Latest KFF Health News Stories
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Yet Another Promise for Long-Term Care Coverage
As part of her presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris has rolled out a plan for Medicare to provide in-home long-term care services. The proposal would fill a longtime need for families trying to simultaneously care for young children and older parents, but its enormous price tag makes it a promise unlikely to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, a growing number of Republican candidates up and down the ballot facing voter backlash over their support for abortion restrictions are trying to reinvent their positions. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, excerpts from a KFF lunch with “Shark Tank” panelist and generic drug discounter Mark Cuban, who has been consulting with the Harris campaign about health care issues.
Nursing Aides Plagued by PTSD After ‘Nightmare’ Covid Conditions, With Little Help
A KFF Health News investigation reveals that employers and the government have offered nursing aides little assistance for PTSD and other ongoing maladies triggered by hazardous work during the pandemic.
Despite Past Storms’ Lessons, Long-Term Care Residents Again Left Powerless
Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.
Senate Probes the Cost of Assisted Living and Its Burden on American Families
In the wake of a KFF Health News-New York Times series, members of the Special Committee on Aging are asking residents and their families to submit their bills and are calling for a Government Accountability Office study.
As climate change-driven wildfires increasingly choke large parts of the United States with smoke each summer, new research shows residents in long-term care facilities are being exposed to dangerously poor air, even those who don’t set foot outside during smoke events.
‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care
Thousands of people shared their experiences and related to the financial drain on families portrayed in the “Dying Broke” series, a joint project by KFF Health News and The New York Times that examined the costs of long-term care.
Watch: The Long-Term Care Crisis: Why Few Can Afford to Grow Old in America
Long-term care options in the U.S. are costly, complex, and often inadequate. KFF Health News’ Jordan Rau and Reed Abelson of The New York Times host a Zoom panel to explore the challenges of providing — and affording — care.
A Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance
Deciding when, or whether, to buy long-term care insurance can be complex. Here’s what to know.
Why Long-Term Care Insurance Falls Short for So Many
The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for millions of older Americans, in part by underestimating how many policyholders would use their coverage.
What to Know About Assisted Living
The facilities can look like luxury apartments or modest group homes and can vary in pricing structures. Here’s a guide.
Extra Fees Drive Assisted Living Profits
The add-ons pile up: $93 for medications, $50 for cable TV. Prices soar as the industry leaves no service unbilled, out of reach for many families.
Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
The United States has no coherent system of long-term care, leading many to struggle to stay independent or rely on a patchwork of solutions.
What Long-Term Care Looks Like Around the World
Most countries spend more than the United States on care, but middle-class and affluent people still bear a substantial portion of the costs.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program.
Dementia Care Programs Help, If Caregivers Can Find Them
Programs assisting people with dementia — and their caregivers — improve quality of life and care. But millions of unpaid family and friend caregivers may not know where or how to find help.
To Attract In-Home Caregivers, California Offers Paid Training — And Self-Care
Turnover ails a program that allows low-income people who are older or disabled to age in place. To attract new workers and improve retention, the state is paying caregivers to develop new skills.
A Family Death During the Holidays Prompts Questions and Reflection
The death of a sharp but frail patriarch just days before Thanksgiving casts a shadow on a family’s holiday season.
Assisted Living Facilities Pressed to Address Growing Needs of Older, Sicker Residents
Assisted living was meant to be a home-like setting where older adults could interact with other residents while receiving help with daily tasks such as bathing and dressing. But as the concept has become more popular, residents are now older and sicker than in the past, and a panel of experts is calling for more focus on their medical and mental health needs.
‘Impending Intergenerational Crisis’: Americans With Disabilities Lack Long-Term Care Plans
Many Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities do not have long-term plans for when family members can no longer care for them. Families, researchers, and advocates worry that has set the stage for a crisis in which people with disabilities could end up living in institutional settings.
Supreme Court to Hear Nursing Home Case That Could Affect Millions
An Indiana man’s family sued a state-owned nursing home for alleged mistreatment. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case could determine the right of many Americans to sue government agencies.
