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Medicare incurs more than $1.2 billion over prostate cancer care in older men

Researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center estimate that screening for and treating prostate cancer in men aged 70 years or older, which is not recommended by national guidelines, cost Medicare more than $1.2 billion over a three year period for each group of men diagnosed in the United States each year.

14 Sep 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ A detour on a smoking off-ramp

The Food and Drug Administration declared Wednesday that vaping among teenagers has reached "an epidemic proportion." The agency told ﬁve major e-cigarette manufacturers that they had 60 days to find ways to keep their products away from minors.

14 Sep 2018

Trying to protect seniors, the most vulnerable, from formidable foe Florence

Perhaps no other population is as vulnerable during a hurricane as frail, older adults, especially those who are homebound or living in nursing homes. With Hurricane Florence predicted to slam the North Carolina coast Friday, health officials are already scrambling to keep older residents safe.

12 Sep 2018

In Trump’s first year, nation’s uninsured rate unchanged

Despite Republicans’ resistance to the federal health law, the percentage of Americans without health insurance in 2017 remained the same as during the last year of the Obama administration, according to a closely watched report from the Census Bureau released Wednesday.

12 Sep 2018

New research identifies one specific source of waste in U.S. healthcare

There is substantial waste in U.S. healthcare, but little consensus on how to identify or combat it.

12 Sep 2018

Unwitting patients, copycat comments play hidden role in federal rule-making

A proposal to sharply cut a drug discount program that many hospitals rely on drew some 1,400 comments when the Trump administration announced its plan last year. Hundreds appeared to come from patients across the country — pleas from average Americans whose treatments for diseases such as cancer depend on costly medicines.

11 Sep 2018

ACP opposes proposed changes to payments for E/M services

Proposed changes to payments for evaluation and management codes do not appropriately recognize the value of cognitive care required to treat complex patients, and the proposal should not be implemented, says the American College of Physicians.

11 Sep 2018

The remedy for surprise medical bills may lie in stitching up federal law

When Drew Calver had a heart attack last year, his health plan paid nearly $56,000 for the 44-year-old's four-day emergency hospital stay at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, Texas, a hospital that was not in his insurance network. But the hospital charged Calver another $109,000. That sum — a so-called balance bill — was the difference between what the hospital and his insurer thought his care was worth.

10 Sep 2018

ACR cautions policymakers that reducing E/M services can compromise patient access to care

In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, the American College of Rheumatology cautioned policymakers against implementing a proposal to reduce physician reimbursement for evaluation and management services, arguing that doing so could severely compromise patient access to care and further exacerbate the growing rheumatology workforce shortage.

10 Sep 2018

Innovative robotic system helps in removing large colorectal lesions without surgery

Each year, an estimated 140,000 individuals in the U.S. are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a malignancy that often develops from a benign polyp into cancer over time.

7 Sep 2018

Heart attack and stroke prevention efforts need a boost says CDC

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the efforts to prevent heart attacks and strokes in the United States have reached a plateau and are not making any further progress.

7 Sep 2018

Study shows steep inequality in usage of low vision devices

Blacks and Hispanics who have trouble seeing are missing out on the low vision technology that can help them read, drive and keep up social connections.

7 Sep 2018

New research compares social media ratings offered to hospitals by patients

Consumers can go to Google, Yelp and Facebook for crowdsourced insight about the experiences they'll have at a hospital, but they shouldn't expect foolproof guidance on the quality of care they will receive, according to new Indiana University research.

6 Sep 2018

Avoidable sepsis infections send thousands of seniors to gruesome deaths

Shana Dorsey first caught sight of the purplish wound on her father's lower back as he lay in a suburban Chicago hospital bed a few weeks before his death.

6 Sep 2018

Watch: What is sepsis?

What exactly is sepsis, and why is it so dangerous? Sepsis happens as the body tries to fight off an infection. The body releases chemicals into the bloodstream to battle the invading germs — which can lead to a severe drop in blood pressure. That can damage vital organs and, in severe cases, cause them to shut down.

6 Sep 2018

Democratic, GOP attorneys general square off in Texas showdown over health law

Wednesday is looking like yet another pivotal day in the life-or-death saga that has marked the history of the Affordable Care Act.

4 Sep 2018

Patients who develop AFib following TAVR have greater risk for complications

Patients developing AFib after TAVR are at higher risk of death, stroke and heart attack compared to patients who already had AFib prior to the procedure, according to a study today in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. The paper is the first nationwide examination of patients who developed AFib for the first time following TAVR.

3 Sep 2018