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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: All about ‘Medicare for All’

We're doing something a little different this holiday week. Because "Medicare for All" is so much in the news, we're rerunning an earlier explainer episode.

2 Jul 2019

Study paints clear picture of the staffing levels of nurses at nursing homes

Researchers who analyzed payroll-based staffing data for U.S. nursing homes discovered large daily staffing fluctuations, low weekend staffing and daily staffing levels that often fall well below the expectations of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, all of which can increase the risk of adverse events for residents.

2 Jul 2019

Medicare recipients may pay more for generics than their brand-name counterparts, study finds

Medicare Part D enrollees may pay more out of pocket for high-priced specialty generic drugs than their brand-name counterparts, according to new research by health policy experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2 Jul 2019

Study looks at impact of hospital readmissions penalties on targeted surgical conditions

Every American hospital has two front doors: The real one, and an imaginary revolving door.

2 Jul 2019

Universal health care for New Yorkers? Not exactly

On Wednesday, 10 Democratic presidential candidates were asked to raise their hands if they would abolish private health insurance in favor of a government-run option. Just two said they would: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City.

28 Jun 2019

Delaney’s debate claim that ‘Medicare for All’ will shutter hospitals goes overboard

At the first Democratic presidential primary debate, former Rep. John Delaney (Md.) outlined his opposition to "Medicare for All" and focused on one potential loser: hospitals.

27 Jun 2019

More seniors are dying in falls. Doctors could do more to reduce the risk.

Older adults worried about falling typically receive general advice: Take an exercise class. Get your vision checked. Stop taking medications for sleep. Install grab bars in the bathroom.

27 Jun 2019

‘Medicare for All’ emerges as early divide in first democratic debate

During Wednesday night's Democratic presidential primary debate — the first in a two-night event viewed as the de facto launch of the primary season — health policies, ranging from "Medicare for All" to efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices, were among the key issues the 10 hopeful candidates onstage used to help differentiate themselves from the pack.

27 Jun 2019

Researchers investigate whether hypertension poses health risk to older kidney donors

In an analysis of clinical information on older living kidney donors, hypertension was linked with a higher risk of developing kidney failure.

26 Jun 2019

Fuzzy math fuels Sanders’ claim that cost barriers to health care kill 30,000 a year

"Medicare for All" — or single-payer health care — is a flagship issue for Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. So when a conservative group launched an ad campaign claiming such a policy would drive up wait times for medical care, the 2020 candidate responded aggressively.

25 Jun 2019

New budget boosts health coverage for low-income Californians

Ann Manganello survives entirely off her Social Security stipend: $1,391 a month.

25 Jun 2019

Trump administration seeks more health care cost details for consumers

Anyone who has tried to "shop" for hospital services knows one thing: It's hard to get prices. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order he said would make it easier.

24 Jun 2019

Surgeons’ opioid-prescribing habits hard to kick

As opioid addiction and deadly overdoses escalated into an epidemic across the U.S., thousands of surgeons continued to hand out far more pills than needed for postoperative pain relief, according to a KHN-Johns Hopkins analysis of Medicare data.

21 Jun 2019

Opioid poisoning rates higher and in a more diverse population, study shows

A cohort study by Stony Brook University researchers of all payer hospital data on Long Island combined with census data indicates that opioid poisoning (OP) levels almost doubled from 2010 to 2016.

21 Jun 2019

Targeted therapies benefit many elderly patients with metastatic kidney cancer

Many elderly patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma-who are often underrepresented in clinical trials to treat the kidney cancer-are seeing overall survival benefits from treatment with targeted therapies, according to a new study from Penn Medicine researchers published this month in JAMA Network Open.

21 Jun 2019

Curing cancer: easy politics, difficult science

President Donald Trump made a new promise if voters grant him a second term: "We will come up with the cures to many, many problems, to many, many diseases, including cancer."

20 Jun 2019

Study: Arkansas Medicaid work requirements hit those already employed

The Medicaid work requirement plan devised by Arkansas and approved by the Trump administration backfired because it caused thousands of poor adults to lose coverage without any evidence the target population gained jobs, a new study finds.

19 Jun 2019

Medicare system aimed at improving care, lowering costs may not be having as much impact as thought

As the Medicare system seeks to improve the care of older adults while also keeping costs from growing too fast, a new University of Michigan study suggests that one major effort may not be having as much of an impact as hoped.

19 Jun 2019

Senators agree surprise medical bills must go. But how?

Two years, 16 hearings and one massive bipartisan package of legislation later, a key Senate committee says it is ready to start marking up a bill next week designed to contain health care costs. But it might not be easy since lawmakers and stakeholders at a final hearing Tuesday showed they are still far apart on one simple aspect of the proposal.

18 Jun 2019

Air ambulance costs fly around fixes for surprise medical bills

In April 2018, 9-year-old Christian Bolling was hiking with his parents and sister in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, near their home in Roanoke. While climbing some boulders, he lost his footing and fell down a rocky 20-foot drop, fracturing both bones in his lower left leg, his wrist, both sides of his nose and his skull.

14 Jun 2019