Category: Health

Judith Graham There’s no cure, yet, for Alzheimer’s disease. But dozens of programs developed in the past 20 years can improve the lives of both people living with dementia and their caregivers. Unlike support groups, these programs teach caregivers concrete skills such as how to cope with stress, make home environments safe, communicate effectively with […]

A doctor found cysts in Lilia Becerril’s right breast five years ago, but the 51-year-old lacks health insurance. She said she can’t afford the imaging to find out if they’re cancerous. Becerril earns about $52,000 a year at a nonprofit in California’s Central Valley, putting her and her husband, Armando, at more than double the […]

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. How Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners Enhance Health Care The story of one patient’s ER experience does not at all capture the complexities of an emergency department serving the needs of […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is revamping how it rewards nursing homes to get them to improve patient care. Rather than limit bonuses to top-performing facilities, the state will hand out additional Medicaid payments next year to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — that hire additional workers, reduce staff turnover, or improve quality of care. […]

Keely Larson Wes Thompson, administrator of Valley View Home in the northeastern Montana town of Glasgow, believes the only reasons his skilled nursing facility has avoided the fate of the 11 nursing homes that closed in the state last year are local tax levies and luck. Valley County, with a population of just over 7,500, […]

The Host Julie Rovner KHN @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KHN’s 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 Z,” now in its […]

Michael Scaturro Washington has joined more than a dozen other states in seeking to crack down on toxic substances in cosmetics after a state-funded study there found lead, arsenic, and formaldehyde in makeup, lotion, and hair-straightening products made by CoverGirl and other brands. The U.S. stalled out on chemical regulations after the 1970s, according to […]

ELKO, Nev. — On a cold morning in early February, Tammy King prepared and loaded boxes and bags of vegetables, fruits, milk, frozen meat, and snacks into cars lined up outside the Friends in Service Helping food pantry, known in rural northeastern Nevada as FISH. The beginning of the month is busy for the food […]

Madison Czopek, PolitiFact and Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact “It’s President Biden who is proposing to cut Medicare Advantage.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a tweet on February 6, 2023 More than 60 million people rely on Medicare for health coverage, and raising the alarm about potential cuts to the program is a perennial talking point among […]

Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio Life was upended for LaShonia Ingram over the past year, and a shadow still follows her around. Search her name online, and the first result includes the words “fraud” and “most wanted.” “It was horrible. I couldn’t get a job,” said the 42-year-old mother from Memphis, Tennessee. “All doors were […]