Category: Kaiser Health News

Reduce Health Costs By Nurturing The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints

Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.

Listen: A Renewed Focus On Health Care In 2020

KHN’s Julie Rovner joins Stephen Henderson of “Detroit Today” on WDET, an NPR station, to talk about the pivotal role of health care issues in the 2020 presidential campaign.

Democrats Press High Court To Make Call On ACA. How It Could Play Out At Polls.

Democrats have asked the Supreme Court to take up an appeals court ruling that could invalidate some or all of the federal health law. It’s not clear the court will take the case, but the efforts will carry consequences for both Democrats and Republicans.

5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress

California now will pay pediatricians to screen Medi-Cal patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The program is based on research showing that children who endure chronic stress have an increased risk of developing serious health problems. Here are five things to know about the new program.

In Massachusetts, Minors Need Permission For Abortion, But That Could Change

A parental consent requirement for minors who seek abortions is still on the books in left-leaning Massachusetts, as well as about two dozen other states. But a proposed Massachusetts law seeks to repeal that consent requirement and shore up the right to abortion in case the Supreme Court strikes down the federal right to the procedure.

Fecal Bacteria In California’s Waterways Increases With Homeless Crisis

Some of California’s most prized rivers, bays, beaches and streams are contaminated with levels of fecal bacteria that exceed state limits, threatening human health. While aging sewage infrastructure is largely to blame, homeless encampments are also a probable source of contamination.

Hospital Known For Glamorous Patients Opens New Doors To Its Neediest

For years, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, one of California’s largest nonprofit hospitals, has been spending less on charity care than other nonprofit hospitals in the state. Now it is expanding eligibility for free and discounted medical care.

Effort To Control Opioids In An ER Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients In Pain

People with sickle cell disease aren’t fueling the opioid crisis, research shows. Yet some ER doctors still treat patients seeking relief for agonizing sickle cell crises as potential addicts.

One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma

Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest “Medicare for All” proposals would affect innovation and access to care.

Watch: Behind The Troubling Rise Of Uninsured American Kids

Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Sarah Varney and PBS NewsHour producer Jason Kane report from Tennessee, where the rate of uninsured kids has soared.