Category: Kaiser Health News

Five Things We Found In The FDA’s Hidden Device Database

The Food and Drug Administration released two decades of previously hidden data containing millions of injuries or malfunctions by medical devices. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.

More Seniors Are Dying In Falls. Doctors Could Do More To Reduce The Risk.

Doctors should assess older adults for the risk of falling, come up with individualized plans and refer seniors to physical therapists, occupational therapists and evidence-based programs.

Senate Panel Makes Surprisingly Fast Work Of ‘Surprise Medical Bills’ Package

The measure also includes a range of provisions designed to address health care costs.

‘An Arm And A Leg’: Why Are Drug Prices So Random? Meet Mr. PBM

Beware at the pharmacy counter: Your insurance company could be in cahoots with a pharmacy benefit manager — and the negotiations that go on between them are trade secrets.

San Francisco Set To Ban Sales Of E-Cigarettes

The nation’s biggest producer of e-cigarettes is based in San Francisco, yet the city is on the verge of banning sales of the devices.

In Secret, Seniors Discuss ‘Rational Suicide’

Running counter to the efforts of suicide prevention experts and many religious and social norms, some seniors are quietly exploring the option of turning to suicide when they feel they’ve lived long enough.

Fuzzy Math Fuels Sanders’ Claim That Cost Barriers To Health Care Kill 30,000 A Year

There’s a lack of confidence in the number.

New Budget Boosts Health Coverage For Low-Income Californians

California lawmakers spent big on Medi-Cal in the 2019-20 state budget, voting to cover more older residents and people with disabilities, restore benefits cut during the recession and open the program to eligible young adults who are in the country illegally. 

Trump Administration Seeks More Health Care Cost Details For Consumers

President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to help consumers benefit from gaining fuller estimates about their health care costs. But whether it will be a game changer depends on the details.

KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Politics Heading Into 2020: Live From Aspen!

How big an issue will health really be in the 2020 election? Will the Republicans find their political footing on the issue? In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times report from the Aspen Ideas: Health festival in Aspen, Colo. Joining them are Chris Jennings, who advised Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on health policy, and Lanhee Chen, who advised GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio.