Kaiser Health News
By Sharing Painkillers, Friends And Family Members Can Fuel Opioid Epidemic: Study
As lawmakers grapple with how best to combat the nation’s prescription painkiller abuse crisis, a recent survey is shedding light on how patients who get these medications — drugs such as OxyContin, methadone or Vicodin — sometimes share or mishandle them.
As Hospital Chains Grow, So Do Their Prices For Care
As health care consolidation accelerates nationwide, a new study shows that hospital prices in two of California’s largest health systems were 25 percent higher than at other hospitals around the state.
HHS Announces Plans To Curtail Consumers’ Use Of Short-Term Insurance Policies
The Obama administration on Wednesday moved to sharply limit short-term health insurance plans, which a growing number of consumers have been buying even though they offer less coverage than what the Affordable Care Act decreed all people should have.
FDA Eases Paperwork To Help Some Patients Get Experimental Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration removed an obstacle from of its “compassionate use” policy this month, eliminating some paperwork that physicians must do to obtain experimental drugs for some patients with immediately life-threatening illnesses.
Regulators Probing Whether Health Net Is Stiffing Drug Treatment Providers
California insurance officials are looking into whether Health Net Inc. has improperly withheld payments to addiction treatment centers for months while the company investigates concerns about fraudulent claims.
When Adult Children Get Sick, It May Be Hard For Parents To Get Information
When Sean Meyers was in a car accident on a November evening three years ago, he was flown by air ambulance to the emergency department at Inova Fairfax Hospital, in Northern Virginia.
How And Where To Dump Your Leftover Drugs — Responsibly
Opioids like Vicodin and Percocet are commonly prescribed to dull pain after medical procedures and to treat chronic pain. They also commonly languish in medicine cabinets, sometimes for years, making easy pickings for someone with an addiction.
Blue Shield ‘Lifts The Veil’ On Executive Pay
In its first detailed disclosure on executive pay, nonprofit Blue Shield of California said Chief Executive Paul Markovich made $3.5 million last year – a 40 percent increase since he to
Medicare’s Drug-Pricing Experiment Stirs Opposition
A broad proposal by Medicare to change the way it pays for some drugs has drawn intense reaction and lobbying, with much of the debate centering on whether the plan gives t
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