Kaiser Health News
When patients need an air ambulance, the first priority is getting them the care they need as fast as possible. So, patients don't always know who is going to pick them up or if the ambulance is an in-network provider.
Hospitals are acting on the notion that keeping violent injury from recurring will ultimately reduce their expenses and improve people's long-term health.
As the third open enrollment period winds down on the health insurance marketplaces, one thing hasn't changed much since the online exchanges opened: It's still often hard to find out whether a plan covers abortion services.
Men are getting more screening colonoscopies since the health law reduced how much Medicare beneficiaries pay out of pocket for the preventive tests, a recent study found. The change, however, didn't affect women's rates.
Despite advice to shop around before selecting a plan, consumers may find that getting answers about drug coverage can be an exercise in frustration, despite a federal health law requirement that insurers provide lists of the prescription medications included in their plans.
Two professional organizations representing emergency doctors warn that a new federal rule could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers when they need emergency care outside their health plan's network of providers. But consumer advocates and health policy experts say the groups' proposed solution doesn't adequately protect consumers.
The group ColoradoCareYES gathered enough signatures -- more than 100,000 -- to put a single-payer health system on the ballot next fall.
Thursday's announcement by Kaiser Permanente that it plans to open its own medical school in Southern California has attracted a lot of attention in the healthcare community.
Perched on an exam table at the doctor's office watching the clinician type details about their medical problems into their file, what patient hasn't wondered exactly what the doctor is writing? As many as 50 million patients may have a chance to find out in the next few years, following the announcement this week of $10 million in new grants to expand the OpenNotes project, which works with medical providers to expand patient access to clinician notes.
After the last of the baby boomers become fully eligible for Medicare, the federal health program can expect significantly higher costs in 2030 both because of the high number of beneficiaries and because many are expected to be significantly less healthy than previous generations.