Category: Hospitals

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP

Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.

Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay

Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.

When Hospitals Ditch Medicare Advantage Plans, Thousands of Members Get To Leave, Too

Breakups between health providers and Advantage plans are increasingly common. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has allowed whole groups of patients to leave their plans.

Hospitals’ Lobbying Frustrates Montana Lawmakers Who Sought To Boost Oversight

Montana’s powerful hospital lobby was instrumental in renewing the state’s Medicaid expansion program and has also fended off most legislation to increase state oversight of their business.

Covid Worsened Shortages of Doctors and Nurses. Five Years On, Rural Hospitals Still Struggle.

The U.S. faces a crucial shortage of medical providers, especially in rural areas. The problem has been building for a while, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated it by pushing many doctors over the edge into early retirement or other fields.

10 Things to Know About Rural Hospitals

This brief explores data about rural hospitals’ financial health and stability at a time when Congress is considering potential federal budget cuts. It examines the prevalence of rural hospitals, their characteristics and finances, federal support for …

More Psych Hospital Beds Are Needed for Kids, but Neighbors Say Not Here

Amid a youth mental health crisis and a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, residents of a St. Louis suburb opposed a plan to build a 77-bed pediatric mental health hospital. Resistance to such facilities has occurred in other communities as misconceptions about mental health spur fear.

Rural Hospitals and Patients Are Disconnected From Modern Care

Technological gaps handicap rural hospitals as billions in federal funding to modernize infrastructure lags. The reliance on outdated technology and piecemeal systems challenge staffs and erode patient care.

How Much Will That Surgery Cost? 🤷 Hospital Prices Remain Largely Unhelpful.

Health care price transparency is one of the few bipartisan issues in Washington, D.C. But much of the information that hospitals and health plans have made available to the public is not helpful to patients, and there’s no conclusive evidence yet that it’s lowering costs or increasing competition.

Workers Prep To Meet ICE Officials at the Health Clinic Door

Recent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in northern Virginia have put immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on alert. Health clinics that serve those communities say they are working to continue to care for patients amid detention and arrest fears.