The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Although there鈥檚 no official clinical diagnosis, the psychiatric and psychological communities have names for the phenomenon of worrying about the Earth鈥檚 fate: 鈥渃limate distress,鈥 鈥渃limate grief,鈥 鈥渃limate anxiety鈥 or 鈥渆co-anxiety.鈥 The concept also is gradually making its way into the public consciousness in television shows and movies.
A wide variety of medications used to treat allergies, insomnia, leaky bladders, diarrhea, dizziness, motion sickness, asthma, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and psychiatric disorders can interfere with cognition in older patients.
A House committee approved its version of legislation to solve the problem of surprise medical bills. But the measure includes a key provision that鈥檚 got less support in the Senate.
An estimated 18 million American adults have sleep apnea. The go-to treatment 鈥 a CPAP machine 鈥 offers a healthy restful night鈥檚 sleep, but many people struggle to use it. As many as 50% of patients stop using the device.
Oklahoma is seeking $17 billion in damages from Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical giant. After a seven-week trial, a judge will decide if the opioid drugmaker is liable and if so, for how much.
Banking on new cost estimates, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is poised to try 鈥 once again 鈥 to end a three-year limit on coverage for lifesaving medication required to keep the organs functioning.
Check the fine print. When you get a prescription for expensive medical equipment, you may need to follow the doctor鈥檚 orders 鈥 to the letter 鈥 to get your health insurance company to pay up.
Over the past decade, more than 350 workers nationwide have died from heat-related illness, and tens of thousands have had heat-related problems serious enough that they missed at least one day of work. Proposed federal legislation, modeled on California regulations, would create the first national standards for protecting workers from heat-related stress.
An enhanced government effort to catch insurers that overcharge Medicare faces resistance from the insurance industry.
Most patients don鈥檛 argue when their health insurance won鈥檛 cover treatment or medication, but they should: Consumers win about half of their appeals. The process can sometimes be overwhelming, but there are ways to prepare and get help.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people who are at high risk of contracting HIV take PrEP, a preventive treatment. The decision means most health plans will be required to cover the drugs without charging patients. But the recommendation doesn鈥檛 apply to the other clinical and lab services people need.
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Under federal law, people who have been raped don鈥檛 have to pay for medical forensic exams, yet many get billed and have trouble getting the hospitals or collection agencies to stop dunning them for payment.
California is the first in the nation to expand Medicaid to young adults living there without legal permission.
KHN consulted legal experts about some of the arguments advanced by Trump administration lawyers during the most recent round of oral arguments in the legal challenge brought by 18 鈥渞ed鈥 states to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Is the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional? That was the question before a federal appeals court in New Orleans this week. Two of the three judges on the panel seemed inclined to agree with a lower court that the elimination of the tax penalty for failure to maintain coverage could mean the entire health law should fall. Also this week, President Donald Trump wants to improve care for people with kidney disease. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus courts blocking efforts to require drug prices in TV ads and to kick Planned Parenthood out of the federal family planning program. Plus, Rovner interviews University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley about the latest legal threat to the ACA.
California lawmakers on Wednesday pulled legislation that would have protected some patients from surprise medical bills for emergency care, citing opposition from hospitals. They vowed to resurrect the bill next year.
Did the Affordable Care Act create equal coverage of mental and physical health? Seems true on paper but not always in practice.
Only about 12% of dialysis patients get their treatment at home and the initiative aims to dramatically increase that number and move patients out of costly dialysis centers. It would also add provisions to boost the annual number of kidneys available for transplants.
A new report by the inspector general for HHS shows prescriptions to treat opioid addiction are way up in recent years, while prescriptions for the painkillers have fallen.
