Latest KFF Health News Stories
Colorado’s Elusive Goal: A Complete, Useful Health Care Price List
Making health care prices available to the public is difficult and expensive, and Colorado and several other states are in jeopardy of losing funding for their efforts unless Congress intervenes.
Florida Moves To Manage Health Care For Foster Kids
Plan seeks to close gaps for more than 30,000 kids in the state’s child welfare system.
Regional Breakdown Of Florida Children Eligible For New Managed Care Plan
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Map shows there are 31,600 children eligible for the new specialty plan designed for those in the child welfare system across 11 regions.
Technology Helps Bridge Gap In Michigan’s Mental Health Care
Overwhelmed mental health professionals are using telephone consultations and other approaches to reach patients in underserved communities.
Telemedicine Bolsters ICU Care In Rural Maryland Hospitals
A new telemedicine technology, Maryland eMedicare, allows critical care physicians to monitor ICU patients hundreds of miles away.
Once limited to filling and dispensing drugs, pharmacists in California are increasingly providing direct care to patients.
Pharmacists Increasingly Take On Clinical Roles
They work with doctors to assess patients, spot medication errors and even write prescriptions.
The Rise Of Medical Identity Theft In Healthcare
As modern technology has ushered in more convenience and flexibility for users, it has also burdened victims with one worry: Identity theft.
Hill Plan Would Reward Medicare Doctors For Quality
But finding a way to finance the SGR replacement may be even more difficult.
Obamacare Thrives In San Francisco’s Chinatown
The immigrant community became self-sufficient by necessity, building its own hospital more than a century ago. Now, that hospital offers a health plan on Covered California that is exceeding its enrollment goals.
Medicaid Expansion Only A First Step To Better Health In Troubled W.Va. Communities
Even as tens of thousands of West Virginians enroll in Medicaid, experts caution that the culture also will have to change.
Patient Coordination Would Get Boost If Medicare Changes How It Pays Docs
If Congress finally overhauls the way Medicare pays doctors, experts say patients would see new emphasis on coordinated care and preventive services.
Experts: Moving New Medicaid Patients Out Of ER Will Take Time
The health law seeks to change how the poor get routine care, moving them into doctors’ offices where more consistent supervision may improve their health.
From Ethiopia To West Virginia, Community Health Workers Help Close Access-To-Care Gaps
Outreach efforts in remote places like Ethiopia could offer models for medically underserved areas in the U.S.
Ex-Microsoft Exec Brings Lists And Whiteboard To Overhaul Of Obamacare Website
Former software engineer Kurt DelBene restores and races cars when he’s not looking under the hood of big computer systems.
The Clubfoot Correction: How Parents Pushed For A Better Treatment
Just a decade ago, 90 percent of babies born with clubfoot had extensive surgeries to correct it. Those surgeries often led to a lifetime of chronic pain. That has been replaced by a cheaper, noninvasive casting technique, championed by parents.
Health Law Spurs State Shift in Long-Term Care
Many states are taking advantage of a $3 billion health law program meant to help older Americans avoid nursing homes and instead get long-term care in their own homes — something many of them prefer.
Congress Is Poised To Change Medicare Payment Policy. What Does That Mean For Patients And Doctors?
Capitol Hill committees appear close to replacing the controversial physician payment system that rewards doctors for volume with one that offers incentives for quality and coordination of care.
Some Medical Schools Shaving Off A Year Of Training
The chance to finish medical school early is attracting increased attention from students burdened with six-figure education loans. Medical school administrators and policymakers see it as a way to produce doctors faster and as a response to the looming shortage of primary care physicians.
Emergency Rooms Are Front Line For Enrolling New Obamacare Customers
While it may be a logical place to enroll the uninsured, consumer confusion — and illness — are hurdles for outreach workers.
