Kaiser Health News

Medscape News has partnered with Kaiser Health News (KHN) to provide timely, relevant health care policy news on Medscape. KHN is a nonprofit news organization committed to in-depth coverage of healthcare policy and politics. KHN's mission is to provide high-quality coverage of health policy issues and developments at the federal and state levels. In addition, KHN covers trends in the delivery of health care and in the marketplace.

• It's 'Telehealth vs No Care': Patients Could Be Left Vulnerable Congress' $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package included a 2-year extension of pandemic-era funding that helped telehealth services grow nationwide during the pandemic. But will that become permanent?
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• More Californians Are Dying at Home. Another COVID 'New Normal'? The proportion of Californians dying at home, rather than in a hospital or nursing home, accelerated during the pandemic, a trend that has outlasted the rigid lockdowns linked to the initial shift.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Florida Gov. Falsely Claims Bivalent Booster Boosts Odds of COVID Fewer than 11% of eligible Floridians have received an updated booster vaccine, according to the CDC. Research into the efficacy of the bivalent booster in preventing infection continues.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Transgender People in Rural America Struggle to Find Doctors Many health professionals in rural areas don’t know how to provide gender-affirming care, leaving transgender patients with few options.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• What Older Americans Need to Know About Taking Paxlovid COVID-19 continues to hit seniors with disproportionate severity. Experts say Paxlovid is an effective therapy that is being underprescribed for people 65 and older.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Will Your Smartphone Be the Next Doctor's Office? Entrepreneurs see smartphones as an opportunity to meet patients where they are. But many app-based diagnostic tools still need clinical validation to get buy-in from healthcare providers.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• The Decision of Where to Seek Emergency Care Is Complicated The proliferation of care options — particularly urgent care centers and free-standing emergency departments — can make the head spin. For patients, the wrong choice may mean big bills and poor health outcomes.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Bleeding and in Pain, a Pregnant Woman Couldn't Get Answers How one Louisiana woman experiencing a miscarriage sought care amid a climate of fear and confusion among doctors fueled by that state's restrictive abortion law.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Hospitals’ Use of Volunteer Staff Runs Risk of Evading Labor Laws Labor experts argue that using unpaid workers to do work that benefits the bottom line lets for-profit hospitals skirt federal labor laws, deprives employees of work, and could exploit the volunteers.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• Public Health Agencies Try to Restore Trust, Fight Misinformation As public health departments work on improving their message, the mistrust often reserved for COVID-19 vaccines now threatens other public health priorities, including flu shots and childhood vaccines.
  Kaiser Health News, January 2023
• ED Docs Call Private Equity Staffing Practices Illegal, Seek Ban Emergency physicians and consumer advocates in multiple states are pushing for stiffer enforcement of statutes that prohibit the ownership of medical practices by corporations not owned by doctors.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Hundreds of US Hospitals Sue Patients or Threaten Their Credit An examination of billing policies and practices at more than 500 hospitals across the country shows widespread reliance on aggressive collection tactics.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Inside a Children's Hospital's Surge of Respiratory Illness Pediatric cases of RSV and flu have families crowding into EDs as health systems juggle staff shortages. In Michigan, only 10 of 130 hospitals have a pediatric ICU.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• HIV Outbreak Persists as Officials Push Back An epidemiologist and advocates say state and local officials in West Virginia, home to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in recent years, have taken measures that render syringe exchange less accessible.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Is Legislation to Safeguard Americans Against Superbugs Pointless? While supporters cheer the PASTEUR Act as an essential strategy to stem the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, critics call it a multibillion-dollar giveaway to Big Pharma.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Squeezed by Temp Nurse Costs, Hospital Groups Form Staffing Agencies In an effort to manage the pandemic-related nursing shortage, more hospitals have formed in-house staffing teams.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• States Challenge Biden to Lower Drug Prices Colorado has joined Florida, New Hampshire, and New Mexico in seeking federal permission to import prescription drugs from Canada.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Hospital Financial Decisions and the Shortage of Pediatric Beds Yes, the US is experiencing an unusual spate of childhood RSV infections. But the critical shortage of hospital beds stems from structural problems in pediatric care that have been brewing for years.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• More States to Consider Extending Postpartum Medicaid Coverage Fifteen states haven't moved to extend Medicaid coverage for new moms beyond the minimum of 60 days after birth.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022
• Paxlovid Has Been Free So Far. Next Year, Sticker Shock Awaits The federal government soon will stop paying for the COVID drug that has proved to be the most effective at keeping patients alive and out of the hospital.
  Kaiser Health News, December 2022

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