Category: Health Industry

Lose Weight, Gain Huge Debt: NY Provider Has Sued More Than 300 Patients Who Had Bariatric Surgery

The private equity-backed practice has been known to demand more than $100,000 in charges or penalties. One patient is fighting back.

The CDC Lacks a Rural Focus. Researchers Hope a Newly Funded Office Will Help.

Advocates for improving rural health pushed for the CDC to extend its rural health focus by creating an Office of Rural Health. They hope the agency will commit to rural health research and provide analyses that lead to good public health policies for rural communities.

People with Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, but the Health System Still Treats Many as Kids

The median life expectancy for a U.S. baby born with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s. That’s largely because they no longer can be denied lifesaving care, including surgeries for heart defects. But now, aging adults with Down syndrome face a health system unprepared to care for them.

The Drug Company That Prospered Without Creating Any Drugs

Horizon Therapeutics, which Amgen is acquiring for about $28 billion, grew large by snapping up cheap drugs from other companies, marketing them to perfection, and jacking up prices.

Feds Launch Criminal Investigation Into ‘AGGA’ Dental Device and Its Inventor

Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance, or “AGGA” dental device, following a recent KFF Health News-CBS News investigation, according to a motion filed in federal court.

As Montana’s Mental Health Crisis Care Crumbles, Politicians Promise Aid

One of Montana’s largest mental health providers has ratcheted back services amid financial troubles, leaving a vacuum. State policymakers have promised more money to aid behavioral health care, but lasting change could be years out.

Doctors’ Lesson for Drug Industry: Abortion Wars Are Dangerous to Ignore

The American Medical Association ducked the abortion issue for years and now sees its members’ professional opinions second-guessed by lawmakers and judges. PhRMA is following the same playbook.

Doctors’ Lesson for Drug Industry: Abortion Wars Are Dangerous to Ignore

The American Medical Association ducked the abortion issue for years and now sees its members’ professional opinions second-guessed by lawmakers and judges. PhRMA is following the same playbook.

No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now in Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need to Know.

A federal judge’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act is by no means the final word. Even parsing its impact is complicated. Here are key issues to watch as the case works its way through the legal system.

The ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid

As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.