51��Ƶ

All Coverage

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Social-Spending ‘Framework’ Pulls Back on Key Health Pledges

President Joe Biden unveiled a compromise “Build Back Better” framework shortly before taking off for key meetings in Europe, but it’s unclear whether the framework can win the votes of all Democrats in the House and Senate, and it leaves out some of the party’s health priorities, notably significant provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, younger children may soon be eligible for covid vaccines. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Oct. 28, 2021
Medicare Punishes 2,499 Hospitals for High Readmissions

The federal government’s hospital penalty program finishes its first decade by lowering payments to nearly half the nation’s hospitals for readmitting too many Medicare patients within a month. Penalties, though often small, are credited with helping reduce the number of patients returning for another Medicare stay within 30 days.

By Jordan Rau

Oct. 28, 2021
Democrats’ Plans to Expand Medicare Benefits May Pinch Advantage Plans’ Funding

As lawmakers weigh new spending provisions to cover dental, hearing and vision services for Medicare beneficiaries, a group supporting Medicare Advantage plans is airing commercials that raise concerns about the funding for those private plans.

By Michelle Andrews

Oct. 28, 2021
Medicare Plans’ ‘Free’ Dental, Vision, Hearing Benefits Come at a Cost

The ads for supplemental Medicare Advantage plans describe vision and dental benefits, even grocery discounts and food deliveries. But look at the fine print.

By Phil Galewitz

Oct. 27, 2021
Bill Of The Month

How Billing Turns a Routine Birth Into a High-Cost Emergency

“Obstetrical emergency departments” are a new feature in some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask the parents of Baby Gus.

By Rae Ellen Bichell

Oct. 27, 2021
Pharma Cash to Congress

Pharma Campaign Cash Delivered to Key Lawmakers With Surgical Precision

With an eye to shutting down Medicare drug price negotiations, drug companies and their lobbying groups gave roughly $1.6 million in the first six months of 2021, with Democrats edging closer than they have in a decade to Republicans’ total haul.

By Victoria Knight, Rachana Pradhan, and Elizabeth Lucas

Oct. 27, 2021
Understaffed State Psychiatric Facilities Leave Mental Health Patients in Limbo

The pandemic has so seriously strained already tight state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere that these facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable people with mental illness struggle to admit new patients.

By Andy Miller

Oct. 26, 2021
Direct Primary Care, With a Touch of Robin Hood

Some doctors, sick of mainstream health care’s red tape, are finding refuge in practices that combine concierge medicine with charity care.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Oct. 26, 2021
Analysis: A Procedure That Cost $1,775 in New York Was $350 in Maryland. Here’s Why.

The state’s unique health system controls what hospitals can charge for services.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

Oct. 26, 2021
3 States Limit Nursing Home Profits in Bid to Improve Care

Following the devastating impact of covid-19 on nursing homes, state lawmakers want to be sure that government and private payments primarily go to improve care and staffing.

By Susan Jaffe

Oct. 25, 2021
Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet the New Bosses Fighting Covid

Local health officials who quit or were forced out during the pandemic have been replaced by people who must face an increasingly polarized public with fewer powers than their predecessors.

By Nick Ehli

Oct. 25, 2021
COVID-19

In Maine, Vaccine Mandate for EMTs Stresses Small-Town Ambulance Crews

The covid vaccination rate for first responders in the state is more than 95%. But it’s lower in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can’t function if even just a few people quit.

By Patty Wight, Maine Public Radio

Oct. 25, 2021
WATCH

Confronting Ageism in Health Care: A Conversation for Patients, Caregivers and Clinicians

A frank, practical and empowering conversation about this pervasive, systemic problem of bias, discrimination or stereotyping based on age.

Oct. 22, 2021
Montana Tribes Want to Stop Jailing People for Suicide Attempts but Lack a Safer Alternative

The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes are working with academics and policy experts on possible solutions. Their challenge is how to attract the needed mental health personnel to the remote reservation.

By Sara Reardon

Oct. 22, 2021
'Where It Hurts' Podcast

‘No Mercy’ Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas

Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning “Where It Hurts” podcast.

By Sarah Jane Tribble

Oct. 22, 2021
‘Down to My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety of Parenting in Poverty

Diapers are a baby essential, but no federal program helps families cover their considerable cost. Jennifer Randles, a professor of sociology at Fresno State in California, spoke with KHN about her novel research exploring the outsize role “diaper math” plays in the lives of low-income moms.

By Jenny Gold

Oct. 22, 2021
Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dems Agree to Agree, But Not on What to Agree On

Negotiations on the health parts of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda are getting serious but have yet to produce a deal every Democrat can support. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration remains without a nominated leader but manages to take the first steps toward approving over-the-counter hearing aids. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Tami Luhby of CNN and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too.

Oct. 21, 2021
DC’s Harllee Harper Is Using Public Health Tools to Prevent Gun Violence. Will It Work?

Expectations are high for the city’s first-ever gun violence prevention director to curb the surging murder rate with interventions outside of traditional law enforcement.

By Amanda Michelle Gomez

Oct. 21, 2021
COVID-19

The Yelp of Covid: Vigilantes Crowdsource Pandemic Safety Tips for Consumers

Using a local approach, everyday people in cities without strict mask mandates take covid-19 safety into their own hands to protect themselves and their neighbors.

By Morgan Gonzales

Oct. 21, 2021
COVID-19

Worn-Out Nurses Hit the Road for Better Pay, Stressing Hospital Budgets — And Morale

Managers are trapped in a pricey hiring cycle, competing for critical care nurses who can monitor covid patients on life support. Some hospitals are looking abroad to replace staffers who quit to become travel nurses or leave the profession.

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio

Oct. 21, 2021

Morning Briefing

Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 • 9:25 a.m. ET

Read All News Summaries

Noticias en español

La inteligencia artificial se utiliza para aumentar la inscripción a Medicaid, pero no sin preocupaciones

By Mark Kreidler

Aug. 4, 2026
Cyclospora aumenta el temor de futuros brotes más mortales

By Kate Wells and Stephanie Armour

Aug. 3, 2026
Para poder envejecer en casa, adultos mayores comparten sus viviendas al estilo Golden Girls

By Paula Span

July 31, 2026
Sin seguro médico, pero decidido: paciente busca por el mundo el mejor precio para su cirugía

By Paula Andalo

July 29, 2026
Mientras los republicanos denuncian fraude, Newsom defiende el gasto en vivienda y alimentos de Medicaid

By Angela Hart

July 14, 2026