An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare Machines
By Dan Weissmann
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, April 9, 2024
USC’s Credit Rating Bruised Amid Health System Woes: Moody’s Ratings downgraded the University of Southern California a notch to Aa2 last month, citing underperformance from its growing health system. The move reveals a difficult reality: The medical complexes that burnish universities’ reputations are also becoming a drag on financial performance. Read more from Bloomberg.
City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
People in their prime working years living in rural America are 43% more likely to die of natural causes, like diseases, than their urban counterparts, a disparity that grew rapidly in recent decades, according to a new federal report.
After Public Push, CMS Curbs Health Insurance Agents’ Access to Consumer SSNs
By Julie Appleby
Days after publication of a KFF Health News article about Obamacare enrollees being switched to different plans without their knowledge or consent, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took steps to tighten insurance agents’ access to private consumer information on the federal marketplace.
Readers Speak Up About Women’s Health Issues, From Reproductive Care to Drinking
California Healthline gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules
By Don Thompson
Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that California prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not providing readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.
Daily Edition for Monday, April 8, 2024
San Diego County Medical Examiner Has 4- To 6-Month Backlog: Officials say the backlog is decreasing as the department adds staff, and the county has also hired a private contractor to catch up on some of the unfinished lab work. Read more from The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Rising Complaints of Unauthorized Obamacare Plan-Switching and Sign-Ups Trigger Concern
By Julie Appleby
Federal and state regulators are mulling what they can do to thwart this growing problem.
Ten Doctors on FDA Panel Reviewing Abbott Heart Device Had Financial Ties With Company
By David Hilzenrath and Holly K. Hacker
Most of the doctors the FDA tapped to advise it on an Abbott medical device had financial ties to the company. The FDA didn’t disclose the payments.
Journalists Assess the Risks of Bird Flu and the Impacts of Medicaid ‘Unwinding’
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
