Latest California Healthline Stories
A Peek at Big Pharma’s Playbook That Leaves Many Americans Unable to Afford Their Drugs
Brand-name drug prices in the U.S. — more than three times the price in other developed countries — are related neither to the amount of research and development required to bring them to market nor their therapeutic value, recent research shows. Have drugmakers overplayed their hand?
Sin barreras, los precios de algunos medicamentos existentes se han disparado, incluso cuando han caído drásticamente en otros países. Los nuevos medicamentos tienen precios enormes, respaldados por el lobby y el marketing.
Proposed Rule Would Make Hospital Prices Even More Transparent
A Biden administration proposal would help standardize the data on prices that hospitals provide to patients, increase its usefulness to consumers, and boost enforcement. Previous rules gave hospitals too many loopholes.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’
President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.
Everything Old Is New Again? The Latest Round of Health Policy Proposals Reprises Existing Ideas
House Republican legislation promises more health insurance options but fewer protections, even as the Biden administration seeks to rein in short-term plans, which were expanded in the Trump era.
As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending
Nonprofit hospitals avoid paying taxes if they provide community benefits such as charity care. More states are examining that trade-off, scrutinizing the extent of hospitals’ spending on their communities.
Will the Doctor See You Now? The Health System’s Changing Landscape
The “front door” to the health system is changing, under pressure from increased demand, consolidation, and changing patient expectations.
La atención primaria está cambiando: el acceso y la calidad están en juego
Una relación sólida y duradera con un médico de atención primaria —que conozca el historial del paciente y pueda vigilar nuevos problemas— se ha considerado durante mucho tiempo la base de un sistema sanitario de calidad.
International Rights Group Calls Out US for Allowing Hospitals to Push Millions Into Debt
In a new report, Human Rights Watch urges stronger federal and state action to hold hospitals to account for a medical debt crisis that now burdens more than 100 million Americans.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program’s new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.