All posts by rebecca

KHN: Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill

A cost-saving change in Medicare launched in the final days of the Trump administration will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures while potentially raising costs and confusion for patients. For years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services class... Read more

KHN: Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy

  Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home,  loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one. Months later, it appears that danger ... Read more

KHN: Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

  For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care experts, caregivers, consumer gro... Read more

KHN: Why AstraZeneca and J&J’s Vaccines, In Use Elsewhere, Are Still on Hold in America

By Sarah Jane Tribble The World Health Organization greenlighted emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine this month, following in the steps of the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, who are already injecting it as quickly as possible into ... Read more

KHN: Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority

By Judith Graham Opening another front in the nation’s response to the pandemic, medical centers and other health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors. Boston Medical Center, which ... Read more

KHN: As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them

Fed up with a lack of federal action to lower prescription drug costs, state legislators around the country are pushing bills to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap payment at much-lower Canadian levels. These bills, sponsored by both Republicans and Dem... Read more

KHN: When Your Chance for a Covid Shot Comes, Don’t Worry About the Numbers

By Arthur Allen and Liz Szabo When getting vaccinated against covid-19, there’s no sense being picky. You should take the first authorized vaccine that’s offered, experts say. The newest covid vaccine on the horizon, from Johnson & Johnson, is probably a little l... Read more

KHN Poll: Nearly Half of American Adults Now Want the Covid Vaccine — ASAP

By Phil Galewitz                   Americans’ reluctance to get vaccinated for covid-19 is waning, according to a poll released Wednesday. Nearly half of adults surveyed in January said they have... Read more

KHN: Seniors Face Crushing Drug Costs as Congress Stalls on Capping Medicare Out-Of-Pockets

Sharon Clark is able to get her life-sustaining cancer drug, Pomalyst — priced at more than $18,000 for a 28-day supply — only because of the generosity of patient assistance foundations. Clark, 57, a former insurance agent who lives in Bixby, Oklahoma, had to stop working... Read more