Latest KFF Health News Stories
Some Patients Can Choose To Be Hospitalized At Home
These innovative programs — available in only a few areas — allow some chronically ill patients to skip the hospital and opt instead for similar care at home.
Trained Interpreters For Patients With Limited English Can Help Avoid Medical Mishaps
Too often, however, hospitals and other providers are not reimbursed for such services and can’t afford to keep them.
Higher Prices Charged By Hospitals, Other Providers, Drove Health Spending During Downturn
A new study finds prices rose at least five times faster than overall inflation for emergency room visits, outpatient surgery and facility-based mental health and substance abuse care from 2009 to 2010.
Innovation Grants: Adding Resources To Ideas To Improve Health Care Delivery
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently awarded 26 innovation grants to advance ideas that are designed to add efficiency and quality to the health system while generating savings. KHN takes a look at four of these projects.
Some States Mandate Better Coverage Of Oral Cancer Drugs
Patients complain that they can spend tens of thousands of dollars because pills are considered a pharmacy benefit by many insurers while traditional IV chemo generally has a a flat copayment and out-of-pocket costs are capped.
Doctors And Insurers Are Key To Fighting Obesity
IOM report says physicians need to be more rigorous in dealing with patients’ weight, and insurers should reverse stingy reimbursement policies and help develop evidence-based programs that can help curb the epidemic.
Medicare Spotlights Hospitals With Especially Costly Patients
The new data, which include beneficiaries’ bills in the hospital and for 30 days afterward, are a first step toward using bonuses and penalties to encourage more efficient care.
Patients Share Of Expensive Specialty Drugs Is Rising
Growth in spending on these prescriptions, used for complex conditions such as MS and Crohn’s disease, is far outpacing traditional drugs. Often they have no generic alternative.
‘Virtual’ Consultations: A Physician’s View
Once a month, Dr. Ankush Bansal, an internist, travels to his home in Miami to see patients virtually via computer for three different health care companies. Bansal said he doesn’t think telemedicine will replace practicing traditional medicine.
Insurers Embrace ‘Virtual’ Doctor Visits
The explosion of Web- and telephone-based medical services is transforming the delivery of primary health care, giving consumers access from home for inexpensive, round-the-clock care.
Massachusetts Lawmakers Unveil Ambitious Plan To Cut Health Care Costs
The proposal for state House lawmakers would control rising medical costs by capping a cap on health-care spending and could include a tax on hospitals.
More Doctors On The Way, But Higher Costs To Follow
More doctors are being trained, but some say the move could backfire since too many young doctors are going into high-paid specialties instead of primary care, which could exacerbate rising health care costs.
Analysis: ACOs Could Have The Medicare Muscle To Transform Health System
Accountable care organizations will confront questions, including whether this new model for delivering medical treatment has the muscle to overcome the system’s entrenched incentives.
Dr. Otis Brawley: ‘The System Really Is Not Failing … Failure Is The System’
The chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society has a powerful message for the country: We’re all responsible for overuse of the health care system.
$18 For A Baby Aspirin? Hospitals Hike Costs For Everyday Drugs For Some Patients
People who are not admitted to the hospital
Some Insurers Deny ER Coverage To People Who Have Been Drinking
Laws in about half the states allow plans to restrict payments for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. That can hamper hospital efforts to counsel patients on the dangers of their behavior.
Conflicts Arise As Health Insurers Diversify
When a health insurer buys a business that helps hospitals win billing battles with insurers, alarm bells should sound, experts say.
Sued Over An $1,800 Hospital Bill
Charity care at nonprofit hospitals is scrutinized by state and federal officials, as hospitals go to great lengths to collect unpaid debts from patients.
Wanted: Mavericks And Missionaries To Solve Mississippi’s Doc Shortage
Janie Guice, a recruiter for University of Mississippi’s medical school, is looking for a few dedicated souls who are willing to commit to practicing in rural parts of the state, even in places without a Walmart.
Los Angeles Is Betting On One Crusading Doc To Turn Public Health System Around
Los Angeles has some 2 million uninsured residents. It has long had one of the most disorganized public health systems, too. Now, Dr. Mitch Katz is looking to reshape the system and match patients with their own doctors.
