Latest KFF Health News Stories
Licensing Logjam For California Nurses
A big backlog of applications at the state’s licensing board is holding up hiring by hospitals and making it difficult for recent nurse graduates — and experienced nurses from out of state — to work.
Medical Providers Try Uber, Lyft For Patients With Few Transportation Options
Some hospitals and other medical providers are experimenting with ride-hailing services to help patients without access to cars get to their appointments.
Elderly Patients In The Hospital Need To Keep Moving
Spending too much time in their hospital beds can leave older patients sicker than when they were first admitted.
Hidden Plan Exclusions May Leave Gaps In Women’s Care, Study Finds
The research finds that many plans don’t make details about what services are not covered readily apparent.
As States OK Medical Marijuana Laws, Doctors Struggle With Knowledge Gap
State health departments are beginning to require physicians to complete continuing medical education courses to learn how and when this therapy might work for patients.
Race, Ethnicity Affect Kids’ Access To Mental Health Care, Study Finds
An analysis in the International Journal of Health Services finds disparities between white young people and their black and Hispanic counterparts in how often they receive mental health treatment.
More Small, Midsized Firms Choose To Pay Workers’ Medical Costs Directly
Many expected that the federal health law would push these employers in this direction. An analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute finds evidence that these predictions are coming to fruition.
Administration Paints Rosy Future For Obamacare Marketplaces
Report portrays Affordable Care Act’s individual market as improving with rising enrollments of healthier, lower-risk consumers, a performance that clashes with recent complaints from some large insurers.
Researchers Identify A Key Weapon of Zika Virus
University of Southern California scientists determined the virus uses certain types of protein to interrupt the brain development of fetuses. The finding is a step toward the possible development of an intervention that could prevent the infection from leading to microcephaly.
Should Big Insurance Become Like Walmart To Lower Health Costs?
Evidence shows dominant insurers hold down hospital prices. Big insurers seeking to get bigger want to take that idea to the extreme.
Teaching In-Home Caregivers Seems To Pay Off
Intensive training for such aides helps reduce repeated ER visits and hospitalizations of elderly disabled people, a pilot project suggests.
Assisted Living Residents With Dementia Prone To Abusing Others, Study Finds
Residents with dementia need to be monitored and increased training is needed for staff who care for them, said researchers who examined reported instances of abuse in assisted living facilities.
Refugees’ Needs In U.S. Change As World’s Conflicts Shift
Syrian and Iraqi refugees arrive with decidedly different medical and mental health needs than other waves of refugees.
Big Companies Expect Moderate Increases In 2017 Employee Health Care Costs
Two surveys suggest these companies continue to try new ways to control the expense of employees’ coverage.
Elderly Hospital Patients Arrive Sick, Often Leave Disabled
Some hospitals try to avoid sharp declines in the health of elderly patients by treating them in special units geared to their specific needs. This story is the first in a KHN series on the challenges hospitals face with an aging population.
‘Lost In Translation:’ Hospitals’ Language Service Capacity Doesn’t Always Match Need
A study in Health Affairs finds that nationwide hospital-based language services are not available in a systematic way.
In Later Years, Disabilities End Blacks’ Active Lives Sooner Than Whites’
Elderly black women suffer most from shorter active life expectancy free of disabilities, showing no improvement since the early 1980s, Health Affairs study finds.
Syncing Up Drug Refills: A Way To Get Patients To Take Their Medicine
A study published in Health Affairs concludes that the idea of coordinating prescription refill timelines for people with multiple chronic conditions could improve their medication adherence and health outcomes.
California Doctors And Hospitals Tussle Over Role Of Nurse-Midwives
Legislation that would allow nurse-midwives to practice independently is mired in a dispute about whether hospitals should be allowed to hire them.
Doctors Need A New Skill Set For This Opioid Abuse Treatment
Practicing surgery on a piece of pork — that’s how some doctors are learning to implant a new drug that curbs opioid cravings. It’s not a skill set typically used in addiction medicine.
