Another Problem on the Health Horizon: Medicare Is Running Out of Money
With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare’s trust fund intact.
Health Industry
1,601-1,620 of 3,998 results
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Watch: COVID Patients and Families Battle to Get Benefits
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.
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For COVID Tests, the Question of Who Pays Comes Down to Interpretation
Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.
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Must-Reads of the Week
KHN's Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don't have to.
By Lauren Weber -
States Allow In-Person Nursing Home Visits As Families Charge Residents Die ‘Of Broken Hearts’
Half the states are rolling back strict policies that have kept family members out of nursing homes because of fears of spreading the coronavirus.
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Must-Reads Of The Week
KHN executive editor Damon Darlin wades through mounds of health care policy stories — so you don’t have to.
By Damon Darlin -
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ‘Open The Schools, Close The Bars’
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.”
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As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times For Results Jump To A Week — Or More
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.
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Amid Surge, Hospitals Hesitate To Cancel Nonemergency Surgeries
Unlike earlier in the year, most hospitals are not proactively canceling elective surgeries, even in some places seeing spikes in coronavirus patients.
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Analysis: How A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Cost Americans Dearly
The United States is the only developed nation unable to balance cost, efficacy and social good in setting prices.
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COVID-Tracking Apps Proliferate, But Will They Really Help?
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.
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‘Please Tell Me My Life Is Worth A LITTLE Of Your Discomfort,’ Nurse Pleads
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.
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What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures
People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.
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Among Those Disrupted By COVID-19: The Nation’s Newest Doctors
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.
By Julie Rovner -
Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole
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.
By Sarah Varney -
Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme
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.
By Lauren Weber and Barbara Feder Ostrov -
Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear. Some Still Died.
As health workers were dying of COVID-19, federal work-safety officials filed just one citation against an employer and rapidly closed complaints about protective gear.
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Ghost Bill: UVA Siphons Couple’s Tax Refund To Pay 20-Year-Old Medical Debt
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.
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US Nurses At For-Profit Hospital Chain To Strike Over Cuts And PPE Shortages
Health care workers report understaffing, long hours and protective equipment shortages at HCA Healthcare hospitals.
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Readers And Tweeters Ponder Racism, Public Health Threats And COVID’s Cost
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.