Medical Providers Still Grappling With UnitedHealth Cyberattack: ‘More Devastating Than Covid’
By Samantha Liss
Medical providers say they’re still coping with the Change Healthcare cyberattack disclosed in February even though parent company UnitedHealth Group reported that much is back to normal and its revenue is up over last year.
Daily Edition for Friday, April 19, 2024
Heat protections for workers, homelessness, covid and flu data, Medicare, maternal care, drug shortages, and more are in the news.
He Thinks His Wife Died in an Understaffed Hospital. Now He’s Trying to Change the Industry.
By Kate Wells, Michigan Radio
Nurses are telling lawmakers that there are not enough of them working in hospitals and that it risks patients’ lives. California and Oregon legally limit the number of patients under a nurse’s care. Other states trying to do the same were blocked by the hospital industry. Now patients’ relatives are joining the fight.
Newsom Offers a Compromise to Protect Indoor Workers from Heat
By Samantha Young
After rejecting proposed rules to protect millions of workers in sweltering warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other hot workplaces, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has offered a compromise to allow the protections to take effect this summer. But state and local correctional workers — and prisoners — would have to wait even longer.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Too Big To Fail? Now It’s ‘Too Big To Hack’
Congress this week had the chance to formally air grievances over the cascading consequences of the Change Healthcare cyberattack, and lawmakers from both major parties agreed on one culprit: consolidation in health care. Plus, about a year after states began stripping people from their Medicaid rolls, a new survey shows nearly a quarter of adults who were disenrolled are now uninsured. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews Caroline Pearson of the Peterson Health Technology Institute.
Daily Edition for Thursday, April 18, 2024
In Historic Move, California Creates Water Standards for Hexavalent Chromium: The State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the nation’s first drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing contaminant that is found naturally in some California groundwater as well as water contaminated by industries. Read more from CalMatters.
Medicare’s Push To Improve Chronic Care Attracts Businesses, but Not Many Doctors
By Phil Galewitz and Holly K. Hacker
Most Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, making them eligible for a federal program that rewards physicians for doing more to manage their care. It shows promise in reducing costs. But not many doctors have joined.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Homeless encampments, hospital watch, maternity wards, medical education, AIDS, stimulant addiction, mental health care, and more are in the news.
Paris Hilton Speaks up for California’s ‘Troubled’ Teens
By Molly Castle Work
Heiress Paris Hilton is on a mission to shine a light on the “troubled teen industry,” a largely unregulated multibillion-dollar industry that is gaining public scrutiny for alleged abuse of vulnerable youths. Hilton told state lawmakers in Sacramento on Monday she was subjected to abuse disguised as therapy decades ago when she was housed in […]
In San Francisco’s Chinatown, a CEO Works With the Community To Bolster Hospital
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Jian Zhang, an immigrant from China with a doctorate in nursing, leads the 88-bed Chinese Hospital in San Francisco. The facility faces financial constraints like other independent hospitals, but its strong community support and partnerships have helped it weather tough times.
