Category: Kaiser Health News

How Obamacare, Medicare And ‘Medicare For All’ Muddy The Campaign Trail

A talking point used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to all three of these distinct concepts in a way that could magnify public misperceptions.

‘John Doe’ Patients Sometimes Force Hospital Staff To Play Detective

The 50-something man with a shaved head and brown eyes was unresponsive when the paramedics wheeled him into the emergency room. His pockets were empty: no wallet, no cellphone, not a single scrap of paper that might reveal his identity to the nurses and doctors working to save his life. His body lacked any distinguishing […]

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.

Is It A Feminist Right To Want More Sex? One Company Thinks A Pill Is The Answer

The savvy “Right to Desire” campaign relies on feminist messages and social media to raise patient awareness about low libido. Addyi, the only drug currently approved to treat it, has shown limited effectiveness.

Surprise! Fixing Out-Of-Network Bills Means Someone Must Pay

Despite the broad agreement on the need to address surprise bills, insurers and health care providers oppose the other side’s preferred solutions.

State Bans Pesticide Linked To Developmental Problems

California officials announced a ban on chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide that has been linked to lower IQs, lower birth weights and other developmental issues in children, even as the federal government fights to protect it.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ‘Conscience’ Rules, Rx Prices and Still More Medicare

Joanne Kenen of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about the Trump administration’s effort to allow health care practitioners and organizations to refuse to provide care or refer patients for services that violate their conscience or religion. Also this week, the administration orders TV ads for prescription drugs to include list prices. And Tennessee wants free rein from the federal government to run its Medicaid program. Plus, Rovner interviews Joan Biskupic, author of a new book on Chief Justice John Roberts, about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the 2012 ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

Market Muscle: Study Uncovers Differences Between Medicare And Private Insurers

Findings released Thursday by the Rand Corp. highlight how reimbursement rates vary nationally and the impact the charges have on the nation’s high cost of health care. 

Needle Exchanges Find New Champions Among Republicans

More Republicans, at the statehouse level, are saying research and results support their endorsement of a once-controversial plan to limit disease among drug users.

Addiction Medicine Mostly Prescribed To Whites, Even As Opioid Deaths Rose Among Blacks

A study looked at who gets Suboxone prescriptions and found that whites are almost 35 times more likely to get the addiction treatment than African Americans.