Kaiser Health News, Cost & Quality Blog

Taking one’s temperature is not as easy as it sounds. For one reporter, the first challenge was finding a thermometer.

Revenue is way down for primary care, specialty physicians and some hospitals as patients avoid non-urgent visits. Practices small and large are doling out layoffs and furloughs to staff.

Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to appeal hospitals’ decisions to classify them as “observation care” patients instead of inpatients, under a ruling last week in a class action suit.

On the 10th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Kaiser Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner and Kaiser Family Foundation Executive Vice President Larry Levitt put the law in perspective.

As illness from the new coronavirus stresses the health care system, nurses said they are being forced to make do with less and learning to be good stewards of available equipment and protective gear.

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.

California physicians dealing with COVID-19 offer a sobering portrait of a health care system bracing for the worst of a pandemic that could be months from peaking.

Just 5 miles from Mar-a-Lago, the POTUS’ outpost, Florida residents find that the president’s pledge to make testing accessible hasn’t materialized.

There is no universal protocol for a “deep clean” in trying to eradicate the novel coronavirus. Industries are tailoring sanitation efforts in accordance with what makes sense for them.

The ongoing feud between President Donald Trump and California’s Democratic leaders is costing the Golden State hundreds of millions of health care dollars — with billions more at stake.

The COVID-19 outbreak has spawned confusion among health officials, doctors and the public, especially for people who fall into the gray area for testing and deciding whether they need to quarantine themselves. Where to turn for answers about isolation and quarantine varies by locale. All this means agencies are sometimes delaying needed advice and giving people incorrect information.

There are important distinctions between how insurance companies will cover the test and the treatment. This makes the president’s statement an exaggeration, at best.

The rapidly spreading coronavirus has led to the cancellation of sporting events, conferences and travel, with Congress and President Donald Trump scrambling to catch up to the spiraling public health crisis. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has issued long-awaited rules aimed at making it easier for patients to carry copies of their medical records. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

If you are sick from the coronavirus outbreak or sent home, your financial protections may vary depending on what state you live in.

The bold move by the giant hospital system will help thousands of patients in the wake of a Kaiser Health News investigation last year.

Patients would have far more control over their health care with complete medical histories stored on their phones, proponents say.

Since gaining control of the House, Senate and governor’s office, Colorado Democrats are pushing an aggressive health care agenda. With measures to create a public insurance option, welcome drug importation, lower drug prices, curtail surprise billing and cap insulin copays, the state is becoming a likely model for health policies at the federal level.

In California’s rural Central Valley, low-income children have limited access to vision care. School districts are teaming up with nonprofits to fill the gaps.

"CBS This Morning" looks at the latest "Bill of the Month" installment. A drug implant for children has a price tag of $37,300, while one used in adults with the same active ingredient goes for $4,400.  

The California Democratic members of Congress who flipped seven Republican seats two years ago made health care a major campaign issue, criticizing their opponents for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As the Democrats defend their seats in this year’s elections, they are coming back to health care — but the issues are different.