Private Equity Sees the Billions in Eye Care as Firms Target High-Profit Procedures
As private equity groups are swarming into aging America鈥檚 eye care, the consolidation is costing the U.S. health care system and patients more money.
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As private equity groups are swarming into aging America鈥檚 eye care, the consolidation is costing the U.S. health care system and patients more money.
After a unanimous ruling from the high court, doctors who are accused of writing irresponsible prescriptions can go to trial with a new defense: It wasn鈥檛 on purpose.
The nonprofit owners of Atlanta Medical Center, a 460-bed Level 1 trauma center in the heart of the city, plan to close the hospital in November. As many community members worry about the hole the closure will leave in the city鈥檚 safety net, the news has thrust health care into the political spotlight less than two months before Election Day.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Medicare and Medicaid pay 鈥渓ook-alike鈥 health centers significantly more than hospitals for treating patients, and converting or creating clinics can help hospitals reduce their expenses.
In an industry obsessed with consumer satisfaction national patient surveys still don鈥檛 get at an important question: Are hospitals delivering culturally competent care?
More than two years into the pandemic, hospital budgets are beginning to crack. One of the biggest drivers of financial shortfalls has been the cost to find workers.
An online calculator told a young woman that a procedure to rule out cancer would cost an uninsured person about $1,400. Instead, the hospital initially charged almost $18,000 and, with her high-deductible health insurance, she owed more than $5,000.
A study published in JAMA leads to questions about the uneven distribution of pediatric nephrologists nationwide. Children with end-stage kidney disease feel the impact.
Coming out of the pandemic, many rural hospitals are in even rougher shape than before. So rough that some are now practically being handed to investors for little more than a pledge to keep them open.
The U.S. Labor Department investigates Noble Health after former employees of its shuttered Missouri hospitals say the private equity-backed owner took money from their paychecks and then failed to fund their insurance coverage.
Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.
A TV and social media ad offers a reason to check on the enforcement of a sweeping rule that requires hospitals to post information about what they charge insurers and cash-paying patients.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ER doctors say they 鈥 and their patients 鈥 are trapped between state anti-abortion laws and the federal law requiring that care be delivered in emergency situations. Women鈥檚 lives hang in the balance.
More than two years into the pandemic, parents face a child care crisis. That鈥檚 why some hospitals are considering starting child care centers to address recruitment and retention troubles.
A lack of Native physicians means many tribal communities rely on doctors who don鈥檛 share their lived experience, culture, or spiritual beliefs. In Episode 9, meet two medical students working to join the ranks of Indigenous physicians.
The president has directed the Federal Trade Commission to carefully consider health industry mergers that may stymie competition and drive up prices. The new Democratic majority appears eager to look beyond traditional hospital consolidations to deals that involve products, services, or staffing.
Mark Seidman, an assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission鈥檚 Bureau of Competition, talks with KHN about efforts to police consolidation among hospitals and other health care providers.
Dozens of Iowa hospitals have closed their birthing units. A team of University of Iowa nurse midwives can鈥檛 reopen them, but they鈥檝e found a way to provide prenatal checkups and other crucial services in two towns.
A new federal rescue program that pays rural hospitals to shutter underused inpatient units and focus solely on emergency rooms and outpatient care hasn鈥檛 generated much interest yet.
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