Health Industry

Latest KFF Health News Stories

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.

Ghost Bill: UVA Siphons Couple’s Tax Refund To Pay 20-Year-Old Medical Debt

KFF Health News Original

Jane Collins and Anthony Blow were stunned to learn last fall that their state tax refund was being reduced by $110 because the Charlottesville medical center said they owed money for care their son received in 2001 and 2002.

As Problems Grow With Abbott’s Fast COVID Test, FDA Standards Are Under Fire

KFF Health News Original

After the FDA issues a public warning about the test, one of its senior officials says point-of-care coronavirus tests can miss 20% of cases and still be considered useful. Public health experts are split.

California Hits Up Libraries and Tax Offices To Recruit 20,000 New Disease Detectives

KFF Health News Original

As California begins one of the largest contact-tracing training programs in the country, many of the new recruits will be librarians: who are known to be curious, tech-savvy and really good at getting people they barely know to open up.

Citing COVID, Sutter Pushes To Revisit Landmark Antitrust Settlement

KFF Health News Original

Six months after agreeing to a $575 million settlement in a landmark antitrust case, Sutter Health has yet to pay a single dollar and now says the terms may be untenable, given the strain caused by the pandemic.