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Hospital investigated for allegedly denying an emergency abortion after patient’s water broke

The federal government has launched its first confirmed investigation of an alleged denial of an abortion to a woman experiencing a medical emergency.

1 Nov 2022

This open enrollment season, look out for health insurance that seems too good to be true

It took nearly a year for Kelly Macauley to realize the health plan she bought while shopping for insurance coverage last October was not, in fact, insurance.

1 Nov 2022

Medicare fines for high hospital readmissions drop, but 2,300 facilities are still penalized

The federal government has eased its annual punishments for hospitals with higher-than-expected readmission rates in an acknowledgment of the upheaval the covid-19 pandemic has caused, resulting in the lightest penalties since 2014.

1 Nov 2022

Open enrollment for marketplace health plans is soon. Here’s what you need to know.

It's fall again, meaning shorter days, cooler temperatures, and open enrollment for Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance — sign-ups begin this week for coverage that starts Jan. 1, 2023.

31 Oct 2022

Montana switches gears to try to bargain for lower health care costs for employees

Montana is signaling it might step away from an innovative way of setting the prices its public employee health plan pays hospitals for services, an approach that has saved the state millions of dollars and become a model for health plans nationwide.

27 Oct 2022

$38,398 for a single shot of a very old cancer drug

Dr. Josie Tenore and Paul Hinds were introduced by a mutual friend in 2017 and hadn't been going out long when she laid down the law: He had to get a physical.

26 Oct 2022

Hospitals said they lost money on Medicare patients. Some made millions, a state report finds.

Atrium Health, the largest hospital system in North Carolina, has declared publicly that in 2019 it provided $640 million in services to Medicare patients that were never paid for, by far the largest "community benefit" it provided that year.

25 Oct 2022

Study examines the frequency of concurrent hospice and dialysis care among veterans with ESKD

Today, patients utilizing their Medicare Hospice Benefits with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are forced to make the traumatic choice between continuing dialysis or enrolling in hospice.

21 Oct 2022

Study: Health insurance companies may be overpaying for common radiology services

Health insurance companies may be overpaying for common radiology services, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America.

18 Oct 2022

Medically tailored meals could result in net cost savings of $13.6 billion each year

Adopting more programs that make and deliver medically tailored meals to people with serious, diet-sensitive diseases could result not only in improved health outcomes in the form of fewer hospitalizations nationally, but in a net cost savings of approximately $13.6 billion each year, according to new research from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

17 Oct 2022

Fecal immunochemical test and mt-sDNA test are equally effective for colorectal cancer screening

Commercially available noninvasive screening tests for colorectal cancer - a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and the multi-target stool DNAtest (mt-sDNA; or Cologuard®) - are equally effective for screening patients with early-stage colorectal cancer.

17 Oct 2022

Say what? Hearing aids available over-the-counter for as low as $199, and without a prescription

Starting Monday, consumers will be able to buy hearing aids directly off store shelves and at dramatically lower prices as a 2017 federal law finally takes effect.

17 Oct 2022

After Congress fails to add dental coverage, Medicare weighs limited benefit expansion

Proposed changes in Medicare rules could soon pave the way for a significant expansion in Medicare-covered dental services, while falling short of the comprehensive benefits that many Democratic lawmakers have advocated.

17 Oct 2022

Study finds highlight the potential for lowering rehabilitation utilization for colorectal patients

The first months of the COVID pandemic had a profound effect on hospital discharge practices and use patterns for patients with colorectal disease, according to findings presented at the Scientific Forum of the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2022.

17 Oct 2022

Surgical patients who use telemedicine more likely to show up for clinic visits

Surgical patients who use telehealth services are much more likely to show up for their initial clinic visit or follow-up appointment during the post-surgery period than those who rely on in-person visits only.

17 Oct 2022

Heart Foundation's new report takes aim at Australia’s concerning prevalence of high-cholesterol

A new report on Australia’s heart health to be released today takes aim at Australia’s concerning prevalence of high-cholesterol, a leading risk factor for heart attack that is estimated to be affecting 6.5 million adult Australians.

14 Oct 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally fixing the ‘family glitch’

The Biden administration this week issued regulations aimed at fixing the Affordable Care Act's "family glitch," which has prevented families that can't afford their employer insurance from getting subsidized coverage from the insurance marketplaces.

13 Oct 2022

‘Separate and unequal’: Critics say Newsom’s pricey Medicaid reforms leave most patients behind

It wasn't exactly an emergency, but Michael Reed, a security guard who lives in Watts, had back pain and ran out of his blood pressure medication.

12 Oct 2022

BMI: The mismeasure of weight and the mistreatment of obesity

People who seek medical treatment for obesity or an eating disorder do so with the hope their health plan will pay for part of it. But whether it's covered often comes down to a measure invented almost 200 years ago by a Belgian mathematician as part of his quest to use statistics to define the "average man."

12 Oct 2022

Abortion bans are motivating midterm voters, poll shows

Half of voters say the Supreme Court's decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion has made them more motivated to vote in next month's midterm elections, with enthusiasm growing especially among Democrats and those living in states with abortion bans, according to a new poll from KFF.

12 Oct 2022

Medicare News and Research

Hospital investigated for allegedly denying an emergency abortion after patient’s water broke

This open enrollment season, look out for health insurance that seems too good to be true

Medicare fines for high hospital readmissions drop, but 2,300 facilities are still penalized

Open enrollment for marketplace health plans is soon. Here’s what you need to know.

Montana switches gears to try to bargain for lower health care costs for employees

$38,398 for a single shot of a very old cancer drug

Hospitals said they lost money on Medicare patients. Some made millions, a state report finds.

Study examines the frequency of concurrent hospice and dialysis care among veterans with ESKD

Study: Health insurance companies may be overpaying for common radiology services

Medically tailored meals could result in net cost savings of $13.6 billion each year

Fecal immunochemical test and mt-sDNA test are equally effective for colorectal cancer screening

Say what? Hearing aids available over-the-counter for as low as $199, and without a prescription

After Congress fails to add dental coverage, Medicare weighs limited benefit expansion

Study finds highlight the potential for lowering rehabilitation utilization for colorectal patients

Surgical patients who use telemedicine more likely to show up for clinic visits

Heart Foundation's new report takes aim at Australia’s concerning prevalence of high-cholesterol

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally fixing the ‘family glitch’

‘Separate and unequal’: Critics say Newsom’s pricey Medicaid reforms leave most patients behind

BMI: The mismeasure of weight and the mistreatment of obesity

Abortion bans are motivating midterm voters, poll shows

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