Kaiser Health News
About one-third of patients over 70 years old and more than half of patients over 85 leave the hospital more disabled than when they arrived, research shows.
Because physicians who treat addiction don't necessarily have experience with surgery or access to sterile spaces, some are having to learn a new skill and develop new systems.
A California bill that would allow certified nurse-midwives to practice independently is pitting the state's doctors against its hospitals, even though both sides support the main goal of the legislation.
Consumers face steep rate hikes next year. Some will be forced to make a difficult choice: pay a higher price to keep their plans -- and doctors -- or switch plans to save money but risk losing their doctors.
Not only did the clinics see new patients, but the demand for services soared from existing ones who were newly insured.
The federal government will punish more than half of the nation's hospitals -- a total of 2,597 -- for excess readmissions by withholding more than half a billion dollars in Medicare payments over the next year, records released Tuesday show.
A report in 2012 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse revealed that medical schools devoted little time to teaching addiction medicine -- only a few hours over four years. Since then, the number of Americans overdosing from prescribed opioids has surpassed 14,000 per year, quadrupling from 1999 to 2014.
In the absence of generic alternatives to these pricey biologics, biosimilar drugs hold great promise for U.S. patients and their wallets.
Experts estimate that about half of all people turning 65 today will need daily help as they age, either at home or in nursing homes. Such long-term care will cost an average of about $91,000 for men and double that for women, because they live longer.
The University of California regents have agreed to pay nearly $8.5 million to settle two lawsuits alleging a well-known UCLA spine surgeon failed to disclose his conflicts of interest with a leading device maker before using the company's products in harmful surgeries.