Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Ever Heard of a Surgical Assistant? Meet a New Boost to Your Medical Bills

KFF Health News Original

A college student’s bill for outpatient knee surgery is a whopper — $96K — but the most mysterious part is a $1,167 charge from a health care provider she didn’t even know was in the operating room.

Watch: COVID Patients and Families Battle to Get Benefits

KFF Health News Original

KHN senior correspondent Christina Jewett describes the obstacles facing workers and their families trying to secure death benefits or workers’ compensation after COVID-19 struck.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ‘Open The Schools, Close The Bars’

KFF Health News Original

While COVID-19 cases continue to surge in more than half the country, the Trump administration has decided its top priority is for schools to open for in-person learning this fall. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands Trump a victory in a case to limit the reach of the birth control benefit under the Affordable Care Act. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Sarah Varney about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month.”

As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times For Results Jump To A Week — Or More

KFF Health News Original

The delays can be excruciating, with some extreme cases running more than 20 days. People getting tested at urgent care centers, community health centers, pharmacies and state-run drive-thru or walk-up sites are often waiting a week or more to find out if they tested positive for the coronavirus.

COVID-Tracking Apps Proliferate, But Will They Really Help?

KFF Health News Original

Public health authorities had hoped digital technology would supplement the work of contact tracers seeking to control the spread of COVID-19. But technical uncertainties and public health failures have dimmed the apps’ potential.

‘Please Tell Me My Life Is Worth A LITTLE Of Your Discomfort,’ Nurse Pleads

KFF Health News Original

Health care workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis have spent exhausting months working and self-quarantining off-duty to keep from infecting others, including their families. Encountering people who indignantly refuse face coverings can feel like a slap in the face.

Among Those Disrupted By COVID-19: The Nation’s Newest Doctors

KFF Health News Original

For new medical residents, this has been a year like no other. In part that’s because getting from here to there — from medical school to residency training sites — has been complicated by the coronavirus.

Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole

KFF Health News Original

Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn’t get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus — which is hard when you live with elders.

Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme

KFF Health News Original

In an investigation last year, KHN detailed the rise and fall of Miami businessman Jorge A. Perez’s rural hospital empire, which spanned eight states and encompassed half of the rural hospital bankruptcies in 2019.