In This Oklahoma Town, Most Everyone Knows Someone Who’s Been Sued by the Hospital
Hospitals nationwide face growing scrutiny over how they secure payment from patients, but at one community hospital, the debt collection machine has been quietly humming along for decades.
Federal Program to Save Rural Hospitals Feels ‘Growing Pains’
Fewer than two dozen rural hospitals were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals in the program’s first year. Now, advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are necessary to lure more takers and keep health care in rural communities.
Hospitales rurales, atrapados en el dilema de sus viejas infraestructuras
El aumento de los costos, en medio de reducciones de los pagos de las aseguradoras, dificulta que los pequeños hospitales obtengan financiación para grandes renovaciones.
Rural Hospitals Are Caught in an Aging-Infrastructure Conundrum
Small, community hospitals face challenges in paying for the capital improvement projects they need to stay open.
What Would a Nikki Haley Presidency Look Like for Health Care?
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s tenure in the Palmetto State — which overlapped with several tumultuous years of health care reform — and her recent comments offer clues to how her presidency might affect national health care policy.
Delays in State Contracts Leave Montana Health Providers Strapped
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is months behind in paying organizations contracted to connect people to care. The interruption is likely to have lasting effects, even after the state catches up.
Rising Malpractice Premiums Price Small Clinics Out of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
Even in states where laws protect minors’ access to gender-affirming care, malpractice insurance premiums are keeping small and independent clinics from treating patients.
Older Americans Say They Feel Trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans
As enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the insurance works, including from those who say they have become trapped in the private plans as their health declines.
Listen to ‘Tradeoffs’: How the Loss of a Rural Hospital Compounds the Collapse of Care
Six years ago, the hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas, shuttered, leaving residents in the small community without a cornerstone health care institution. In the years since, despite new programs meant to save small hospitals, dozens of other communities have watched theirs close.
¿Pueden los médicos de familia salvar a las zonas rurales de la crisis de obstetras?
El número de bebés que murieron antes de cumplir su primer año aumentó el año pasado; y más de la mitad de los condados rurales no tienen servicios hospitalarios para partos.
Can Family Doctors Deliver Rural America From Its Maternal Health Crisis?
Family medicine doctors already deliver most of rural America’s babies, and efforts to train more in obstetrics care are seen as a way to cope with labor and delivery unit closures.
Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities
Deep gaps in rural America’s child care system threaten communities’ stability by shrinking the workforce and inhibiting economic potential. Now that pandemic-era federal aid for child care programs and low-income families has ended, it’s up to state and local leaders to find solutions.
The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.
Inside the Pentagon’s Painfully Slow Effort to Clean Up Decades of PFAS Contamination
Cost estimates balloon and complications mount as the Defense Department grapples with PFAS pollution at hundreds of its bases and surrounding communities.
Hongos misteriosos son el centro de brote de intoxicación alimentaria
Según el Código Alimentario de la FDA, la gran mayoría de las más de 5,000 especies de hongos carnosos que crecen naturalmente en América del Norte no han sido sometidas a pruebas de toxicidad.
Mysterious Morel Mushrooms at Center of Food Poisoning Outbreak
Federal officials issued their first guidelines on preparing morel mushrooms after a deadly food poisoning outbreak in Montana, noting the toxins in the delicacy aren’t fully understood.
Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds Sit Untouched as Overdose Deaths Rise
Some states haven’t begun using opioid settlement funds intended to help curb the opioid epidemic. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 Americans died of an overdose last year.
People With Disabilities Hope Autonomous Vehicles Deliver Independence
A pilot project in northern Minnesota aims to pave the way for fully autonomous vehicles to offer independence for people who can’t drive.
Watch: She Had a Home and a Good-Paying Job. Then Illness and Debt Upended It All.
A chronic health diagnosis and medical debt reordered Sharon Woodward’s life.
Journalists Delve Into Gun Violence, Medicaid’s ‘Unwinding,’ Opioid Lawsuits, and More
KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
