The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
If Gov. Jerry Brown signs the measure, all pharmacies will have to provide medication instructions in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean, the most common languages in California after English.
The number of heart valve surgeries has risen more than 50 percent since 2012, demonstrating the hospital industry鈥檚 record of finding new ways to fill beds and increase revenue even as advances in health and technology shrink demand for inpatient care. Still, patient risk and cost concerns persist.
Doctors and patients haven’t discussed the cost of medical care. But that conversation is becoming vital, and medical schools are trying to teach their students how to think – and talk – about cost.
Hospital ownership of doctors’ practices 鈥渄ramatically increases鈥 odds that a doctor will admit patients there instead of another, nearby hospital, researchers say.
Congress faces budgetary decisions, worrying advocates for medical research, teen pregnancy prevention and other federal initiatives.
KHN consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers questions about Medicare beneficiaries鈥 costs associated with doctors who have concierge medicine practices, insulin pumps and respite care.
Many Native Americans rely entirely on free care from the financially strapped Indian Health Service. Advocates say signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act can broaden their choices.
Opponents of a state plan to move tens of thousands of seriously ill or disabled children into Medicaid managed care plans applaud the move to postpone the transfer.
The state reported a record number of serious West Nile illnesses in 2014, including cases of meningitis and encephalitis, according to federal data. 聽Thirty-one people died.
Massachusetts spent $632 million more on health care last year than it aimed to, according to a report from the state鈥檚 Center for Health Information and Analysis.
COBRA, which employees can buy when they leave a workplace if they pick up the entire cost of the plan, can be more expensive.
The new guarantees are part of a wide-ranging proposed rule that would bar discrimination based on gender in insurance coverage, treatments and access.
The newest research goes against a variety of studies that have shown these facilities owned by physicians take some of the most profitable patients while leaving other hospitals with more complex and costly cases.
Over a hundred counties in Texas don’t have a mental health worker, affecting about 3 million Texans. A new loan repayment program may not be enough to recruit them to rural areas.
The excise tax will be levied on health insurance plans聽costing聽more than $10,200 for an individual or $27,500 for a family. Any value over those thresholds will be taxed at 40 percent, and that’s likely to affect consumers’ benefits, share of health care costs or their coverage entirely.
Valerie Davidson, an advocate who became Alaska’s top health official, still loves spending her time fishing for salmon and cooking for her Yup鈥檌k family.
A surge in Medicaid enrollment drove down the uninsured rate in Colorado from 15.8 percent to 6.7 percent.
The new physician-led network will allow pediatricians to improve care for Georgia children by sharing best practice standards and expand their billing options for insurance, advocates say.
Since the Roe v. Wade decision, Ohio has been a trendsetter in passing laws that restrict abortion. That鈥檚 why it is especially unusual that in a small Ohio town just south of Cleveland, a new clinic that performs abortions opened its doors.
A study finds patients who suffered heart attacks in California were more likely to die within a year if their ambulances were diverted from the closest emergency room.
