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Biden is right about $35 insulin cap but exaggerates prior costs for Medicare enrollees

The cost of insulin in the United States has risen considerably in recent years, with some estimates finding that Americans have paid around 10 times as much for the drug as people in other developed countries.

5 Apr 2024

BMI influences efficacy of nerve-stimulation treatment for sleep apnea, study finds

A nerve-stimulation treatment for obstructive sleep apnea that originally was approved only for people with body mass indexes (BMIs) in the healthy range recently was extended to patients with BMIs up to 40, a weight range generally described as severely obese.

4 Apr 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Florida limits abortion — for now

Florida this week became a major focus for advocates on both main sides of the abortion debate.

4 Apr 2024

For-profit companies open psychiatric hospitals in areas clamoring for care

A for-profit company has proposed turning a boarded-up former nursing home here into a psychiatric hospital, joining a national trend toward having such hospitals owned by investors instead of by state governments or nonprofit health systems.

1 Apr 2024

Hospitals cash in on a private equity-backed trend: Concierge physician care

Nonprofit hospitals created largely to serve the poor are adding concierge physician practices, charging patients annual membership fees of $2,000 or more for easier access to their doctors.

1 Apr 2024

Prescribing AUD medication at hospital discharge lowers risk of readmission

For adults hospitalized for alcohol-related reasons, receiving a prescription for an alcohol use disorder (AUD) medication at the time of discharge may lower their risk of return to hospital within 30 days of discharge, including emergency room visits and readmissions.

29 Mar 2024

Your doctor or your insurer? Little-known rules may ease the choice in Medicare Advantage

Bart Klion, 95, and his wife, Barbara, faced a tough choice in January: The upstate New York couple learned that this year they could keep either their private, Medicare Advantage insurance plan — or their doctors at Saratoga Hospital.

29 Mar 2024

Study shows the enduring impact of historical redlining on colon cancer care

A nationwide study of 196 cities shows that housing discrimination from 90 years ago still casts a historical shadow of inequities in colon cancer care today, S.M. Qasim Hussaini, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and colleagues at the American Cancer Society and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health report in the journal JCO Oncology Practice.

28 Mar 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court and the abortion pill

In its first abortion case since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Supreme Court this week looked unlikely to uphold an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.

28 Mar 2024

Accredited hospitals demonstrate better outcomes for patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery

Hospitals accredited by the American College of Surgeons National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer demonstrate significantly better outcomes for patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery compared to non-accredited hospitals, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

28 Mar 2024

As AI eye exams prove their worth, lessons for future tech emerge

Christian Espinoza, director of a Southern California drug-treatment provider, recently began employing a powerful new assistant: an artificial intelligence algorithm that can perform eye exams with pictures taken by a retinal camera. It makes quick diagnoses, without a doctor present.

27 Mar 2024

Migraines and other nontraditional factors linked to higher stroke risk in young adults

Adults younger than 35- to 45-years old may have a higher risk of developing a stroke from nontraditional risk factors such as migraines than from traditional risks like high blood pressure.

26 Mar 2024

Overdosing on chemo: A common gene test could save hundreds of lives each year

One January morning in 2021, Carol Rosen took a standard treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Three gruesome weeks later, she died in excruciating pain from the very drug meant to prolong her life.

26 Mar 2024

Mediterranean diet linked to lower dementia risk, finds extensive review

Meta-analysis reveals a positive link between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and a reduced risk of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease, among older adults, highlighting the diet's potential as a modifiable risk factor in dementia prevention strategies.

26 Mar 2024

A mom’s $97,000 question: How was her baby’s air-ambulance ride not medically necessary?

Sara England was putting together Ghostbusters costumes for Halloween when she noticed her baby wasn't doing well.

25 Mar 2024

After Appalachian hospitals merged into a monopoly, their ERs slowed to a crawl

In the small Appalachian city of Bristol, Virginia, City Council member Neal Osborne left a meeting on the morning of Jan. 3 and rushed himself to the hospital.

25 Mar 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The ACA turns 14

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law 14 years ago this week, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joined KFF Health News' Julie Rovner on this week's "What the Health?" podcast to discuss its accomplishments so far — and the challenges that remain for the health law.

21 Mar 2024

Rapid rise in syphilis hits Native Americans hardest

From her base in Gallup, New Mexico, Melissa Wyaco supervises about two dozen public health nurses who crisscross the sprawling Navajo Nation searching for patients who have tested positive for or been exposed to a disease once nearly eradicated in the U.S.: syphilis.

21 Mar 2024

Special drug-pricing program boosts prostate cancer treatment adherence

Prostate cancer patients receiving care at hospitals that are part of a special drug-pricing program were more likely to stick to their prescription drug therapy than patients at other hospitals, according to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan's Rogel Cancer Center and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

20 Mar 2024

Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements costing taxpayers millions despite low enrollment

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's plan for a conservative alternative to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion has cost taxpayers at least $26 million so far, with more than 90% going toward administrative and consulting costs rather than medical care for low-income people.

20 Mar 2024