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Study finds racial disparity in the utilization of crucial prostate cancer therapy

A new study led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found Black men diagnosed with more advanced stages of prostate cancer are significantly less likely to be prescribed novel hormone therapy than other racial and ethnic groups – including white or Latino men – despite the therapy being proven to effectively control the growth of prostate tumors and extend the lives of men with the disease.

1 Dec 2023

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump puts Obamacare repeal back on agenda

Former president and current 2024 Republican front-runner Donald Trump is aiming to put a repeal of the Affordable Care Act back on the political agenda, much to the delight of Democrats, who point to the health law's growing popularity.

30 Nov 2023

Uncle Sam wants you … to help stop insurers’ bogus Medicare Advantage sales tactics

After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash a special weapon to make sure companies follow the new rules: you.

30 Nov 2023

Novel TMS protocol shows promise for treating hard-to-treat depression

By making slight modifications to an already approved brain stimulation technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), researchers have reported profound improvement in patients with hard-to-treat depression.

29 Nov 2023

Medicare Advantage increasingly popular with seniors — but not hospitals and doctors

A hospital system in Georgia. Two medical groups in San Diego. Another in Louisville, Kentucky, and nearly one-third of Nebraska hospitals.

29 Nov 2023

She once advised the president on aging issues. Now, she’s battling serious disability and depression.

The GoFundMe request jumped out at me as I was scrolling through posts on LinkedIn.

28 Nov 2023

Back pain? Bum knee? Be prepared to wait for a physical therapist

At no point along his three-year path to earning a degree in physical therapy has Matthew Lee worried about getting a job.

28 Nov 2023

Coal-burning power plants responsible for 460,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, study shows

Between 1999 and 2020, more than 460,000 deaths in the United States were attributable to exposure to air pollution emissions from coal-burning power plants, according to the longest-term national study of its kind.

23 Nov 2023

Study highlights urgency of transitioning away from coal-fired power plants

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants from coal-fired power plants (coal PM2.5) is associated with a risk of mortality more than double that of exposure to PM2.5 from other sources, according to a new study led by George Mason University, The University of Texas at Austin, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

23 Nov 2023

Cardiac rehabilitation still underutilized despite proven benefits

Announcing a new article publication for Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications journal.

23 Nov 2023

New insights into patient-surgeon gender concordance and post-surgical mortality

Death rates after major surgery are similar regardless of whether a male or female surgeon operates on a male or female patient, finds a large US study published by The BMJ today.

22 Nov 2023

Gender concordance between patient and surgeon may not affect mortality rates, study finds

New research finds little evidence that post-surgical patient mortality is lower when patient and surgeon are the same gender.

22 Nov 2023

AI model predicts lung cancer risk in never-smokers using routine chest X-rays

Using a routine chest X-ray image, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool can identify non-smokers who are at high risk for lung cancer, according to a study being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

22 Nov 2023

A guide to long-term care insurance

If you're wealthy, you'll be able to afford help in your home or care in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. If you're poor, you can turn to Medicaid for nursing homes or aides at home.

22 Nov 2023

Long-term acute care hospital closures may have unintended consequences for patient care

Long-term acute care hospitals (LTCHs) are common sites of post-acute care for patients recovering from severe respiratory failure requiring long-term mechanical ventilation.

21 Nov 2023

Out for blood? For routine lab work, the hospital billed her $2,400

Reesha Ahmed was on cloud nine. It was January and Ahmed was at an OB-GYN's office near her home in Venus, Texas, for her first prenatal checkup.

21 Nov 2023

Lost in the mix of Medicaid ‘unwinding’: Kentucky cut off her health care over a clerical error

The day her Medicaid coverage ended, Beverly Likens was in the hospital after a scary trip to the emergency room.

21 Nov 2023

Academic medical centers may help mitigate structural racism in cardiovascular care for Black women

Investigators from the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai have found that among a cohort of women with obstructive coronary artery disease treated at academic medical centers, racial and ethnic disparities did not impact their long-term outcomes.

20 Nov 2023

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress kicks the (budget) can down the road. Again.

Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in as many months, as House Democrats provided the needed votes for new House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to avoid his first legislative catastrophe of his brief tenure.

16 Nov 2023

Compensation is key to fixing primary care shortage

Money talks. The United States faces a serious shortage of primary care physicians for many reasons, but one, in particular, is inescapable: compensation.

16 Nov 2023

Medicare News and Research

Study finds racial disparity in the utilization of crucial prostate cancer therapy

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump puts Obamacare repeal back on agenda

Uncle Sam wants you … to help stop insurers’ bogus Medicare Advantage sales tactics

Novel TMS protocol shows promise for treating hard-to-treat depression

Medicare Advantage increasingly popular with seniors — but not hospitals and doctors

She once advised the president on aging issues. Now, she’s battling serious disability and depression.

Back pain? Bum knee? Be prepared to wait for a physical therapist

Coal-burning power plants responsible for 460,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, study shows

Study highlights urgency of transitioning away from coal-fired power plants

Cardiac rehabilitation still underutilized despite proven benefits

New insights into patient-surgeon gender concordance and post-surgical mortality

Gender concordance between patient and surgeon may not affect mortality rates, study finds

AI model predicts lung cancer risk in never-smokers using routine chest X-rays

A guide to long-term care insurance

Long-term acute care hospital closures may have unintended consequences for patient care

Out for blood? For routine lab work, the hospital billed her $2,400

Lost in the mix of Medicaid ‘unwinding’: Kentucky cut off her health care over a clerical error

Academic medical centers may help mitigate structural racism in cardiovascular care for Black women

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress kicks the (budget) can down the road. Again.

Compensation is key to fixing primary care shortage

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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