Kaiser Health News

Imaging has aided diagnosis and helped many patients avoid exploratory surgery, but it has also spawned concerns about misuse. There is a growing awareness of the potential pitfalls of diagnostic imaging, which in the past two decades has exploded into a $100 billion-a-year business.

Public health experts have known for decades that even with medical care easily available, patients are often limited in their ability to get better or maintain good health if they lack stable housing, access to healthy food, or the ability to get to and from medical appointments.

Beginning in January, family caregivers like Matsushima could have a much different experience. A new California law, SB 675, requires hospital staffers to involve a family caregiver during the hospitalization and discharge process, which supporters say will improve patients' overall health and reduce their chances of readmission.

Insurance policies that pay a lump sum if workers get cancer or another serious illness are being offered in growing numbers by employers. Companies say they want to help protect their workers against the financial pain of increasingly high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. But it's important to understand the limitations of these plans before buying.

For years, it's been common practice for University Hospitals to switch its status to diversion. That means when medics would call the hospital, people in the emergency department would say they didn't have the room or the staff to handle the patient. The EMS team then would have to drive to another hospital.

Health insurers in several big cities will take some pain out of doctor visits this year -- the financial kind. They'll offer free visits to primary care doctors in their networks. You read that right. Doctor visits without copays. Or coinsurance. And no expensive deductible to pay off first. Free.

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.