Readers and Tweeters React to Racism, Inequities in Health Care
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won't be easy.
Lawmakers are working on fleshing out the concept of a 鈥減ublic option,鈥 a government-run or heavily regulated insurance plan that would compete with private insurance. But the details are complicated, both substantively and politically. Meanwhile, bioethicists are debating whether the U.S. should be vaccinating low-risk adolescents against covid-19 while high-risk adults in other countries are still waiting. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
In the latest sign that in-home acute care is catching on, two big players 鈥 Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic 鈥 announced plans to collectively invest $100 million into the company Medically Home to help scale up their programs.
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.
A little-discussed, long-term toll of the pandemic is that large numbers of older adults have become physically and cognitively debilitated and less able to care for themselves after sheltering in place.
A bill in the California legislature would require state-regulated health plans to cover policyholders鈥 dependent parents. Advocates say the measure would reduce the number of uninsured people, while business groups warn of premium increases.
Californians who passed up health coverage in the past may be pleasantly surprised by the lower prices available thanks to the new federal relief act.
Insurers voluntarily set the charges aside earlier in the pandemic 鈥 but that means those same health plans can decide to reinstate them.
Medicare Advantage company may face record penalty over alleged billing errors.
Podcast panelists discuss a range of health policy developments, from the latest in the covid vaccination effort to the HHS budget, among other things.
The ink is barely dry on the recent covid relief bill, but Democrats in Congress and President Joe Biden are wasting no time gearing up for their next big legislative package. Meanwhile, predictions of more states expanding Medicaid have proved premature. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Lauren Weber, who reported the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode.
The $1.9 trillion covid relief bill expands subsidies for private insurance plans. That will lighten the burden on consumers, but it locks taxpayers into yet more support for the health care industry.
A Trump administration Medicare rule will push some hospital patients into a Catch-22: The government says several hundred procedures no longer need to be done in a hospital, but it did not approve them to be performed elsewhere. So patients will still need to use a hospital while not officially admitted 鈥 and may be charged more out-of-pocket for the care.
Progressive and conservative Democratic lawmakers, as well as President Joe Biden, are in favor of authorizing federal officials to negotiate with drugmakers over what Medicare pays for at least some of the most expensive brand-name drugs and to base those prices on the drugs鈥 clinical benefits. Such a measure could put Republicans in the uncomfortable position of opposing an idea that most voters from both parties generally support.
Health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors, but the efforts are slow and spotty.
Renowned medical centers are among the quarter of general hospitals that will lose 1% of Medicare payments for one year because their patients have high rates of bedsores, sepsis and other preventable complications.
Marilyn Bartlett, credited with saving Montana鈥檚 state employee health plan millions of dollars, is a busy consultant now, as states, counties and big businesses try to use her playbook to bring down hospital costs.
Lawmakers answered pleas from strained health facilities in rural areas, agreed to cover the cost of training more new doctors, sought to strengthen efforts to equalize mental health coverage with that of physical medicine and instructed the federal government to collect data that could be used to rein in high medical bills.
Those walking away free were facing years in prison for crimes of 鈥渦nbounded greed.鈥
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