Kaiser Health News

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MICHEILE HENDERSON/UNSPLASH

Weighing risks of a major surgery: 7 questions older Americans should ask their surgeon

Surgery can be lifesaving or improve a senior’s quality of life, but advanced age puts people at greater risk of unwanted outcomes.

Jan 3, 2023

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NATALIA MERZLYAKOVA/FOTOLIA

Want a clue on health care costs in advance? New tools take a crack at It

Under a new federal rule, health insurers and employers that offer health plans must provide online calculators for patients to get detailed estimates of what they will owe for a range of services and drugs.

Jan 3, 2023

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SHUTTERSTOCK

ER doctors call private equity staffing practices illegal and seek to ban them

Most states, but not Oregon and Washington, ban the so-called corporate practice of medicine.

Dec 27, 2022

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TESTING FOR ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE/WILL CROWNE, DFID - UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CC BY 2.0 <HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/2.0>, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Is legislation to safeguard Americans against superbugs a boondoggle or breakthrough?

Superbugs that can’t be treated kill more than 35,000 Americans and an estimated 1.27 million people worldwide each year.

Dec 20, 2022

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PHOTO BY ASHKAN FOROUZANI ON UNSPLASH

Medicare pay cuts will hurt seniors’ care, doctors argue

Since the early 2000s, Congress has voted every year or two to delay or reverse plans to reduce Medicare payments to doctors.

Dec 20, 2022

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SHUTTERSTOCK

In rural america, deadly costs of opioids outweigh the dollars tagged to address them

When billions of dollars in national opioid settlements are divided among states and localities using population-based formulas, what trickles down to hard-hit places can be a trifling sum.

Dec 15, 2022

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Nurses at Legacy Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland. | LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Squeezed by temp nurse costs, hospital systems create their own staffing agencies

An increasing number of hospital systemshave created in-house staffing teams to cope with the pandemic-fueled nursing shortage.

Dec 15, 2022

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THOMAS BREHER/PIXABAY

States challenge Biden to lower drug prices by allowing imports from Canada

The Biden administration is facing mounting pressure from states to let them import medicine from Canada to help lower prescription drug costs.

Dec 15, 2022

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A YOUNG CHILD WITH RSV IS TREATED AT COMMUNITY MEDICAL CENTER IN MISSOULA, MONTANA./COMMUNITY MEDICAL CENTER VIA KHN.

Hospital financial decisions played role in the critical shortage of pediatric beds for RSV patients

Over the last decade hospitals have shuttered children’s wards and expanded the number of beds available for more profitable endeavors.

Dec 10, 2022

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THOMAS BREHER/PIXABAY

Employers Use Patient Assistance Programs To Offset Their Own Costs

Employers are tapping into dollars provided through programs they have previously criticized: patient financial assistance initiatives set up by drugmakers.

Dec 8, 2022