In a campaign ad this month, Derek Tran, a Democrat from Orange County, California, blasted his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, for supporting a national abortion ban and voting to limit access to birth control. Democratic challenger Will Rollins also called out his rival, Rep. Ken Calvert, and “MAGA extremists” in an ad last…
There’s a new morning ritual in Pinedale, Wyoming, a town of about 2,000 nestled against the Wind River Mountains. Friends and neighbors in the oil- and gas-rich community “take their morning coffee and pull up” to watch workers building the county’s first hospital, said Kari DeWitt, the project’s public relations director. “I think it’s just…
By KIM BELLARD In a week where, say, the iconic brand Tupperware declared bankruptcy and University of Michigan researchers unveiled a squid-inspired screen that doesn’t use electronics, the most startling stories have been about, of all things, pagers and walkie-talkies. Now, most of us don’t think much about either pagers or walkie-talkies these days, and…
My FTI colleagues Mark Van Ert and Krunal Patel summarize some of the new quality measures that will be incorporated into the 2025 CMS Star Ratings that are used to evaluate Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The CMS Star Ratings are very important as CMS payments to MA plans is expected to increase by 3.7% or…
The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to…
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One evening in May, nursing assistant Debra Ragoonanan’s vision blurred during her shift at a state-run Massachusetts veterans home. As her head spun, she said, she called her husband. He picked her up and drove her to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. It was the latest in a drumbeat…
Tim Sheehy “would let politicians like him ban abortion, with no exceptions for rape or to save a woman’s life, and criminalize women.” A Facebook ad from the campaign of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), launched on Sept. 6, 2024 In a race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is…
Bringing the Tools of Accountable Care to Maternity Care is a Great Idea – But This Sure Ain’t It By VICTORIA ADEWALE & J.D. KLEINKE How desperate are we to find some kind of good news about the sorry state of maternity care in America? To find out, look no further than the current cover…
This questions may be harder to answer than it may seem. While some physicians are fully independent, and others are full employees, other physicians can be affiliated with hospitals, without being hospital-employed. There are various approaches for measuring whether a physician is integrated within a hospital system: Basic TIN-based measure. The standard approach to identifying…