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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How will we reopen the economy?

President Donald Trump wants to reopen the country soon. But public health experts from across the ideological spectrum insist that won't be safe until the country can dramatically ramp up testing and contact tracing stemming from those infected.

16 Apr 2020

Study shows variability in Medicare coverage for transgender hormone therapies

A new study has shown substantial variability in access to guideline-recommended hormone therapies for older transgender individuals insured through Medicare.

13 Apr 2020

Surgeons report on rural preparedness response plan for dealing with COVID-19

Major metropolitan areas such as New York, Seattle, and Detroit have dominated news of the COVID-19 outbreak, but rural hospitals and health care systems must also prepare for a surge of coronavirus patients.

12 Apr 2020

Furor erupts: Billions going to hospitals based on Medicare billings, not COVID-19

Probably few hospital systems need the emergency federal grants announced this week to handle the coronavirus crisis as badly as Florida's Jackson Health does.

11 Apr 2020

To ‘keep the lights on,’ doctors and hospitals ask for advance Medicare payments

Darrin Menard, a family physician in Lafayette, Louisiana, has spent the past month easing patients' anxieties about the coronavirus that has killed 10 people in his parish so far.

10 Apr 2020

‘Baby, I can’t breathe’: America’s first ER doctor to die in heat of COVID-19 battle

At about 5 a.m. on March 19, a New York City ER physician named Frank Gabrin texted a friend about his concerns over the lack of medical supplies at hospitals.

9 Apr 2020

What’s missing in the coronavirus response

In the age of coronavirus, Americans are being told to stay home and wear masks outside. The federal government has made way for hospitals to treat patients in repurposed hotels and dormitories. Private companies are working to push out new diagnostic tests.

9 Apr 2020

COVID-19 crisis threatens beleaguered assisted living industry

David Aguirre jumped in his truck and drove toward the hospital in the predawn darkness the minute he got the news: His 91-year-old mom was being rushed from her Texas assisted living facility to the emergency room.

9 Apr 2020

Pandemic delays federal probe into Medicare Advantage health plans

Federal health officials, citing a need to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, have temporarily halted some efforts to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments made to Medicare Advantage health plans.

8 Apr 2020

Researchers identify way to measure frailty using patients' medical claims

A team of researchers, led by Kenton Johnston, Ph.D. of Saint Louis University's College for Public Health and Social Justice, identified a way to measure frailty using patients' medical claims that more accurately predict costs-of-care, especially for clinicians with disproportionate shares of frail patients.

7 Apr 2020

Dispatch from a country doctor: Seeing patients differently in the time of coronavirus

Patients would often stop by River Bend Family Medicine just to gab with staff at the front desk or bring baked goods to Dr. Matt Hahn.

7 Apr 2020

Nursing homes have thousands of ventilators that hospitals desperately need

As the number of COVID-19 patients climbs and health officials hunt for ventilators to treat them, nursing homes across the United States have a cache - about 8,200 of the lifesaving machines, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

7 Apr 2020

Pandemic-stricken cities have empty hospitals, but reopening them is difficult

As city leaders across the country scramble to find space for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients, some are looking at a seemingly obvious choice: former hospital buildings, sitting empty, right downtown.

2 Apr 2020

Her genetic test revealed a microscopic problem — and a jumbo price tag

Michelle Kuppersmith, 32, feels great, works full time and exercises three to four times a week. So she was surprised when a routine blood test found that her body was making too many platelets, which help control bleeding.

31 Mar 2020

More than 5,000 surgery centers can now serve as makeshift hospitals during COVID-19 crisis

The Trump administration cleared the way Monday to immediately use outpatient surgery centers, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, hotels and even dormitories as makeshift hospitals, health care centers or quarantine sites during the coronavirus crisis.

30 Mar 2020

Coronavirus patients caught in conflict between hospital and nursing homes

A wrenching conflict is emerging as the COVID-19 virus storms through U.S. communities: Some patients are falling into a no man's land between hospitals and nursing homes.

30 Mar 2020

Federal judge rules Medicare patients can challenge ‘observation care’ status

Hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries who have been denied coverage for nursing home stays because their time in the hospital was changed from "inpatient" to "observation care" can now appeal to Medicare for reimbursement, a federal judge in Hartford, Connecticut, ruled last week.

30 Mar 2020

Addiction is ‘a disease of isolation’ — so pandemic puts recovery at risk

Before the coronavirus became a pandemic, Emma went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting every week in the Boston area and to another support group at her methadone clinic. She said she felt safe, secure and never judged.

30 Mar 2020

Has COVID-19 affected diabetes care?

The COVID-19 pandemic is rampaging across continents, leaving death, fear, and uncertainty in its wake. The virus is known to cause more severe illness and have a higher death rate in people who are already sick or immunocompromised, as well as the elderly. Several nations, states, and provinces have announced total lockdowns to try and minimize the impact of the virus.

29 Mar 2020

Telemedicine surges, fueled by coronavirus fears and shift in payment rules

Lukas Kopacki, home from college after the coronavirus pandemic closed his campus, was feeling lousy for days with headaches, sore throat and difficulty breathing through his nose. But he worried that a trip to a doctor's office might make him sicker.

27 Mar 2020