Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Needy Patients ‘Caught In The Middle’ As Insurance Titan Drops Doctors
UnitedHealthcare is dropping hundreds of physicians from its New Jersey Medicaid network, separating patients from longtime doctors. Physicians charge the insurer is using its market power to shift business to practices it controls.
Listen: Missouri Efforts Show How Hard It Is To Treat Pain Without Opioids
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber was interviewed by KBIA’s Sebastián Martínez Valdivia to discuss the challenges Missouri faces in managing patients’ pain amid the opioid epidemic.
Sanders’ Claim That Buttigieg Is ‘Favorite Of The Health Care Industry’ Is Broad And Needs Context
It all comes down to how you define it.
Analysis: Who Profits From Steep Medical Bills? The People Tasked With Fixing Them.
Surprise bills are just the latest weapons in a decades-long war among health care industry players over who gets to keep the fortunes generated each year from patient illness: $3.6 trillion in 2018. The practice is an outrage, yet no one in the health care sector wants to unilaterally make the type of big concessions that would change things.
Abortion-Rights Supporters Fear Loss Of Access If Adventist Saves Hospital
As community hospitals struggle, they often turn to large religious-based hospital groups to bail them out. But that can limit the types of services they offer, especially reproductive health treatment such as abortion.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Live from D.C. With Rep. Donna Shalala
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget includes billions of dollars in health spending cuts, Congress gets back to work on surprise medical bills, and health care remains a top issue for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), a former Health and Human Services secretary, joins the panel at a special taping before a live audience in Washington, D.C. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Para combatir el COVID-19, usan drogas contra el VIH, la malaria y el Ébola
Cuando surge un nuevo virus y pone en peligro a un gran número de personas, los científicos a veces recurren a medicamentos ya existentes que pueden readaptarse.
To Fight Chinese Outbreak, Doctors Deploy Drugs Targeting HIV, Malaria And Ebola
Chinese doctors and public health officials are turning to a variety of drugs as they seek an effective treatment for patients sickened by the novel coronavirus. The evidence behind some of these medicines is flimsy, researchers acknowledge, but human trials are the only way to know whether these drugs work.
When Your Doctor Is Also A Lobbyist: Inside The War Over Surprise Medical Bills
As lawmakers consider bills to protect patients against surprise medical bills, doctors have waged a stealth on-the-ground campaign to win over members of Congress. Here’s how they did it.
Estrategia defensiva contra cuentas médicas sorpresa: establecer los propios términos
Las cuentas sorpresa son el saldo que suele aparecer sin invitación cuando al paciente lo atiende un proveedor que no está en la red del plan médico.
One Defensive Strategy Against Surprise Medical Bills: Set Your Own Terms
By writing in payment limits when signing hospital forms, patients might have leverage in negotiations over disputes that arise from surprise medical bills.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Happy Friday! In news that is technically really good and exciting but is also kind of icky: yarn made from human skin could eventually be used to stitch up surgical wounds as a way to cut down on detrimental reactions from patients. As CNN reports, “The researchers say their ‘human textile,’ which they developed from […]
Patients Stuck With Bills After Insurers Don’t Pay As Promised
Insurance companies often require patients to have medical procedures, devices, tests and even some medicines preapproved to ensure the insurers are willing to cover the costs. But that doesn’t guarantee they’ll end up paying. Some patients are getting stuck with unexpected bills after the medical service has been provided.
Patients Caught In Crossfire Between Giant Hospital Chain, Large Insurer
Insurance giant Cigna and San Francisco-based Dignity Health have failed to ink a 2020 contract, leaving nearly 17,000 patients in California and Nevada scrambling to find new health care providers. Meanwhile, Dignity faces financial and legal challenges while it strives to implement its merger with Catholic Health Initiatives, which created one of the nation’s largest Catholic hospital systems.
Watch: Let’s Talk About Trump’s Health Care Policies
KHN’s Shefali Luthra examines the president’s talking points on a range of topics — from insurance coverage, access to care and affordability issues to preexisting condition protections and prescription drug costs.
Beyond Burnout: Docs Decry ‘Moral Injury’ From Financial Pressures Of Health Care
Doctors and other clinicians say they’re enduring moral injury because the business of health care interferes with patient care.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Preeminent Hospitals Penalized Over Rates Of Patients’ Injuries
Medicare cut payments for 786 hospitals because of high infection and complication rates. They included a third of the hospitals proclaimed as the nation’s best in one prominent ranking.
A Guide To Following The Health Debate In The 2020 Elections
As the Democratic primary campaign nears pivotal voting, important aspects of health care policy are being overlooked.
