Shaved Costs, High Risk, Maximum Profits: Regulators Worry About Florida’s Butt Lift Boom
By Daniel Chang
March 3, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Social media marketing lures people to South Florida’s lucrative cosmetic surgery scene with the promise of cheap Brazilian butt lifts. But some researchers, patient advocates, and surgeon groups say that the risks of the procedure are generally not understood by prospective patients, and that an unsafe number of surgeries can be performed per day in office settings, maximizing profits.
Cash for Colonoscopies: Colorado Tries to Lower Health Costs Through Incentives
By Markian Hawryluk
November 2, 2022
KFF Health News Original
State employees could receive checks ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars if they choose the right provider.
An Unexplained Injury Discovered After Eye Surgery. What Should Happen Next?
By Fred Clasen-Kelly
November 29, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, an expert says. Here’s how patients can respond.
When a Quick Telehealth Visit Yields Multiple Surprises Beyond a Big Bill
By Darius Tahir
December 19, 2023
KFF Health News Original
For the patient, it was a quick and inexpensive virtual appointment. Why it cost 10 times what she expected became a mystery.
Squeezed by Temp Nurse Costs, Hospital Systems Create Their Own Staffing Agencies
By Andy Miller
December 15, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Hospitals have depended on travel nurses to fill shifts, especially during covid surges. Now some larger systems, reeling from high contract labor costs, have created staffing units, aiming to lure nurses who want more work flexibility and better pay than staff RNs get.
More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality
By Harris Meyer
January 6, 2023
KFF Health News Original
While some doctors seem eager for a huge payoff, others are warily watching what happens when private equity firms take charge of orthopedic practices.
He Thinks His Wife Died in an Understaffed Hospital. Now He’s Trying to Change the Industry.
By Kate Wells, Michigan Public
April 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Nurses are telling lawmakers that there are not enough of them working in hospitals and that it risks patients’ lives. California and Oregon legally limit the number of patients under a nurse’s care. Other states trying to do the same were blocked by the hospital industry. Now patients’ relatives are joining the fight.
Biden’s Blanket Statement — ‘No More Surprise Billing’ — Doesn’t Quite Cover It
By Victoria Knight
March 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The president used broad language to say that Americans no longer needed to worry about surprise bills, but there are exceptions to the new law that could cost unsuspecting consumers.
Student Nurses Who Refuse Vaccination Struggle to Complete Degrees
By Michelle Andrews
October 4, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration is requiring workers at health care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. For the minority of nursing students who have refused a shot, the new policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.
Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill
By Susan Jaffe
March 23, 2021
KFF Health News Original
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 — and may be charged more out-of-pocket for the care.
At Urgent Care, He Got 5 Stitches and a Big Surprise: A Plastic Surgeon’s Bill for $1,040
By Rachana Pradhan
August 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration is weighing how to treat urgent care clinics as part of broad regulations banning surprise, out-of-network medical bills. At the heart of the matter: What counts as an emergency?
Pandemic Hampers Reopening of Joint Replacement Gold Mine
By Bernard J. Wolfson
August 10, 2020
KFF Health News Original
The COVID-19 pandemic brought knee and hip replacements to a virtual halt because they aren’t usually considered emergency procedures. But they are profitable, and hospital systems are now counting on the surgeries to help restore their financial health.
The Nation’s 5,000 Outpatient Surgery Centers Could Help With The COVID-19 Overflow
By Cara Anthony and Liz Szabo
March 27, 2020
KFF Health News Original
A coalition of anesthesiologists wants to repurpose the country’s more than 5,000 surgery centers to serve as emergency overflow amid the coronavirus pandemic. The centers have trained medical staff largely sitting idle, anesthesia machines that could be turned into ventilators, and empty medical space. But obstacles such as federal payment rules, logistics and some skepticism are getting in the way.
More Than 5,000 Surgery Centers Can Now Serve As Makeshift Hospitals During COVID-19 Crisis
By Liz Szabo and Cara Anthony
March 30, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Under pressure, the federal government announced it will let surgery centers, hotels and even college dorms serve as hospitals to treat an overflow of patients.
Resistance to a Boston Hospital’s Expansion Centers on Rising Prices
By Harris Meyer
January 27, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Mass General Brigham’s $2.3 billion expansion plan is raising state officials’ concerns that it will reduce competition and raise the price of care in Massachusetts. It also signals a national shift from a focus on hospital mergers and purchases of physician practices — which boost the cost of care — to individual hospitals’ expansions to gain a bigger share of the market.
Coronavirus Patients Caught In Conflict Between Hospital And Nursing Homes
By Judith Graham
March 30, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Hospitals need to clear out patients who no longer need acute care. But nursing homes are alarmed at the prospect of taking patients who may have the coronavirus.
Surprise Air Ambulance Bills Are More Eye-Popping To Individuals, But Overall Ground Transportation Is More Expensive
April 17, 2020
Morning Briefing
Although Congress has focused much attention on air ambulance bills, the cost of normal ground emergency transportation is a more wide-spread issue. In other health industry news: ambulatory surgery centers, Medicare payments for inpatient rehab, and fees for a cancer center.
Urban Hospitals of Last Resort Cling to Life in Time of COVID
By Jordan Rau and Emmarie Huetteman
September 17, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Rural hospitals have been closing at a quickening pace in recent years, but a number of inner-city hospitals now face a similar fate. Experts fear that the economic damage inflicted by the COVID pandemic is helping push some of these urban hospitals over the edge at the very time their services are most needed.
Influential Leapfrog Group Jumps In To Rate 5,600 Surgery Centers
By Christina Jewett
October 16, 2018
KFF Health News Original
In the wake of a KHN/USA Today Network investigation, Leapfrog will check the safety and quality of outpatient centers.
Medicare Reconsiders Paying For Seniors’ Spine Operations At Surgery Centers
By Christina Jewett
July 30, 2018
KFF Health News Original
After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.