Category: Health Industry

Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million

While more Medicaid beneficiaries have been purged in the span of a year than ever before, enrollment is on track to settle at pre-pandemic levels.

Colorado Moves to Connect Agricultural Workers With Mental Health Resources

Advocates say two bills under consideration could help migrant communities but that more needs to be done.

Congressman Off-Base in Ad Claiming Fauci Shipped Covid to Montana Before the Pandemic

Facts don’t support claims by a likely Republican Senate candidate that a federal research laboratory in Montana infected bats with a coronavirus from China before the covid-19 outbreak.

Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health a ‘Wild West’ for Doctors and Patients

Ketamine, approved by the FDA as an anesthetic in 1970, is emerging as a major alternative mental health treatment, and there are now more than 500 ketamine clinics around the country. But with little regulation and widely varying treatment protocols, it’s a medical “wild West.”

The FTC Is Attacking Drugmakers’ ‘Patent Thickets’

It’s a big job clearing out so-called “patent thickets” drugmakers create to keep their products’ prices high. But the Federal Trade Commission is giving it a shot.

Montana Vows Changes to Avoid Delayed Contracts. Some Health Providers Still Await Back Pay.

The head of Montana’s health department said the agency is catching up on a months-long backlog of contracts with organizations that connect people to medical care that left organizations without pay, halted some services, and triggered job cuts.

An Arm and a Leg: Self-Defense 101: Keeping Your Cool While You Fight

On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann seeks advice for fighting unfair medical bills from an unexpected source: an expert in self-defense.

Records Show Publix Opioid Sales Grew Even as Addiction Crisis Prompted Other Chains’ Pullback

As national prescription drug distributors and pharmacies restricted the flow of oxycodone and other painkillers in response to the growing opioid crisis, Florida’s most popular grocery store ramped up its sales and distribution of the highly addictive drugs, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data.

Readers Weigh Downsides of Medicare Advantage and Stick Up for Mary Lou Retton

KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Ouch. That ‘Free’ Annual Checkup Might Cost You. Here’s Why.

The designers of the Affordable Care Act might have assumed that they spelled out with sufficient clarity that millions of Americans would no longer have to pay for certain types of preventive care. But they didn’t reckon with America’s ever-creative medical billing juggernaut.