Operating in the red: half of rural hospitals lose money, as many cut services ( kffhealthnews.org )
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How a friend’s death turned Colorado teens into anti-overdose activists ( kffhealthnews.org )
Gavinn McKinney loved Nike shoes, fireworks, and sushi. He was studying Potawatomi, one of the languages of his Native American heritage. He loved holding his niece and smelling her baby smell. On his 15th birthday, the Durango, Colorado, teen spent a cold December afternoon chopping wood to help neighbors who couldn’t afford...
Without Medicare Part B’s shield, patient’s family owes $81,000 for a single air-ambulance flight ( kffhealthnews.org )
Debra Prichard was a retired factory worker who was careful with her money, including what she spent on medical care, said her daughter, Alicia Wieberg. “She was the kind of person who didn’t go to the doctor for anything.”...
‘Fourth wave’ of opioid epidemic crashes ashore, propelled by fentanyl and meth ( kffhealthnews.org )
The United States is knee-deep in what some experts call the opioid epidemic’s “fourth wave,” which is not only placing drug users at greater risk but is also complicating efforts to address the nation’s drug problem....
In California, faceoff between major insurer and health system shows hazards of consolidation ( kffhealthnews.org )
For weeks, more than half a million Anthem Blue Cross enrollees who receive health care from the University of California were held in suspense. It wasn’t clear whether they would have to find new doctors or switch plans as the health system and one of its largest insurance partners struggled to reach agreement on a new...
California Prison Drug Overdoses Surge Again After Early Treatment Success ( kffhealthnews.org )
Drug overdose deaths in California state prisons rebounded to near record levels last year even as corrections officials touted the state’s intervention methods as a model for prisons and jails across the United States....
GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility ( kffhealthnews.org )
GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” In the early years, it funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now...
States Target Health Insurers’ ‘Prior Authorization’ Red Tape ( kffhealthnews.org )
Christopher Marks noticed an immediate improvement when his doctor prescribed him the Type 2 diabetes medication Mounjaro last year. The 40-year-old truck driver from Kansas City, Missouri, said his average blood sugar reading decreased significantly and that keeping it within target range took less insulin than before....
988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed to Juggle a Mix of Calls ( kffhealthnews.org )
In the year and a half since its launch, 988 — the country’s easy-to-remember, three-digit suicide and crisis hotline — has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. While much attention has been focused on who is reaching out and whether the shortened number has accomplished its goal of making services more...
