2021-11-14 How Low Can They Go? Rural Hospitals Weigh Keeping Obstetric Units When Births Decline Charlotte Huff As rural hospitals struggle to stay financially stable, their leaders watch other small facilities close obstetrics units to cut costs. They face a no-win dilemma: Can we continue operating delivery units safely if there are few births? […]
Category: Health News
Researcher: Medicare Advantage Plans Costing Billions More Than They Should
2021-11-12 Researcher: Medicare Advantage Plans Costing Billions More Than They Should Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News Switching seniors to Medicare Advantage plans has cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than keeping them in original Medicare, a cost that has exploded since 2018 and is likely to rise even higher, new research has […]
Hormone Blocker Sticker Shock — Again — As Patients Lose Cheaper Drug Option
2021-11-11 Hormone Blocker Sticker Shock — Again — As Patients Lose Cheaper Drug Option Sydney Lupkin, NPR News Sudeep Taksali thought he’d won his battle to avoid a steep price tag on a medicine for his daughter. He was wrong. In 2020, he’d fought to get insurance to cover a lower-priced version of a […]
As Constituents Clamor for Ivermectin, Republican Politicians Embrace the Cause
2021-11-10 As Constituents Clamor for Ivermectin, Republican Politicians Embrace the Cause Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio When state senators in South Carolina held two hearings in September about covid-19 treatments, they got an earful on the benefits of ivermectin — which many of the lawmakers echoed, sharing experiences of their own loved ones. The […]
Texas Providers See Increased Interest in Birth Control Since Near-Total Abortion Ban
2021-11-09 Texas Providers See Increased Interest in Birth Control Since Near-Total Abortion Ban Amanda Michelle Gomez In September, when Texas’ near-total abortion ban took effect, Planned Parenthood clinics in the Lone Star State started offering every patient who walked in information on Senate Bill 8, as well as emergency contraception, condoms and […]
Uninsured in South Would Win Big in Democrats’ Plan, but Hospitals Fear Funding Loss
2021-11-08 Uninsured in South Would Win Big in Democrats’ Plan, but Hospitals Fear Funding Loss Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News and Andy Miller At least 2.2 million low-income adults — nearly all in Texas and the Southeast — would be eligible for government-funded health insurance under the Democrats’ $1.75 trillion social spending and climate change […]
‘Covid Hit Us Over the Head With a Two-by-Four’: Addressing Ageism With Urgency
2021-11-07 ‘Covid Hit Us Over the Head With a Two-by-Four’: Addressing Ageism With Urgency Judith Graham Earlier this year, the World Health Organization announced a global campaign to combat ageism — discrimination against older adults that is pervasive and harmful but often unrecognized. “We must change the narrative around age and ageing” and “adopt […]
Democrats Plan to Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect?
2021-11-06 Democrats Plan to Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect? Rachana Pradhan President Joe Biden’s mammoth domestic spending bill would add hearing benefits to the traditional Medicare program — one of three major new benefits Democrats had sought. The Biden administration appears to have fallen short of its ambition to expand dental […]
Patients Went Into the Hospital for Care. After Testing Positive There for Covid, Some Never Came Out.
2021-11-05 Patients Went Into the Hospital for Care. After Testing Positive There for Covid, Some Never Came Out. Christina Jewett They went into hospitals with heart attacks, kidney failure or in a psychiatric crisis. They left with covid-19 — if they left at all. More than 10,000 patients were diagnosed with covid in a […]
Advocates Challenge the CDC’s New Effort to Track HIV Spread
Advocates Challenge the CDC’s New Effort to Track HIV Spread November 1, 2021 by Tynan Stewart In 2019, one of America’s top public health officials went on the road, promoting an ambitious plan to slash new HIV infections by 90 percent by 2030. “We are now on the verge of bringing an end to the […]