Kaiser Health News, Cost & Quality Blog

The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New rules may not be enough to solve the problems.

Estos comportamientos se recogen en una encuesta con 3,325 participantes como parte de un estudio cuyo objetivo fue llamar la atención sobre el esfuerzo que deben realizar los pacientes negros para obtener una atención médica de calidad.

Many Black patients also try to be informed and minimize questions to put providers at ease. “The system looks at us differently,” says the founder of the African American Wellness Project.

More than 600,000 people are released from prisons every year, many with costly health conditions but no medications, medical records, a health care provider, or insurance.

Lawmakers are considering creating standards to set Medicaid reimbursement rates. But industry observers wonder whether the move would be too little, too late to bolster a beleaguered industry.

Twitter has been a hotbed for the burgeoning insulin access movement and activism surrounding other medical conditions. For people with diabetes, the platform has helped propel concern about insulin prices into policy. Can it continue to win with hashtags?

As a money-saving strategy, emergency rooms are turning to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other staffers who earn far less than physicians.

Las personas podrán obtener estas vacunas a bajo costo o sin costo mientras duren los suministros del gobierno. Luego, dependerá de su seguro de salud.

Insurers, employers, and taxpayers will all be affected as drug manufacturers move these products to the commercial market.

A private equity firm bought a birth center and then shut it down. The community brought it back as a nonprofit.

Los estados se están preparando para remover a millones de personas de Medicaid, a medida que expiran las protecciones que se implementaron al comienzo de la pandemia de covid-19.

States are trying to reach millions of Medicaid enrollees to make sure those still eligible remain covered and help others find new health insurance.

As the federal government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected. “A dog would get better care than he did,” one resident’s wife said.

KHN has released never-before-seen details of federal audits as the government weighs action against dozens of Medicare Advantage plans.

Las personas heridas o enfermas deben decidir con cuidado, en un momento de estrés, cuál es el mejor lugar para buscar ayuda. Y deben tomar esa decisión en medio de un número creciente de opciones.

The proliferation of care options — particularly urgent care centers and free-standing emergency departments — can make the head spin. Facilities have little incentive to clear up the confusion of where to go. But for patients, the wrong choice can mean big bills and possibly poor health outcomes.

While some doctors seem eager for a huge payoff, others are warily watching what happens when private equity firms take charge of orthopedic practices.

KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss how difficult a clerical error can be to fix and how patients can respond if it happens to them.

The editorial team of “An Arm and a Leg” looks back on the reporting that hit close to home over the past year, including insulin pricing and prenatal testing.

A car crash left a woman in need of oral surgery, but her health insurance wouldn’t cover it. Her ongoing fight shows podcast host Dan Weissmann the weird way insurance treats teeth and reveals a big problem in the Obamacare marketplace.