Author: Leif Castle
By Aneri Pattani December 5, 2023 Article HTML Aneri Pattani The Supreme Court heard a case this week about who could claim bankruptcy protection from civil lawsuits. The case stems from the opioid epidemic and lawsuits brought by state and local governments against the companies that made, sold, or distributed prescription painkillers — in this instance, Purdue Pharma, which marketed OxyContin. The company filed for bankruptcy and agreed to pay settlements to governments, as well as individual victims of the opioid crisis. That bankruptcy provided Purdue Pharma liability protection from future civil cases about opioids. The family behind this company,…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly two years into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $12 billion experiment to transform California’s Medicaid program into a social services provider for the state’s most vulnerable residents, the institutions tasked with providing the new services aren’t effectively doing so, according to a survey released Tuesday. As part of the ambitious five-year initiative, called CalAIM, the state is supposed to offer the sickest and costliest patients a personal care manager and new services ranging from home-delivered healthy meals to help paying rental security deposits. But a quarter of the health care insurers, nonprofit organizations, and others responsible for implementing…
Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News Colorado’s leaders had grand plans to import cheaper medicines from Canada, after the Trump administration issued rules in 2020 allowing states to try it. But officials in Denver say they’ve been stymied by opposition from drugmakers — as well as the Biden administration’s inaction on the policy. That’s according to a Dec. 1 report we obtained that was prepared for the state legislature by the Colorado agency working on the importation plan. The Health 202 is a coproduction of The Washington Post and KFF Health News. Subscribe Now Colorado filed an application with the Food…
Bradley Little, a physical education teacher in Arizona, was leading his class through a school hallway in 2017 when he collapsed. Little feared he was having a stroke. Or, in a sign of the times, that he’d been shot. He tried to stand, but his leg wouldn’t move. A student ran for help. Firefighters arrived and hoisted Little onto a gurney. At the hospital, an X-ray revealed that the artificial hip implant in Little’s right leg had “suddenly and catastrophically structurally failed,” according to a lawsuit Little would later file in federal court. The implant severed at its “neck” —…
Many people from racial and ethnic minority groups brace themselves for insults and judgments before medical appointments, according to a new survey of patients that reaffirms the prevalence of racial discrimination in the U.S. health system. The KFF survey of nearly 6,300 patients who have had care in the past three years found that about 55% of Black adults feel they have to be very careful about their appearance to be treated fairly by doctors and other health providers. Nearly half of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic patients feel similarly, as do about 4 in 10 Asian patients. By…
After he was gored by a bison, Jim Lutter got treatment from in-person ambulance medics and a doctor communicating from 140 miles away through a video system in the vehicle. (Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News) Lutter and his wife, Cindy, are among the 12 residents of Gann Valley, a town just east of the Missouri River in central South Dakota. They operate a hunting lodge and ranch, where they raise more than 1,000 bison. (Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News) GANN VALLEY, S.D. — Rural medics who rescued rancher Jim Lutter after he was gored by a bison didn’t have much experience handling…
It’s a good day when Frank Lee, a retired chef, can slip out to the hardware store, fairly confident that his wife, Robin, is in the hands of reliable help. He spends nearly every hour of every day anxiously overseeing her care at their home on the Isle of Palms, a barrier island near Charleston, South Carolina. Robin Lee, 67, has had dementia for about a decade, but the couple was able to take overseas trips and enjoy their marriage of some 40 years until three years ago, when she grew more agitated, prone to sudden outbursts, and could no…
Most older Americans want to live at home as long as they can, but finding and affording the help they need often isn’t easy. There are severe shortages of home health aides in many parts of the country. Hiring them is costly. And most middle-class people will have to pay for home care themselves if it’s needed for the long haul. Here’s a guide to locating home care for an older person. What kind of home care do you need? After a fall or surgery, some older people will need short-term care at home from a nurse or therapist to…
The Biden administration has issued its latest official wish list for Obamacare insurance plans, potentially one of the last major Affordable Care Act health policy efforts in the president’s first term. Changes on tap for 2025? For one, the administration wants states that run their own ACA marketplaces to crack down on what’s called “network adequacy” — how many doctors, hospitals and other providers Obamacare insurers include in their covered networks. The regulatory proposal, known in Washington as the payment parameters notice, came out on Nov. 15. Arriving in the run-up to a presidential election, the proposed rules could be…
Fox News officially titled it “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate.” But the faceoff quickly turned into a full-out political brawl between Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor who isn’t running for president; and Ron DeSantis, the Florida Republican governor who is, and is not gaining ground against former President Donald Trump in voter polls. The event was held in Alpharetta, Georgia, aired on Fox News, and moderated by Sean Hannity. Our PolitiFact partners examined the two state officials’ wide-ranging statements. You can read the full coverage here. Newsom has relished taunting DeSantis on social media and Fox News and,…
Bill Eisenman has always fished. “Growing up, we ate whatever we caught — catfish, carp, freshwater drum,” he said. “That was the only real source of fish in our diet as a family, and we ate a lot of it.” Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north of Detroit. But in recent years, he has been wary about a group of chemicals known as PFAS, also referred to as “forever chemicals,” which don’t break down quickly in the environment and accumulate in soil, water, fish, and our bodies. The chemicals have spewed…
Una hora antes del amanecer, Shelly Brost caminó una milla bajo la lluvia helada hasta la oficina de asistencia pública de Missoula, en Montana. Se le estaba acabando el tiempo para demostrar que aún calificaba para recibir ayuda para comprar alimentos, después de intentar en vano comunicarse por teléfono. En dos ocasiones, intentó usar la línea de ayuda de Montana para completar una entrevista requerida para recertificar sus beneficios del Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Suplementaria (SNAP, conocido antes como Food Stamps o estampillas de alimentos). Cada vez, la llamada se cortó después de más de una hora en espera. “Estaba…
The Host Former president and current 2024 Republican front-runner Donald Trump is aiming to put a repeal of the Affordable Care Act back on the political agenda, much to the delight of Democrats, who point to the health law’s growing popularity. Meanwhile, in Texas, the all-Republican state Supreme Court this week took up a lawsuit filed by more than two dozen women who said their lives were endangered when they experienced pregnancy complications due to the vague wording of the state’s near-total abortion ban. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University…
Después de una ofensiva sin precedentes contra las publicidades engañosas de las aseguradoras que venden planes privados de Medicare Advantage y de medicamentos, la administración Biden espera utilizar un arma especial para asegurarse que las empresas sigan las nuevas reglas: esa arma eres tú. Funcionarios de los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid (CMS) le han pedido a las personas mayores y a otros miembros de la comunidad que sean detectives contra el fraude, denunciando tácticas de venta engañosas al 800-MEDICARE, la línea de información las 24 horas de la agencia. Entre los productos sospechosos se encuentran las tarjetas…
An investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group gained further traction on Capitol Hill this week as additional members of Congress formally demanded answers from the Social Security Administration about billions of dollars it mistakenly paid to beneficiaries — and then ordered they repay. Two members of a Senate panel that oversees Social Security sent a letter to the agency’s acting commissioner, Kilolo Kijakazi, urging her to do more to prevent overpayments and “limit harm to vulnerable beneficiaries” when trying to recover the money. As KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations jointly reported in September, the…
A recent Federal Trade Commission civil lawsuit accusing one of the nation’s largest anesthesiology groups of monopolistic practices that sharply drove up prices is a warning to private equity investors that could temper their big push to snap up physician groups. Over the past three years, FTC and Department of Justice officials have signaled they would apply more scrutiny to private equity acquisitions in health care, including roll-up deals in which larger provider groups buy smaller groups in a local market. Nothing happened until September, when the FTC sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners and the private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson…
Angela Hart and Daniel Chang Florida’s Republican presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis,and Democratic firebrand Gavin Newsom of California square off today in a contest of governors that can best be described as the debate to determine ¿quién es más macho? — who is more manly — about protecting your freedoms. Both men have led their respective states since 2019, and they’ve lately been engaged in an escalating feud. While Newsom isn’t running for president himself — yet — he’s a key surrogate for President Biden. Fox News is playing up the faceoff, which it’ll host, as “The Great Red Vs. Blue…
Susan Jaffe After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash a special weapon to make sure companies follow the new rules: you. Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are encouraging seniors and other members of the public to become fraud detectives by reporting misleading or deceptive sales tactics to 800-MEDICARE, the agency’s 24-hour information hotline. Suspects include postcards designed to look like they’re from the government and TV ads with celebrities promising benefits and low fees that are available only to some…
Dan Weissmann Last fall, Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. The Hollywood couple are members of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and writers. Members have to earn about $26,000 a year on union projects to be eligible for union insurance. And Haun was about $800 short. When she couldn’t book the gigs she needed, Haun, with husband Johnston’s help, came up with a plan: to crowdfund enough money to make their own movie starring Haun, called “Ellen Needs Insurance.” In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan…
A hospital system in Georgia. Two medical groups in San Diego. Another in Louisville, Kentucky, and nearly one-third of Nebraska hospitals. Across the country, health care providers are refusing to accept some Medicare Advantage plans — even as the coverage offered by commercial insurers increasingly displaces the traditional government program for seniors and people with disabilities. As of this year, commercial insurers have enticed just over half of all Medicare beneficiaries — or nearly 31 million people — to sign up for their plans instead of traditional Medicare. The plans typically include drug coverage as well as extras like vision…
Former President Donald Trump often seems proud to advertise his administration’s record on speedily developing covid-19 vaccines. On the campaign trail to win another term in the White House, though, he also has knocked the use of those very vaccines. In October, for example, he unleashed a barrage of social media attacks on Ron DeSantis’ pandemic record by reposting claims that the Florida governor — who is running against him in the Republican presidential primaries — was too active in vaccinating Sunshine State residents. In a further twist, Trump simultaneously circulated an MSNBC article suggesting DeSantis wasn’t vaccinating his constituents…
Medicare Advantage plans are pretty popular with both lawmakers and ordinary Americans — they now enroll about 31 million people, representing just over half of everyone in Medicare, by KFF’s count. But among doctors and hospitals, it’s a different story. Across the country, provider grumbling about claim denials and onerous preapproval requirements by Advantage plans is crescendoing. Some hospitals and physician practices are so fed up they’re refusing to accept the plans — even big ones like those offered by United Healthcare and Humana. “The insurance companies running the Medicare Advantage plans are pushing physicians and hospitals to the edge,”…