Latest KFF Health News Stories
Exclusive: Social Security Chief Vows to Fix ‘Cruel-Hearted’ Overpayment Clawbacks
New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley is promising to change how the agency reclaims billions of dollars it wrongly pays to beneficiaries, saying the existing process is “cruel-hearted and mindless.”
Ya hay una droga oral para la depresión postparto… pero cuesta $16,000
Abogados, defensores y reguladores están observando de cerca cómo las aseguradoras diseñarán las normas para cubrirlo.
Concerns Grow Over Quality of Care as Investor Groups Buy Not-for-Profit Nursing Homes
For-profit groups own more than 70% of U.S. nursing homes. Industry leaders and researchers wonder whether corporations and investors can succeed where not-for-profit organizations have struggled. Or, will quality of care suffer in the name of making money?
Movimientos en contra de las vacunas perjudican a los niños más vulnerables
La desinformación, junto con un movimiento por el derecho de los padres que aleja la toma de decisiones de la salud pública, ha contribuido a las tasas de vacunación infantil más bajas en una década.
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health
Framed in the rhetoric of choice, Tennessee’s new law governing childhood vaccinations is among more than a dozen recently passed or pending nationwide that set parental freedom against community and children’s health.
A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?
A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.
Colorado Isn’t Giving up on Its Drug Importation Dream
Colorado hopes to join Florida to become only the second state authorized to import prescription drugs from Canada. But they’re hitting the same hurdles: drugmakers — and the FDA. Colorado officials recently amended their 2022 importation application with the Food and Drug Administration, in the process revealing new correspondence that shows the state’s so-far fruitless […]
En 2022, el año más reciente del que se dispone de datos, 7,385 californianos murieron por sobredosis relacionadas con opioides, de los cuales el 88% involucró fentanilo, un opioide sintético que puede ser 50 veces más potente que la heroína.
VIP Health System for Top US Officials Risked Jeopardizing Care for Soldiers
The historically troubled White House Medical Unit is just one part of a government health system that gives VIP care to top officials, military officers, military retirees, and families. Pentagon investigators say some were prioritized over rank-and-file soldiers.
Biden Team, UnitedHealth Struggle to Restore Paralyzed Billing Systems After Cyberattack
The cyberattack on a unit of UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division is the worst on the health care industry in U.S. history, hospitals say. Providers struggling to get paid for care say the response by the insurer and the Biden administration has been inadequate.
Operating in the Red: Half of Rural Hospitals Lose Money, as Many Cut Services
A recent report finds half of America’s rural hospitals are losing money, and many are struggling to stay open. Researchers and advocates worry the hospitals’ financial spiral will have immediate and long-term health effects on their communities.
Why Hospitals in Many States With Legal Abortion May Refuse To Perform Them
Many states that tout themselves as protectors of reproductive health care, including California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, have little-noticed laws on the books protecting hospitals that refuse to provide it. The laws shield at least some hospitals from liability for not providing care they object to on religious grounds, leaving little recourse for patients. The providers — many of them […]
Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?
A mathematical model designed to direct spending of opioid settlement funds is at the center of a debate over whether to invest in technology to guide long-term decisions or focus on the immediate needs of people in addiction.
Whistleblower Accuses Aledade, Largest US Independent Primary Care Network, of Medicare Fraud
A recently unsealed lawsuit alleges Aledade Inc. developed billing software that boosted revenues by making patients appear sicker than they were.
California Pushes to Expand the Universe of Abortion Care Providers
A new California law allows trained physician assistants, also called physician associates, to perform first-trimester abortions without the presence of a supervising doctor. The legislation is part of a broader effort by the state to expand access to abortion care, especially in rural areas. Some doctor groups are wary.
With Medical Debt Burdening Millions, a Financial Regulator Steps In to Help
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created after the Great Recession of 2007-09, has increasingly started policing the health care system.
California Hospitals, Advocates Seek Stable Funding to Retain Behavioral Health Navigators
California has supported expanded use of medications in the fight against opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. But hospitals and addiction treatment advocates say the state needs to secure ongoing funding if it wants more behavioral health workers to guide patients into long-term treatment.
Readers Call on Congress to Bolster Medicare and Fix Loopholes in Health Policy
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Hacking at UnitedHealth Unit Cripples a Swath of the US Health System: What to Know
Change Healthcare, a firm recently bought by insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, reportedly suffered a cyberattack. The company processes 14 billion transactions annually, including payments and requests for insurance authorizations.
Toxic Gas That Sterilizes Medical Devices Prompts Safety Rule Update
The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening regulation of ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic gas used to sterilize medical devices. The agency is trying to balance the interests of the health care industry supply chain with those of communities where the gas creates airborne health risks.
