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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths

KFF Health News Original

No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.

California: A Health Care Laboratory With Mixed Results

KFF Health News Original

California frequently innovates to address its wide-ranging health care needs, but it has not always achieved its aims. A series of articles in the journal Health Affairs shows, among other things, that efforts to care for HIV patients, provide better access to reproductive services for low-income women and fill gaps in primary care have sometimes fallen flat.

As California Hospitals Sweep Up Physician Practices, Patients See Higher Bills

KFF Health News Original

A Health Affairs study quantifies the financial effects of such mergers on consumers and their insurers. The hospital industry and doctor practices say the consolidation leads to better coordination of care.

The $109K Heart Attack Bill Is Down To $332. What About Other Surprise Bills?

KFF Health News Original

“I don’t feel any consumer should have to go through this,” says Drew Calver, who faced a life-changing surprise bill from an Austin hospital after a heart attack last year. After attention as a “Bill of the Month” patient, he paid the hospital $332. But he worries about other patients with surprise bills.

HHS Watchdog To Probe Enforcement Of Nursing Home Staffing Standards

KFF Health News Original

The study follows a Kaiser Health News and New York Times investigation that found nearly 1,400 nursing homes have reported fewer registered nurses on duty than Medicare requires or failed to provide reliable staffing information to the government.