Blog

• KHN: Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill

  March 29, 2021: A cost-saving change in Medicare launched in the final days of the Trump administration will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures while potentially raising costs and confusion for patients. For years, the Centers for Medicare...Read more >

• KHN: Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy

  March 15, 2021:   Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home,  loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one. Months ...Read more >

• KHN: Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

  March 08, 2021:   For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care exp...Read more >

• KHN: Why AstraZeneca and J&J’s Vaccines, In Use Elsewhere, Are Still on Hold in America

  March 01, 2021: By Sarah Jane Tribble The World Health Organization greenlighted emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine this month, following in the steps of the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, who are already injecting i...Read more >

• KHN: Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority

  February 22, 2021: By Judith Graham Opening another front in the nation’s response to the pandemic, medical centers and other health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors. ...Read more >

• KHN: As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them

  February 16, 2021: Fed up with a lack of federal action to lower prescription drug costs, state legislators around the country are pushing bills to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap payment at much-lower Canadian levels. These bills, sponsor...Read more >

• How Can I Sign up for Medicare and Choose a Plan

  February 04, 2021: Some people get Medicare Part A and Part B automatically, and other people need to sign up through Social Security If you're over 65 (or turning 65 in the next 3 months) and not already getting benefits from Social Security, you need to sig...Read more >

• KHN: When Your Chance for a Covid Shot Comes, Don’t Worry About the Numbers

  February 02, 2021: By Arthur Allen and Liz Szabo When getting vaccinated against covid-19, there’s no sense being picky. You should take the first authorized vaccine that’s offered, experts say. The newest covid vaccine on the horizon, from Johnson & J...Read more >

• KHN Poll: Nearly Half of American Adults Now Want the Covid Vaccine — ASAP

  January 27, 2021: By Phil Galewitz                   Americans’ reluctance to get vaccinated for covid-19 is waning, according to a poll released Wednesday. Nearly half of adults surv...Read more >

• We All Have A Responsibility To Safeguard Ourselves And Others In The Pandemic

  January 11, 2021: Even with the hope and progress of the COVID 19 vaccine, public health experts and other policy makers are warning that this will be a cruel season. We encourage you  to learn the facts, communicate with your health care professionals and  se...Read more >