Sarah Jane Tribble

UnityPoint Health-Jones Regional Medical Center is a 22-bed critical access hospital in Anamosa, Iowa. It averages about seven inpatients a night and provides emergency services to the small community northeast of Cedar Rapids. | UNITYPOINT HEALTH

An obscure drug discount program stifles use of federal lifeline by rural hospitals

Even hospitals continue to close, only about two dozen of more than 1,500 eligible facilities have been designated as rural emergency hospitals since a program launched last year to help them remain afloat

Jun 4, 2024

SHUTTERSTOCK

Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has grown substantially, and so have concerns about the insurers’ aggressive sales tactics and misleading coverage claims

Jan 9, 2024

YaSheka Shaw (left) celebrates losing weight during a checkup with medical student Kaniya Pierre Louis (center) and physician Zita Magloire. | SARAH JANE TRIBBLE/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Can family doctors deliver rural America from its maternal health crisis?

Maternal deaths keep rising, with Black and Indigenous mothers most at risk; more than half of all rural counties in the United States have no hospital services for delivering babies, increasing travel time for parents-to-be and causing declines in prenatal care.

Jan 4, 2024

MARKUS SPISKE/CREATIVE COMMONS

Tiny, rural hospitals feel the pinch as Medicare Advantage plans grow

Medicare Advantage plans have become dubious payers for many large and small hospitals, which report the insurers are often slow to pay or don’t pay

Oct 24, 2023

Lore Wilkinson’s medication for her rare muscle disease used to cost so little she paid for it without using insurance, but her most recent bill shows her insurer paid about $40,000 for a month’s supply. Wilkinson and many others with rare diseases across the country are getting caught in the crossfire of an ongoing legal debate over orphan drugs. | LIAM JAMES DOYLE FOR KHN

Battle over the ‘Orphan Drug’ program leaves patients’ pocketbooks at risk

Patients who depend on special drugs to treat rare diseases are caught in the crossfire between drugmakers and the FDA.

Feb 22, 2023

Latinos were among the patients at an OHSU vaccination clinic in Hillsboro in May. | JOSH ANDERSEN/OHSU

The White House Says Boosters for All. Here’s What You Need to Know.

The rollout would begin the week of Sept. 20 for U.S. residents 18 and older who received their second shot of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines at least eight months previously.

Aug 18, 2021

FRITZ LIEDTKE/OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

Pfizer CEO To Public: Just Trust Us On The Covid Booster

As pharmaceutical companies declare a need for boosters, scientists and doctors emphasize that there’s no proof yet.

Aug 13, 2021

FRITZ LIEDTKE/OHSU

Pfizer’s Newest Vaccine Plant Has Persistent Mold Issues, History of Recalls

Pfizer’s management knew last year there was “a mold issue” at the Kansas facility now slated to produce the drugmaker’s urgently needed COVID-19 vaccine.

Mar 10, 2021

SUSIE CHRISTOFF HAS TRIED A NUMBER OF MEDICATIONS FOR HER PAINFUL PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS BUT THEY ALWAYS MADE HER SWELL UP./CHRIS BARTLETT/FOR KAISER HEALTH NEWS