By LEONARD D’ AVOLIO The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has drawn attention to Americans’ frustration with the for profit healthcare insurance industry. Change is possible but less likely if people don’t understand how we got here, the real issues, and how they might be fixed. Health insurance wasn’t always run by big for…
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…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings for secretary of Health and Human Services are happening Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, and KFF Health News reporters will be watching as the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ask Kennedy about everything from vaccines to abortion to Medicaid. What…
The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have…
Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. A chronic-pain patient advocate, who has been featured previously in KFF Health News coverage, spoke out on the social platform X about our “Payback: Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash” project: Oh,…
Shannon Sharpe was having one of those 15-minutes-of-internet-infamy moments. Social media blew up in September after the retired Denver Broncos tight end — accidentally, he later said — broadcast some of his intimate activities online. One of his sponsors took advantage of the moment: the telehealth company Ro, which sells a variety of prescription medicines…
By MICHAEL MILLENSON “Money changes everything,” Cyndi Lauper famously sang about love to a pulsating rock ‘n’ roll beat. So, too, when it comes to financial incentives for surgeons, two new studies suggest, although “How much money?” and “What do I have to do?” are the keys to unlocking monetary motivation. The first study, a…
That is the title of a paper recently published in AJMC with co-authors Suhail Thahir, Alexa Klimchak, Ivana Audhya, Lauren Sedita, and John A. Romley. The abstract is below. Objectives: To quantify the magnitude of altruism value as applied to a hypothetical new treatment for a rare, severe pediatric disease: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Study Design: Prospective…
Listen as senior producer Zach Dyer reports on the public health concerns over online sports betting and a fund in Missouri that might help with addiction treatment and prevention. The parking lot at the Super One Stop in Granite City, Illinois, is full. The convenience store just across the Mississippi River from Missouri sells liquor,…