Latest KFF Health News Stories
What’s Behind New Combined Urgent Care-ER Facilities
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
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.
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. […]
Readers Weigh In on Abortion and Ways To Tackle the Opioid Crisis
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Why Many Nonprofit (Wink, Wink) Hospitals Are Rolling in Money
Legal maneuvering, industry lobbying, and lax IRS oversight leave lots of room for “operating surpluses.”
Montana Looks To Become Latest State To Boost Nonprofit Hospital Oversight
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.
World-Famous Wall Drug Isn’t Immune From Challenges Facing Rural Pharmacies
Even as part of a popular South Dakota tourist attraction, an independent pharmacy serving locals, remote ranchers, and sightseers struggles with staffing and insurer payments.
Louisiana Reclassifies Drugs Used in Abortions as Controlled Dangerous Substances
Louisiana lawmakers have added two drugs commonly used in pregnancy and reproductive health care to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, a move that has alarmed doctors in the state.
Why Millions Are Trying FDA-Authorized Alternatives to Big Pharma’s Weight Loss Drugs
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.
Qué son los medicamentos compuestos que millones de personas usan para bajar de peso
La FDA permite e incluso fomenta que las farmacias de compuestos produzcan y vendan copias cuando un medicamento está en escasez, como es el caso de las drogas para combatir el sobrepeso y la obesidad.
Rescue From Above: How Drones May Narrow Emergency Response Times
Public safety and health care organizations are using drones to speed up lifesaving treatment during medical emergencies in which every second counts.
Rescate desde el cielo: cómo los drones pueden reducir el tiempo de respuesta a una emergencia
Cada año más de 356,000 personas sufren un paro cardíaco fuera de un hospital. Cada minuto que pasa sin intervención médica disminuye las probabilidades de supervivencia en un 10%.
Biden Administration Tightens Broker Access to Healthcare.gov To Thwart Rogue Sign-Ups
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it has received more than 200,000 complaints in the first six months of the year about people being signed up for Obamacare plans or switched to new plans without their consent.
Un grupo médico atiende a personas que viven en la calle… y gana dinero
Estos médicos, enfermeros y trabajadores sociales se están desplegando en las calles de Los Ángeles para ofrecer atención médica y servicios sociales a las personas sin hogar: soldados de un nuevo modelo de negocio que está arraigándose en comunidades de toda California.
A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Makes Money Doing It
Healthcare in Action, a California medical group that exclusively serves homeless people, has tapped into growing demand and funding for street medicine services. Three years in, the innovative nonprofit is raking in revenue and serving thousands of people who otherwise might flock to the hospital for high-cost care.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': At GOP Convention, Health Policy Is Mostly MIA
After an assassination attempt last weekend sent former President Donald Trump to the hospital with minor injuries, the Republican National Convention went off with little mention of health care issues. And Trump’s newly nominated vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has barely staked out a record on health during his 18 months in office — aside from being strongly opposed to abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam, who wrote June’s installment of KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about a patient who walked into what he thought was an urgent care center and walked out with an emergency room bill.
Trump Is Wrong in Claiming Full Credit for Lowering Insulin Prices
Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.
Montana’s Plan To Curb Opioid Overdoses Includes Vending Machines
Details about where the machines would go — and how they would help those most at risk — are sparse. The state has proposed using them to distribute naloxone and fentanyl testing strips.
El plan de Montana para frenar las sobredosis de opioides incluye máquinas expendedoras
En todo Estados Unidos, las máquinas expendedoras que distribuyen naloxona y otros suministros de salud de forma gratuita se están convirtiendo en elementos de primera línea en la lucha contra las sobredosis de opioides. Diferentes versiones del modelo se están probando en al menos 33 estados.
The Nation’s 911 System Is on the Brink of Its Own Emergency
911 outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency response communications due in part to wide disparities in capabilities and funding.
