Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Medicare Punishes 2,499 Hospitals for High Readmissions
The federal government’s hospital penalty program finishes its first decade by lowering payments to nearly half the nation’s hospitals for readmitting too many Medicare patients within a month. Penalties, though often small, are credited with helping reduce the number of patients returning for another Medicare stay within 30 days.
Democrats’ Plans to Expand Medicare Benefits May Pinch Advantage Plans’ Funding
As lawmakers weigh new spending provisions to cover dental, hearing and vision services for Medicare beneficiaries, a group supporting Medicare Advantage plans is airing commercials that raise concerns about the funding for those private plans.
Medicare Plans’ ‘Free’ Dental, Vision, Hearing Benefits Come at a Cost
The ads for supplemental Medicare Advantage plans describe vision and dental benefits, even grocery discounts and food deliveries. But look at the fine print.
How Billing Turns a Routine Birth Into a High-Cost Emergency
“Obstetrical emergency departments” are a new feature in some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask the parents of Baby Gus.
Pharma Campaign Cash Delivered to Key Lawmakers With Surgical Precision
With an eye to shutting down Medicare drug price negotiations, drug companies and their lobbying groups gave roughly $1.6 million in the first six months of 2021, with Democrats edging closer than they have in a decade to Republicans’ total haul.
Understaffed State Psychiatric Facilities Leave Mental Health Patients in Limbo
The pandemic has so seriously strained already tight state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere that these facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable people with mental illness struggle to admit new patients.
Direct Primary Care, With a Touch of Robin Hood
Some doctors, sick of mainstream health care’s red tape, are finding refuge in practices that combine concierge medicine with charity care.
Analysis: A Procedure That Cost $1,775 in New York Was $350 in Maryland. Here’s Why.
The state’s unique health system controls what hospitals can charge for services.
3 States Limit Nursing Home Profits in Bid to Improve Care
Following the devastating impact of covid-19 on nursing homes, state lawmakers want to be sure that government and private payments primarily go to improve care and staffing.
Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet the New Bosses Fighting Covid
Local health officials who quit or were forced out during the pandemic have been replaced by people who must face an increasingly polarized public with fewer powers than their predecessors.
In Maine, Vaccine Mandate for EMTs Stresses Small-Town Ambulance Crews
The covid vaccination rate for first responders in the state is more than 95%. But it’s lower in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can’t function if even just a few people quit.
Montana Tribes Want to Stop Jailing People for Suicide Attempts but Lack a Safer Alternative
The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes are working with academics and policy experts on possible solutions. Their challenge is how to attract the needed mental health personnel to the remote reservation.
‘No Mercy’ Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning “Where It Hurts” podcast.
‘Down to My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety of Parenting in Poverty
Diapers are a baby essential, but no federal program helps families cover their considerable cost. Jennifer Randles, a professor of sociology at Fresno State in California, spoke with KHN about her novel research exploring the outsize role “diaper math” plays in the lives of low-income moms.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dems Agree to Agree, But Not on What to Agree On
Negotiations on the health parts of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda are getting serious but have yet to produce a deal every Democrat can support. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration remains without a nominated leader but manages to take the first steps toward approving over-the-counter hearing aids. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Tami Luhby of CNN and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too.
DC’s Harllee Harper Is Using Public Health Tools to Prevent Gun Violence. Will It Work?
Expectations are high for the city’s first-ever gun violence prevention director to curb the surging murder rate with interventions outside of traditional law enforcement.
The Yelp of Covid: Vigilantes Crowdsource Pandemic Safety Tips for Consumers
Using a local approach, everyday people in cities without strict mask mandates take covid-19 safety into their own hands to protect themselves and their neighbors.
Worn-Out Nurses Hit the Road for Better Pay, Stressing Hospital Budgets — And Morale
Managers are trapped in a pricey hiring cycle, competing for critical care nurses who can monitor covid patients on life support. Some hospitals are looking abroad to replace staffers who quit to become travel nurses or leave the profession.
‘They Treat Me Like I’m Old and Stupid’: Seniors Decry Health Providers’ Age Bias
Ageism in health care settings, which can result in inappropriate or dangerous treatment, is getting new attention during the covid pandemic, which has killed more than half a million Americans age 65 and older.
Scientists Search for Cause of Mysterious Covid-Related Inflammation in Children
Scientists treating kids for MIS-C point to rare genes, leaky guts and a “superantigen.”
