In California, Democrats Propose $25 Minimum Wage for Health Workers
By Samantha Young
State Sen. María Elena Durazo and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West want to give health facility support staffers a raise. Hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics are expected to resist.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Prison health, covid cases, the teen mental health crisis, gun violence, nursing home care, homelessness, and more are in the news.
Nearly $50,000 a Week for a Cancer Drug? A Man Worries About Bankrupting His Family
By Fred Schulte
When Medicare stops paying for a pricey drug that prolongs life, an Ohio man considers giving up treatment to spare his family enormous debt.
Special Delivery: Heart-Heavy Health Policy Valentines
KHN shares the cream of the crop of creative valentines about health policy submitted by readers and tweeters. Our favorite is anointed with an original illustration and bragging rights as “the one.”
It Takes a Village: Foster Program Is a New Model of Care for Indigenous Children
By Arielle Zionts
A foster care program on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota is attracting attention from officials elsewhere as they search for ways to reduce trauma inflicted on Indigenous families, who’ve faced generations of high rates of family separation.
Daily Edition for Monday, February 13, 2023
Rising Costs Blamed For Kaiser Permanente's $4.47 Billion Net Loss: Kaiser Permanente, an Oakland-based integrated nonprofit, on Friday reported a $4.47 billion net loss in 2022, compared with an $8.08 billion gain in 2021. Expenses rose 4.5% to $96.68 billion, driven by increased care volume due to previously deferred procedures, higher costs of goods, and increased spending on labor. Read more from Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review.
Era of ‘Free’ Covid Vaccines, Test Kits, and Treatments Is Ending. Who Will Pay the Tab Now?
By Julie Appleby
Insurers, employers, and taxpayers will all be affected as drug manufacturers move these products to the commercial market.
Doctors Are Disappearing From Emergency Rooms as Hospitals Look to Cut Costs
By Brett Kelman and Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
As a money-saving strategy, emergency rooms are turning to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other staffers who earn far less than physicians.
Daily Edition for Friday, February 10, 2023
The drug epidemic, the end of the covid emergency, Medicare, norovirus, suicide rates, housing, and more are in today’s news.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Health-Heavy State of the Union
President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address leaned heavily on health care issues. Biden took a victory lap for recent accomplishments like capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. He also urged Congress to make permanent the boosted premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and he sparred with Republicans on threats to cut Social Security and Medicare. Also this week, both sides in the abortion debate are bracing for a court decision out of Texas that could, at least temporarily, make the abortion pill mifepristone illegal nationwide. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate Baicker of the University of Chicago about a possible middle ground in the effort to get universal health insurance coverage.
