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Sleep is the latest in an ever-growing list of wellness issues â such as weight loss, exercise and nutrition â that firms are targeting to improve workersâ health and lower medical costs.
The Supreme Court in March will hear a Louisiana case that tests whether the new five-member conservative majority is willing to overturn the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide. Even if the court does not go that far, it could hasten the procedureâs demise by saying abortion providers cannot sue on behalf of their patients.
KHN senior correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined Colorado Public Radioâs Avery Lill on âColorado Mattersâ to discuss his recent story on how high-deductible health plans are especially hurting the financial health of patients and hospitals in rural America.
President Donald Trump says he âsavedâ popular protections for preexisting conditions, even though his administration is in court asking them to be struck down. Meanwhile, Democrats who want to run against Trump in the fall continue to argue among themselves over health issues. And Kansas may become the next state to expand Medicaid. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of Kaiser Health News join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss this and more.
On the bright side, advances in medical science and a push for healthier lifestyles might extend the quality of life for aging boomers. Among clouds on the horizon: ageism, strained long-term care services and the need to work well past retirement age.
The claim, which builds on previous statements and campaign messaging, drew strong reactions.
A number of radiology organizations are trying to end the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation with lead aprons. They say it provides no benefit and might even inadvertently expose people to higher radiation levels. But the policy about-face is moving slowly.
Democratic presidential candidates also returned to now-familiar themes in debating the differences between “Medicare for All” and more incremental reforms.
Calculations are complicated, but correct.
A new state law limits what consumers owe if theyâre transported by an air ambulance thatâs not part of their insurance network to the amount that theyâd be charged if they used an in-network provider. But the law wonât protect millions of consumers whose health plans arenât regulated by the state.
The impact of the Trump administrationâs health policies is not as clear-cut as the presidentâs reelection campaign suggests.
U-Haul will not hire nicotine users in 21 states where it is legal to do so. Ethicists say such policies disproportionately affect the poor and are a sign of employers becoming overly involved in workers’ lifestyle choices.
Communities across California, frustrated with the growing number of homeless people living on public property, have tasked police and sanitation workers with dismantling encampments they say pose a risk to health and safety. The routine cleanups have spawned another public health concern: the loss of the displaced peopleâs personal possessions, including medicines.
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Small hospitals and patients in rural areas have been hit hard by the boom in high-deductible health plans. Often when a patient arrives at a rural hospital needing critical care, the person is stabilized and transferred to a larger facility. But bills from the first site of care generally get applied to the patientâs deductible. When patients canât afford their deductible, the smaller hospital winds up eating the costs.
For rural physicians, the burden of responding to the opioid epidemic falls squarely on their already loaded shoulders. For one doctor in a small Wisconsin village, there was no question that she wanted to rise to the challenge.
A group of Democratic state attorneys general are betting the Supreme Court will take up the case and overturn a federal appeals court ruling in time for the 2020 elections. In other high-court news, most Republicans in Congress are asking the justices to use a Louisiana law to overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling, Roe v. Wade. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Rovner also interviews NPRâs Richard Harris, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ feature.
Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, author of the book âCrooked,â says chronic low back pain is not a medical condition. Nonetheless, that complaint sends millions of Americans down a path of expensive imaging tests, ongoing therapies and invasive surgery â all with limited effectiveness for many patients. In a conversation with âAn Arm and a Legâ podcast host Dan Weissmann, Ramin shares her journey of back pain and recovery.
Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesnât save money. âWe built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,â Brenner tells the âTradeoffsâ podcast.
KHNâs Julie Rovner joins Stephen Henderson of âDetroit Todayâ on WDET, an NPR station, to talk about the pivotal role of health care issues in the 2020 presidential campaign.
