Latest Kaiser Health News Stories
Coronavirus Threatens The Lives Of Rural Hospitals Already Stretched To Breaking Point
Almost half of the nation’s rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.
Millions Of Older Americans Live In Counties With No ICU Beds As Pandemic Intensifies
A Kaiser Health News analysis shows that counties with ICUs average one ICU bed for every 1,300 older residents, those most at risk for needing hospitalization.
Abortion-Rights Supporters Fear Loss Of Access If Adventist Saves Hospital
As community hospitals struggle, they often turn to large religious-based hospital groups to bail them out. But that can limit the types of services they offer, especially reproductive health treatment such as abortion.
A Guide To Following The Health Debate In The 2020 Elections
As the Democratic primary campaign nears pivotal voting, important aspects of health care policy are being overlooked.
Listen: How High-Deductible Plans Hurt Rural America
KHN senior correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined Colorado Public Radio’s Avery Lill on “Colorado Matters” to discuss his recent story on how high-deductible health plans are especially hurting the financial health of patients and hospitals in rural America.
Family Doctors In Rural America Tackle Crisis Of Addiction And Pain
For rural physicians, the burden of responding to the opioid epidemic falls squarely on their already loaded shoulders. For one doctor in a small Wisconsin village, there was no question that she wanted to rise to the challenge.
Readers React: UVA Doctors Outraged Over Their Own Health System’s Billing Practices
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
They Enrolled In Medical School To Practice Rural Medicine. What Happened?
Eight years ago, a new medical program opened in Salina, Kan., as an experimental way to promote rural medicine. Hailed as a solution to the rural doctor shortage, only three of its eight newly minted doctors are now working in the most rural communities.
Listen: Five Oklahoma Hospitals Collapsed – What Happened?
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber joined StateImpact Oklahoma reporter Jackie Fortiér to discuss why a series of rural hospitals collapsed, leaving hundreds of residents without jobs and their communities without lifesaving emergency medical care.
Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
State regulators and even one medevac company have raised doubts about prepaid subscriptions and promised benefits offered by air ambulance companies.
The Collapse Of A Hospital Empire — And Towns Left In The Wreckage
Jorge A. Perez and his management company, EmpowerHMS, helped run an empire of rural hospitals. Now, in a staggering implosion, 12 of them have entered bankruptcy and eight have closed their doors, leaving hundreds of residents without jobs and their communities without lifesaving emergency medical care. So, what happened?
After A Rural Hospital Closes, Delays In Emergency Care Cost Patients Dearly
The loss of the longtime hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., forces trauma patients to deal with changing services and expectations.
Where Tourism Brings Pricey Health Care, Locals Fight Back
Residents in Colorado ski resort country found relief from high insurance premiums and high hospital costs by joining forces and negotiating prices directly with the local hospital.
KHN Investigation On Opioid Prescribers Pains Some Readers And Tweeters
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Have Cancer, Must Travel: Patients Left In Lurch After Hospital Closes
As the rural town of Fort Scott, Kan., grapples with the closure of its hospital, cancer patients face new challenges as they try to continue their treatments in different locations.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Fetal Tissue Research Is Latest Flashpoint In Abortion Debate
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail federally funded research using fetal tissue, the backlash from former Vice President Joe Biden’s support for the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment and how health policy intersects with both trade and immigration policy.
Robin Hood To Rescue Of Rural Hospitals? New Math Promised On Medicare Payments
A proposed adjustment to the wage index, used in setting a hospital’s Medicare reimbursement payments, could be a lifeline for some rural facilities.
Listen: After Its Hospital Closes, A Pioneer Kansas Town Searches For What Comes Next
Deep questions underlie what is happening in Fort Scott, Kan.: Do small communities like this one need a traditional hospital at all? And, if not, what health care do they need?
Dealing With Hospital Closure, Pioneer Kansas Town Asks: What Comes Next?
After depending on the local hospital for more than a century, Fort Scott residents now are trying to cope with life without it.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The Abortion Wars Rage On
Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about women’s reproductive health policy and the latest skirmish in the debate over “Medicare-for-all”: how hospitals should be paid.
