Category: Medicine

Durante un tiempo, pasear al perro se volvió peligroso. Earl Vickers solía sacar a Molly, su perra mezcla de pastor alemán, bóxer y algo más, […]

For a while, walking the dog felt hazardous. Earl Vickers was accustomed to taking Molly, his shepherd-boxer-something-else mix, for strolls on the beach or around […]

The Host Oct. 1 is the start of the next fiscal year, and unless Congress reaches agreement on continued spending, big parts of the government […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

Rachel Nassif, day center director at the PACE Organization of Rhode Island, with program participant Roberta Rabinovitz. Rabinovitz goes to the center, in East Providence, […]

Medicare enrollees who buy the optional Part D drug benefit may see substantial premium price hikes — potentially up to $50 a month — when […]

The Host Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement that the federal government will cancel nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding […]

The Host In his ongoing effort to reshape health policy, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to overhaul two […]

La terapia de rehabilitación puede ser una bendición después de una hospitalización por un derrame cerebral, una caída, un accidente, un reemplazo de articulación, una […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

Jordan Rau, KFF Health News Federal health officials do not inform consumers about severe safety violations in hospitals that specialize in physical rehabilitation. Nor does […]

Jordan Rau, KFF Health News and Irena Hwang, The New York Times Rehab hospitals that help people recover from major surgeries and injuries have become […]

Rehabilitation therapy can be a godsend after hospitalization for a stroke, a fall, an accident, a joint replacement, a severe burn, or a spinal cord […]

Doctors, hospitals, and health insurers for weeks issued dire warnings to Republican lawmakers that millions of people would lose health coverage and hospitals would close […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

Dan Weissmann In response to the high price of prescription drugs, “An Arm and a Leg” asked listeners to share their strategies for getting the […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

In a top-rated nursing home in Alexandria, Virginia, the Rev. Donald Goodness is cared for by nurses and aides from various parts of Africa. One […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

LIBBY, Mont. — Dozens of feet of tubing connect Gayla Benefield to her oxygen machine so she can walk from room to room inside her […]

When Alyne Diamond fell off a horse in August 2023 and broke her back, her employer-based health plan through UnitedHealthcare covered her emergency care in […]

The Host After explicitly promising senators during his confirmation hearing that he would not interfere in scientific policy over which Americans should receive which vaccines, […]

ST. PAUL, Minn. — High school senior Joshua Yang understands sacrifice. When he was midway through 10th grade, his mom survived a terrible car crash. […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly […]

A blockbuster lawsuit from the federal Department of Justice alleges that insurers Aetna, Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), and Humana paid “hundreds of millions of dollars […]

[*] When people call large insurance brokerages seeking free assistance in choosing Medicare Advantage plans, they’re often offered assurances such as this one from eHealth: […]

NEW YORK — On a recent visit to Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, some floors in the mammoth office building bustled with people seeking services […]

Dan Weissmann News has been coming out of Washington, D.C., since the start of the second Donald Trump administration like water out of a fire […]

Rennie Glasgow, who has served 15 years at the Social Security Administration, is seeing something new on the job: dead people. They’re not really dead, […]

The Host Members of Congress are back in Washington this week, and Republicans are facing hard decisions on how to reduce Medicaid spending, even as […]

For several years, Fred Neary had been seeing five doctors at the Baylor Scott & White Health system, whose 52 hospitals serve central and northern […]

The Host Congress returns from spring break next week and will get to work crafting a bill that would cut taxes and boost immigration enforcement […]

The Host Emmarie Huetteman KFF Health News Emmarie Huetteman, senior editor, oversees a team of Washington reporters, as well as “Bill of the Month” and KFF Health […]

Arielle Zionts Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only way to […]

Five years ago, the CEO of one of the largest pain clinic companies in the Southeast was sentenced to more than three years in prison […]

Mari Villar was slammed by a car that jumped the curb, breaking her legs and collapsing a lung. Amy Paulo was in pain from a […]

HELENA, Mont. — Mark Nay’s first client had lost the van she was living in and was struggling with substance use and medical conditions that […]

The National Institutes of Health employee said she knew things would be difficult for federal workers after Donald Trump was elected. But she never imagined […]

The Host Two months into the new administration, federal workers and contractors remain off-balance as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to cancel jobs […]

The Senate Finance Committee got its chance March 14 to question Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the vast Centers for Medicare & […]

Suz Redfearn “Breaking news: The Trump administration just announced that Medicare will stop covering telehealth starting April 1. … We need to stand up to […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

President Donald Trump’s health officials want you to take your vitamins. Mehmet Oz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has […]

Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco medical school, has spent well over a decade researching the disquieting risk that one of […]

Felice J. Freyer After a patch of ice sent Marc Durocher hurtling to the ground, and doctors at UMass Memorial Medical Center repaired the broken […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

More than three years ago, health insurance giant Centene Corp. settled allegations that it overcharged Medicaid programs in Ohio and Mississippi related to prescription drug […]

Fred Schulte, KFF Health News The Justice Department’s years-long court battle to force UnitedHealth Group to return billions of dollars in alleged Medicare Advantage overpayments […]

Chikao Tsubaki had been having a terrible time. In his mid-80s, he had a stroke. Then lymphoma. Then prostate cancer. He was fatigued, isolated, not […]

Like many Americans who voted for Donald Trump, Jason Rouse hopes the president’s return will mean lower prices for gas, groceries, and other essentials. But […]

Probablemente pocos votantes esperaban que el presidente Donald Trump, en sus primeras semanas de mandato, recortara miles de millones de dólares de la principal agencia […]

Few voters likely expected President Donald Trump in the first weeks of his administration to slash billions of dollars from the nation’s premier federal cancer […]

Medicaid is under threat — again. Republicans, who narrowly control Congress, are pushing proposals that could sharply cut funding to the government health insurance program […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Incoming President Donald Trump’s inauguration is Monday, yet the new GOP-led Congress is already rushing to work his priorities into legislation, eyeing cuts […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

A western New York health insurance provider for seniors and the CEO of its medical analytics arm have agreed to pay a total of up […]

Medicare officials are pushing back against a federal watchdog’s call to crack down on home visits by Medicare Advantage health plans — a practice the […]

Darius Tahir President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor […]

A California agency charged with slowing health costs has set a lofty goal for insurers to direct 15% of their spending to primary care by […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

Fred Schulte, KFF Health News KFF Health News has sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to compel it […]

A new federal watchdog audit is ratcheting up pressure on government officials to crack down on billions of dollars in overcharges linked to Medicare Advantage […]

RICHMOND, Vt. — On a warm autumn morning, Roger Brown walked through a grove of towering trees whose sap fuels his maple syrup business. He […]

On the campaign trail, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are eager to portray themselves as guardians of Medicare. Each presidential […]

Joanne Kenen María Sánchez emigró al área de Chicago desde México hace unos 30 años. Ahora, a sus 87, sigue viviendo en Estados Unidos sin […]

Joanne Kenen Maria Sanchez immigrated to the Chicago area from Mexico about 30 years ago. Now 87, she’s still living in the U.S. without authorization. […]

The Host Emmarie Huetteman KFF Health News Emmarie Huetteman, senior editor, oversees a team of Washington reporters, as well as “Bill of the Month” and KFF Health […]

Sam Whitehead “We’re bankrupting a lot of hospitals by forcing these hospitals to provide care for people who don’t have the legal right to be in […]

The Host As abortion and other reproductive issues gain more prominence in the looming election, some Republicans are trying to moderate their anti-abortion positions, particularly […]

Cuando Pam McClure se enteró que el próximo año ahorraría casi $4,000 en sus medicamentos recetados dijo: “parece demasiado bueno para ser verdad”. Para finales […]

When Pam McClure learned she’d save nearly $4,000 on her prescription drugs next year, she said, “it sounded too good to be true.” She and […]

When Lyft driver Tramaine Carr transports seniors and sick patients to hospitals in Atlanta, she feels like both a friend and a social worker. “When […]

The Host As part of a media blitz aimed at women voters, Vice President Kamala Harris this week rolled out a plan for Medicare to […]

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have a rare point of agreement in their otherwise bitter and divisive contest: It’s up to […]

A decade ago, federal officials drafted a plan to discourage Medicare Advantage health insurers from overcharging the government by billions of dollars — only to […]

La música triunfal suena mientras pacientes con cáncer van de campamento, hacen jardinería y ven fuegos artificiales en anuncios de Opdivo+Yervoy, una combinación de inmunoterapias […]

Triumphant music plays as cancer patients go camping, do some gardening, and watch fireworks in ads for Opdivo+Yervoy, a combination of immunotherapies to treat metastatic […]

LOS ANGELES — For nearly a decade, John Baackes has led L.A. Care Health Plan, a publicly run insurer primarily serving low-income Los Angeles County […]

LOS ANGELES — For nearly a decade, John Baackes has led L.A. Care Health Plan, a publicly run insurer primarily serving low-income Los Angeles County […]

The Host When it comes to health care, this year’s presidential campaign is increasingly a matter of which candidate voters choose to believe. Democrats, led […]

Jacob Gardenswartz “Donald Trump said he was going to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. He never did. We did.” Vice President Kamala Harris at […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Emmarie Huetteman KFF Health News @emmarieDC Emmarie Huetteman, senior editor, oversees a team of Washington reporters, as well as “Bill of the Month” and KFF […]

Federal officials resolved more than a decade ago to crack down on whopping government overpayments to private Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, which were siphoning […]

SACRAMENTO — When then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for nearly all Californians to buy health insurance or face a penalty, Anthony Wright slammed the 2007 proposal […]

What weighs most heavily on older adults’ minds when it comes to health care? The cost of services and therapies, and their ability to pay. […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

A landmark Supreme Court decision that reins in federal agencies’ authority is expected to hold dramatic consequences for the nation’s health care system, calling into […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

KFF Health News and PolitiFact staffs President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, shared a debate stage […]

Dancing at Birnamwood Polka Days, a festival in Birnamwood, Wisconsin.(Angela Hart/KFF Health News) Polka festivals are common across Wisconsin, especially in the summertime.(Angela Hart/KFF Health […]

Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states and the federal government for supplying […]

At the Aspen Ideas: Health festival, Julie Rovner, KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, hosts a panel featuring Sandhya Raman and Margot Sanger-Katz.(Nick Tininenko/Aspen Ideas: […]

Medical research has shortchanged women for decades. This is particularly true of older women, leaving physicians without critically important information about how to best manage […]

The Host A unanimous Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the FDA’s approval and rules for the abortion pill mifepristone, finding that the anti-abortion […]

Months into a new Biden administration policy intended to lower drug costs for Medicare patients, independent pharmacists say they’re struggling to afford to keep some […]

The steep prices — and popularity — of Ozempic and similar weight-loss and diabetes drugs could soon make them a priority for Medicare drug price […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

The Host A new analysis finds that graduating medical students were less likely to apply this year for residency training in states that ban or […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

Nearly a decade ago, Medicare launched a program to help the two-thirds of beneficiaries with chronic conditions by paying their doctors an additional monthly fee […]

Two months after a cyberattack on a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary halted payments to some doctors, medical providers say they’re still grappling with the fallout, even […]

Carrie Lester looks forward to the phone call every Thursday from her doctors’ medical assistant, who asks how she’s doing and if she needs prescription […]

Dan Weissmann Covering the American health care system means we tell some scary stories. This episode of “An Arm and a Leg” sounds like a […]

Federal and state regulators aren’t doing enough to stop the growing problem of rogue health insurance brokers making unauthorized policy switches for Affordable Care Act […]

Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact Insulin for Medicare beneficiaries “was costing 400 bucks a month on average. It now costs $35 a month.” President Joe Biden, in […]

The Host Florida this week became a major focus for advocates on both main sides of the abortion debate. The Florida Supreme Court simultaneously ruled […]

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News Some consumers covered by Affordable Care Act insurance plans are being switched from one plan to another without their express […]

En enero, Susanne Gilliam, de 67 años, estaba yendo a recoger el correo afuera de su casa cuando se cayó al resbalar sobre una capa […]

Bart Klion, 95, and his wife, Barbara, faced a tough choice in January: The upstate New York couple learned that this year they could keep […]

The Host In its first abortion case since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Supreme Court this week looked unlikely to uphold […]

Susanne Gilliam, 67, was walking down her driveway to get the mail in January when she slipped and fell on a patch of black ice. […]

Online stores sprang up during the covid-19 pandemic’s telehealth boom touting testosterone as a cure-all for men’s age-related illnesses — despite FDA rules issued years […]

Amy Sherman, PolitiFact We cut the federal deficit by $160 billion because Medicare will no longer have to pay those exorbitant prices to Big Pharma. […]

The Host The Affordable Care Act was signed into law 14 years ago this week, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joined KFF […]

Billy Abbott, a retired Army medic, wakes at 6 every morning, steps on the bathroom scale, and uses a cuff to take his blood pressure. […]

The Host The general election campaign for president is (unofficially) on, as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have each apparently secured enough […]

Dan Weissmann Medicare may sound like an escape from the expensive world of U.S. health insurance, but it’s more complicated, and expensive, than many realize. […]

President Joe Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments in health care in a wide-ranging State of the Union address on Thursday evening that touched on subjects […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

In a little more than two years as CEO of a small hospital in Wyoming, Dave Ryerse has witnessed firsthand the worsening financial problems eroding […]

A Maryland firm that oversees the nation’s largest independent network of primary care medical practices is facing a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it cheated Medicare out […]

President Joe Biden is counting on outrage over abortion restrictions to help drive turnout for his reelection. Former President Donald Trump is promising to take […]

It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait […]

Debra Prichard was a retired factory worker who was careful with her money, including what she spent on medical care, said her daughter, Alicia Wieberg. […]

The Host The Alabama Supreme Court’s groundbreaking ruling last week that frozen embryos have legal rights as people has touched off a national debate about […]

Last year alone, David Mitchell paid $16,525 for 12 little bottles of Pomalyst, one of the pricey medications that treat his multiple myeloma, a blood […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

In the battle to control health care costs, hospitals are deploying their political power to protect their bottom lines. The point of contention: For decades, […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

Los médicos en Valley-Wide Health Systems nunca saben quién se presentará en su clínica en San Luis, un pueblo de unas 600 personas en el […]

Clinicians at Valley-Wide Health Systems never know who will appear at their clinic in San Luis, a town of about 600 people in southern Colorado. […]

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. In […]

HANOVER, N.H. — Health care issues are important to Lana Leggett-Kealey, who works as a genetic genealogist. But on Tuesday, as she walked out of […]

Medicare Advantage plans are booming — 30.8 million of the 60 million Americans with Medicare are now enrolled in the private plans rather than the […]

As enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the coverage works, including from people who say they are stuck […]

En la campaña presidencial, el ex presidente Donald Trump está prometiendo, una vez más, derogar y reemplazar la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo […]

On the presidential campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is, once again, promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — a nebulous goal […]

Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News En 2016, Richard Timmins fue a un seminario informativo gratuito para aprender más sobre la cobertura de Medicare. “Escuché […]

The race to win the quickly approaching Iowa caucuses was the theme running through Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN at Drake University […]

The Host As this election year begins in earnest, making it harder for Congress to pass bills, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are still struggling to […]

Congress is back this week and feverishly working on a bipartisan agreement to fund the government for the rest of the 2024 fiscal year. Ahead […]

In 2016, Richard Timmins went to a free informational seminar to learn more about Medicare coverage. “I listened to the insurance agent and, basically, he […]

Medical advances are expensive. Take Wegovy, the wildly successful obesity drug that we learned last week may also reduce the risk of heart disease. If […]

Medicare Advantage plans are pretty popular with both lawmakers and ordinary Americans — they now enroll about 31 million people, representing just over half of […]

A hospital system in Georgia. Two medical groups in San Diego. Another in Louisville, Kentucky, and nearly one-third of Nebraska hospitals. Across the country, health […]

The Host Even without covid dominating the headlines, 2023 was a busy year for health policy. The ever-rising cost of health care remained an issue […]

Susan Jaffe After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash […]

Susan Jaffe Después de una ofensiva sin precedentes contra las publicidades engañosas de las aseguradoras que venden planes privados de Medicare Advantage y de medicamentos, […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]

It’s a good day when Frank Lee, a retired chef, can slip out to the hardware store, fairly confident that his wife, Robin, is in […]

Angela M. Du Bois, a retired software tester in Durham, North Carolina, wasn’t looking to replace her UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan. She wasn’t concerned as […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health […]