As more seniors opt for Medicare Advantage, a few small insurers have begun offering plans that provide culturally targeted benefits for cohorts including Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The approach, policy researchers say, has potential and perils.
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient’s family for more than a year.
“People want covid-19 to be in the rearview mirror,” one nursing home official says. Faced with a slow rollout of the updated covid vaccines, and without state mandates for workers to get vaccinated, most skilled nursing facilities are relying on persuasion to boost vaccination rates among staff and residents.
The lowest COVID-19 hospitalization rates since the start of the pandemic were recorded in June, and since then, COVID-19 admissions have nearly doubled in the U.S.
Medicare and Medicaid shouldn’t be affected, but confusion can be expected.
This fall will mark the first time vaccines are available to prevent the spread of respiratory syncytial virus. Uptake of those vaccines will be telling of how the virus affects hospital capacity, particularly in children’s hospitals.
Routine vaccination rates for children in the U.S. continue to decline, according to data analyzed by the Center for American Progress. It is a situation that has worsened since COVID-19’s onset.
The Arizona Department of Health Services issued a notice Sept. 26 warning clinicians and residents to be on the lookout for a fungi-caused infection known as Valley Fever.
New COVID-19 admissions were down slightly for the week ending Sept. 16, marking the first time since July weekly hospitalizations haven’t increased.
You’ve probably had friends and family corner you to look at a rash or talk about medications. With social media exploding about Ozempic, these questions and even curbsides from physicians have boomed. We all want to know more about weight. As a …
