Kaiser Health News

Image

U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. | LOUIS VELAZQUEZ/UNSPLASH

Senators say health worker shortages ripe for bipartisan compromise

The shortage of health care workers of all sorts is a widespread problem, but is especially acute in rural areas and minority communities.

Feb 21, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

One state looks to get kids in crisis out of the ER — and back home

A handful of states and counties are testing ways to provide urgent mental care outside the ER and reduce hospital boarding.

Feb 16, 2023

Image

Paul Davis is a retired physician in Findlay, Ohio, who calls his uveal melanoma “one of the rarest tumors on the planet.” The rare eye cancer requires $50,000-a-week drug treatments to keep Davis alive, and he worries that cost may saddle his family with a crushing medical debt when he’s gone. | MADDIE MCGARVEY/KHN

Your money or your life: Patient on $50,000-a-week cancer drug fears leaving behind huge medical debt

Prices for cancer drugs have soared to from less than $10,000 annually in the 1990s to more than $200,000 today, expert says.

Feb 16, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

Doctors are disappearing from emergency rooms as hospitals look to cut costs

Midlevel practioners are increasingly replacing emergency room physicians as more hospitals outsource, but one study suggests the shift could lead to longer stays and increased costs.

Feb 14, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

Centene agrees to $215 million settlement with California for alleged Medicaid overbilling

The deal makes California at least the 17th state to settle pharmacy billing claims, including Oregon.

Feb 9, 2023

Image

Elizabeth Fisher Smith sits with husband Matt and dogs Caspian and Gretl at the table where she spends hours every day preparing IV hydration and nutrition, on which she depends to survive. | ARTHUR ALLEN/KHN

CVS and Optum panicked thousands of their sickest patients

Home and outpatient infusions are a growing business in the United States, but the less profitable parts of the business — as well as the vulnerable patients they serve — are at serious risk.

Feb 7, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

A technicality could keep RSV shots from kids in need

Immunizations against the respiratory syncytial virus are nearing the market, but a glitch in congressional language may make it difficult to allow children from low-income families to get it.

Feb 7, 2023

Image

BRC Recovery, a private equity-backed addiction treatment company, bought Nashville Recovery Center in 2021. Private equity investment has driven much of the recent activity in substance abuse treatment, an industry that is highly fragmented and has historically had few guardrails to ensure patients are getting appropriate care. | BLAKE FARMER FOR KHN.

Some addiction treatment centers turn big profits by scaling back care

A model of charging high patient fees without guaranteeing access to evidence-based care makes addiction care attractive to private equity firms.

Feb 1, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

Nursing homes drained cash during pandemic while residents deteriorated

The facilities’ made payments to companies run or controlled by their owners, often paying them well above the cost of services.

Feb 1, 2023

Image

SHUTTERSTOCK

Government lets health plans that ripped off Medicare keep the money

Health insurers had feared the federal government would demand repayment of billions of dollars in overcharges received as far back as 2011.

Jan 31, 2023