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New federal rules will let patients put medical records on smartphones

Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones.

9 Mar 2020

Focusing on healthcare quality as a business strategy

Despite two decades of effort - targeting care processes, outcomes, and most recently the value of care - progress has been slow in closing the gap between quality and cost in the US healthcare system.

7 Mar 2020

Pence leaves out key details about health coverage of coronavirus testing

Amid ongoing concern about the new coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence sought to assure Americans that their health insurance will cover the tests needed for diagnosis.

6 Mar 2020

With coronavirus lurking, conferences wrestle with whether to cancel

Nearly 100,000 pop culture fans flocked to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle last year, including many dressed as superheroes, aliens and robots. But something scarier than a comic book villain is roiling the conference this year — the spread of the coronavirus.

6 Mar 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A ‘Super Tuesday’ for the health debate?

The Super Tuesday presidential primaries have left only two major Democratic candidates standing: former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Whoever prevails to face off against President Donald Trump in November will shape how the party confronts Republicans on health care.

5 Mar 2020

As coronavirus cases grow, so does scrutiny of nursing home infection plans

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is ordering health inspectors to focus on infection-control practices at nursing homes and hospitals, particularly those where coronavirus infections have been identified among patients or in the community, CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced Wednesday.

4 Mar 2020

Insurers sank Connecticut’s ‘public option.’ Would a national version survive?

Health care costs were rising. People couldn't afford coverage. So, in Connecticut, state lawmakers took action.

4 Mar 2020

A fierce national debate over the implementation of Affordable Care Act

The fierce national debate over health care reform includes deep divisions over the appropriate roles of the federal and state governments. For example, while Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calls for expanding the federal Medicare program to cover all Americans, the Trump administration pushes for the states to have far greater authority.

3 Mar 2020

Drug prices beat inflation all the way even with discounts

A new study published in the journal JAMA in March 2020 shows how prescription drug prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation. The decade-long trend reflects a threefold higher rise in brand-name drug prices compared to inflation if all drugs are lumped together.

3 Mar 2020

A new report on health spending by Americans

There have been several studies showing that spending on health by Americans is on the rise, and around 18 percent of the US economy is individual spending on health. A study titled, “US Health Care Spending by Payer and Health Condition, 1996-2016,” was published in the latest issue of JAMA today.

3 Mar 2020

Readers and tweeters dive into debate over ‘Medicare for All’

Your criticism about former Vice President Joe Biden’s "Medicare for All" cost estimates is spot-on but leaves out important savings.

28 Feb 2020

High court revisits abortion law akin to one struck down in 2016

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court is set to hear an abortion case that may sound familiar. That's because the state restriction in question is almost identical to one the court overturned in 2016.

28 Feb 2020

Colorado forges ahead on a new model for health care while nation waits

With the nation's capital mired in gridlock and the Affordable Care Act facing a dire legal challenge, the prospects of lowering health care costs for Americans this year seem unlikely.

28 Feb 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Prepping for a possible pandemic

President Donald Trump has named Vice President Mike Pence to lead the nation's effort to combat COVID-19, the contagious disease from a coronavirus that originated in China and is spreading worldwide.

27 Feb 2020

UC Santa Cruz leads collaborative project to develop novel technology for improving wound healing

UC Santa Cruz will lead a collaborative project to develop innovative technology for improving the healing of serious wounds, funded by a contract worth up to $16 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

27 Feb 2020

Past as prologue: Questioning Buttigieg’s claim about keeping your health care

As the Democratic presidential campaign moves to the battleground of South Carolina this weekend, candidate Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is highlighting his health plan as he seeks to slow the momentum of the front-runner, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

25 Feb 2020

U.S. medical panel thinks twice about pushing cognitive screening for dementia

A leading group of medical experts on Tuesday declined to endorse cognitive screening for older adults, fueling a debate that has simmered for years.

25 Feb 2020

Needy patients ‘caught in the middle’ as insurance titan drops doctors

For five years, Rasha Salama has taken her two children to Dr. Inas Wassef, a pediatrician a few blocks from her home in this blue-collar town across the bay from New York City.

25 Feb 2020

Hospital admission, neurological consultation linked to better care quality for people with mini-stroke

Admission to the hospital and being seen by a neurologist are factors associated with better quality care for people with a transient ischemic attack, also known as mini-stroke, according to new research led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Regenstrief Institute, Purdue University, and Indiana University.

24 Feb 2020

Patient satisfaction or confidence not significantly affected by physician's gender and race

When a patient arrives at an American emergency room today, they have a higher chance than ever before of seeing a doctor who's a woman or a person of color. And they're also more likely than ever to get a survey after they go home, asking how satisfied they were with their ER care.

23 Feb 2020