Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

As Montana’s Mental Health Crisis Care Crumbles, Politicians Promise Aid

KFF Health News Original

One of Montana’s largest mental health providers has ratcheted back services amid financial troubles, leaving a vacuum. State policymakers have promised more money to aid behavioral health care, but lasting change could be years out.

Doctors’ Lesson for Drug Industry: Abortion Wars Are Dangerous to Ignore

KFF Health News Original

The American Medical Association ducked the abortion issue for years and now sees its members’ professional opinions second-guessed by lawmakers and judges. PhRMA is following the same playbook.

No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now in Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need to Know.

KFF Health News Original

A federal judge’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act is by no means the final word. Even parsing its impact is complicated. Here are key issues to watch as the case works its way through the legal system.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid

Podcast

As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.

Minnesota Overhauled Substance Use Treatment. Rural Residents Still Face Barriers.

KFF Health News Original

A recent policy change in Minnesota promotes quick evaluations and care for people with substance use disorders. But because of gaps riddling rural treatment systems nationwide, the promise of swift care isn’t reaching rural Minnesotans.

Judge’s Decision Would Make Some No-Cost Cancer Screenings a Thing of the Past

KFF Health News Original

A U.S. District Court ruling overturned the section of the Affordable Care Act that makes preventive health services — from colonoscopies to diabetes screenings and more — available at no cost to consumers.

States Try to Obscure Execution Details as Drugmakers Hinder Lethal Injection

KFF Health News Original

Pharmaceutical companies have put the brakes on many states’ ability to execute prisoners using lethal injections. Lacking alternatives, states are trying to keep the public from learning details about how they carry out executions.

A Progress Check on Hospital Price Transparency

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals are facing mixed reviews regarding their efforts to comply with a federal requirement that they post information about prices related to nearly every health care service they provide.

Congressman Seeks to Plug ‘Shocking Loophole’ Exposed by KHN Investigation

KFF Health News Original

A federal lawmaker has introduced a House bill that would close one of a laundry list of oversight gaps revealed in a recent KHN investigation of the system regulators use to ban fraudsters from billing government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Sen. Sanders Shows Fire, but Seeks Modest Goals, in His Debut Drug Hearing as Health Chair

KFF Health News Original

The Vermont independent and former presidential candidate was all fire and brimstone at his first hearing on drug prices as head of the Senate HELP Committee. He also pursued a more modest goal of covid vaccine price reductions. It isn’t clear whether Sanders will succeed in even that, but he has put affordability front and center.

Legal Questions, Inquiries Intensify Around Noble Health’s Rural Missouri Hospital Closures

KFF Health News Original

A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recently confirmed an “ongoing” investigation as former employees continue to go unpaid and cope with unpaid medical claims.

Mobile Clinics Really Got Rolling in the Pandemic. A New Law Will Help Them Cast a Wider Safety Net.

KFF Health News Original

Mobile clinics that provided covid-19 testing and vaccines at the peak of the pandemic are now being used to provide a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. A law passed late last year allows qualified health care centers to use federal grants to expand the fleets.