playtime mishap. Should you go to the emergency room or the urgent care clinic? VHC Health in Arlington, Va., plans to soon join a small but growing number of hospitals moving to resolve this dilemma by offering both types […]

Copycat Weight-Loss Drugs Are Major Players With Consumers

KFF Health News Original

As many as 1 in 8 American adults has tried one of the GLP-1 anti-obesity drugs, but a surprising number aren’t getting their supplies from pharma giants Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly. Up to 30 percent of the market, by some estimates, is made up of copycat versions from compounding pharmacies. Compounding is legal, though […]

It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s a Medical Response Drone.

KFF Health News Original

What if the first responder on the scene of a cardiac arrest were a drone carrying an automated external defibrillator? When every second counts, public safety professionals are increasingly eyeing drones — which can fly 60 miles an hour and don’t get stuck in traffic — to deliver help faster than an ambulance or EMT. […]

Montana Looks To Become Latest State To Boost Nonprofit Hospital Oversight

KFF Health News Original

Montana’s proposal to increase oversight is part of a national trend by states to ensure nonprofit hospitals act as charitable organizations as they claim tax-exempt status. But the state has yet to set standards for how much the hospitals must do.

Why Millions Are Trying FDA-Authorized Alternatives to Big Pharma’s Weight Loss Drugs

KFF Health News Original

Although Novo Nordisk and Lilly lump together the pharmacies that compound semaglutide and tirzepatide with internet cowboys selling fake drugs, there is a distinction. The FDA has offered Americans little clarity about the vast gray and black markets for the drugs.