Latest KFF Health News Stories
Senators Grill Top Indian Health Officials About Trump Budget
The administration officials could not answer some basic questions from senators, including how much money the agency has gained from the health law’s Medicaid expansion and whether President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would help the agency hire more staff.
DNA Links Deadly Germs, Tainted Heart Surgery Devices To German Factory
LivaNova plant in Germany is the likely source behind outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people since 2013.
Whichever Way ‘Repeal And Replace’ Blows, Pharma Is Due For Windfall
A little-noticed provision in President Donald Trump’s executive order on drug prices may offer a clue to why Big Pharma hasn’t opposed a bill that could bleed their balance sheets of millions of patients.
GOP Health Bill Eases Rules For Some Small-Business Plans
Congressional Republicans are keen to loosen restrictions set by the federal health law on insurance sold by associations that small employers join.
Double-Booked: When Surgeons Operate On Two Patients At Once
Simultaneous surgeries have ignited an impassioned debate in the medical community.
Women With High-Risk Pregnancies Far More Prone To Heart Disease
Mothers who develop diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy, or whose babies are born prematurely or precariously small, often are unaware of the long-term risk. So are their doctors.
The Union That Roars: Nurses Aren’t Giving Up On California’s Single-Payer Push
The California Nurses Association, representing some 100,000 registered nurses, is regarded statewide and nationally as a progressive political powerhouse. “Politicians are afraid” of the activists they turn out, said one critic.
Your Credit Score Soon Will Get A Buffer From Medical-Debt Wrecks
Starting in September, the three main agencies will wait 180 days before including a medical debt on a credit report.
Millions Of Kids Fall Outside Senate Plan To Shield Disabled From Medicaid Cuts
The Republican plan to replace Obamacare would reduce federal funding for Medicaid, but senators want to keep current funding levels for children who are blind or have other disabilities. Their proposal, however, would not apply to the majority of those kids.
Medicaid Cuts Will Drive Up Cost Of Private Coverage, Montana Insurers Say
Insurance executives in Montana are worried that GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could destabilize a market that is working well.
Senate GOP Bill Aims To Add Psych Beds; Squeeze On Medicaid Signals Their Undoing
The Senate health care bill has a provision to increase hospital beds for psychiatric care, but overall cuts in Medicaid could lead to even fewer beds nationwide.
Trump’s Surgeon General Pick Built Name Fighting HIV And Opioids In Indiana
Dr. Jerome Adams is the health commissioner in Indiana, the home state of Vice President Mike Pence.
Do-It-Yourself Detox Can Be ‘Freddy Krueger’ Scary — And Usually Fails
Treatment for opioid addiction can be expensive and difficult to coordinate. That might make some people tempted to think they can overcome the addiction on their own. This rarely works.
Obamacare Inspires Unlikely Political Action In California’s Red Region
In a county where cows outnumber people and most voters supported Donald Trump, a coalition of health clinics is driven to defend the health law.
Amount Of Opioids Prescribed In U.S. Has Been Falling Since 2010
Report by CDC researchers finds a steady fall in opioid use in recent years, but the rates are still three times higher than in 1999.
Parents Of Ill Children Worry About Return Of ‘Lifetime Limits’ In GOP Health Bill
Current law requires all health insurance sold on the exchanges to cover 10 essential benefits — with no annual or lifetime limits to reimbursement. But the GOP plan might let states reinstate limits.
As Seniors Get Sicker, They’re More Likely To Drop Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Advantage plans offer good value and aim to keep patients healthy but sicker people are far more likely to quit because they can’t get the care they need.
What Tax Breaks? Those Promised In GOP Plans Go Mostly To Top 1%
Similar to the House-passed American Health Care Act, the Senate GOP health bill would change or eliminate more than a dozen taxes that were put in place to help pay for provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
McConnell Has About $200B In ‘Candy’ To Make Deals On Obamacare Repeal
As many as a dozen GOP senators may oppose the Senate majority leader’s Obamacare repeal bill. But the dealmaking is just beginning.
Men Wrote The Senate Health Care Bill. This Woman Could Stop It.
Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s parliamentarian, will be in the hot seat as she is called upon to decide which provisions of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bill draft fit the tight rules that allow for it to be passed without a filibuster.
