Category: Chronic Disease Care

Biosimilar Drugs Are Cheaper Than Biologics. Are They Similar Enough to Switch?

Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, drug costs, FDA, Health Industry, Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drugs / September 23, 2021 September 23, 2021

It took years for Elle Moxley to get a diagnosis that explained her crippling gastrointestinal pain, digestion problems, fatigue, and hot, red rashes. And after learning in 2016 that she had Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, she spent more than four years trying medications before getting her disease under control with …

‘My Time to Live’: Through Novel Program, Kidney Patients Get Palliative Care, Dialysis ’Til the End

aging, Chronic Disease Care, diabetes, palliative care, States, WASHINGTON / August 30, 2021 August 30, 2021

After a decade of living with chronic kidney disease, Vonita McGee knows her body is wearing out. At 63, McGee undergoes dialysis sessions three times each week at a Northwest Kidney Centers site near her Burien, Washington, home to rid her blood of waste and water. She has endured the placement of more than a …

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Headed Away to School? Here’s What Students With Health Issues Need to Know

California, Chronic Disease Care, diabetes, Insurance, Medicaid, New York, North Carolina, Obamacare Plans, Pennsylvania, States, Utah / August 24, 2021 August 24, 2021

College is a time of transition, but for those managing chronic medical conditions, it may also be the first time they will be wholly responsible for their own health: setting appointments, securing supplies and pharmaceuticals, and monitoring symptoms. For those heading to schools far from home, it can be especially tricky navigating the complex world …

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Diabetes Drug’s New Weight Loss Formula Fuels Cost-Benefit Debate

Chronic Disease Care, Clinical Trials, Cost and Quality, diabetes, FDA, Health Industry, Insurance, Insurers, obesity, Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drugs, public health / July 30, 2021 July 30, 2021

The long list of side effects that follow ads for the newer expensive drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes sometimes include an unusual warning: They might cause weight loss. That side effect is one that many people — especially those with Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity — may desperately want. So it’s …

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Watch: More Long Covid Cases Seen in Kids

Children's Health, Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, Multimedia, public health, video / July 26, 2021 July 26, 2021

The vast majority of the pandemic’s 4.1 million covid infections in children have been mild. However, doctors are concerned about a growing number of long-haul covid cases and a rare but dangerous inflammatory disease, particularly among Black and Latino children. KHN correspondent Sarah Varney, in collaboration with PBS NewsHour, reports on the phenomena. This story …

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Kidney Experts Say It’s Time to Remove Race From Medical Algorithms. Doing So Is Complicated.

Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, Disparities, Race and Health / June 8, 2021 June 8, 2021

Alphonso Harried recently came across a newspaper clipping about his grandfather receiving his 1,000th dialysis treatment. His grandfather later died — at a dialysis center — as did his uncle, both from kidney disease. This story also ran on The Washington Post. It can be republished for free. “And that comes in my mind, on …

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Little-Known Illnesses Turning Up in Covid Long-Haulers

Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, public health / June 1, 2021 June 1, 2021

The day Dr. Elizabeth Dawson was diagnosed with covid-19 in October, she awoke feeling as if she had a bad hangover. Four months later she tested negative for the virus, but her symptoms have only worsened. This story also ran on Time. It can be republished for free. Dawson is among what one doctor called …

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Tips for Older Adults to Regain Their Game After Being Cooped Up for More Than a Year

aging, Chronic Disease Care, mental health, Navigating Aging, Nutrition / May 24, 2021 May 24, 2021

Alice Herb, 88, an intrepid New Yorker, is used to walking miles around Manhattan. But after this year of being shut inside, trying to avoid covid-19, she’s noticed a big difference in how she feels. “Physically, I’m out of shape,” she told me. “The other day I took the subway for the first time, and …

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Doctors Scramble to Understand Long Covid, but Causes and Prognosis Are Elusive

Chronic Disease Care, clinics, COVID-19, public health / April 22, 2021 April 22, 2021

One night in March 2020, Joy Wu felt like her heart was going to explode. She tried to get up and fell down. She didn’t recognize friends’ names in her list of phone contacts. Remembering how to dial 9-1-1 took “quite a bit of time,” she recalled recently. Use Our Content It can be republished …

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Mysterious Ailment, Mysterious Relief: Vaccines Help Some Covid Long Haulers

Audio, Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, Multimedia, public health, Vaccines / April 16, 2021 April 16, 2021

An estimated 10% to 30% of people who get covid-19 suffer from lingering symptoms of the disease, or what’s known as “long covid.” This story is part of a partnership that includes NPR and KHN. It can be republished for free. Judy Dodd, who lives in New York City, is one of them. She spent nearly a year plagued …

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They Tested Negative for Covid. Still, They Have Long Covid Symptoms.

Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, COVID-19, public health / April 9, 2021 April 9, 2021

Kristin Novotny once led an active life, with regular CrossFit workouts and football in the front yard with her children — plus a job managing the kitchen at a middle school. Now, the 33-year-old mother of two from De Pere, Wisconsin, has to rest after any activity, even showering. Conversations leave her short of breath. …

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Military Exposed to Toxic Fumes From Burn Pits Set to Get Bipartisan Boost

Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, Military Health, U.S. Congress, Veterans' Health / March 26, 2021 March 26, 2021

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Friday planned to roll out what could be the most ambitious attempt ever tried to treat American war fighters poisoned in deployments overseas. The bipartisan bill, modeled on both Agent Orange legislation and the 9/11 health act, aims to help unknown thousands of veterans who got sick after being exposed …

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Doctors Found Jet Fuel in Veteran’s Lungs. He Can’t Get Full Benefits.

Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, Military Health, U.S. Congress, Veterans' Health / March 19, 2021 March 19, 2021

The lungs Bill Thompson was born with told a gruesome, harrowing and unmistakable tale to Dr. Anthony Szema when he analyzed them and found the black spots, scarring, partially combusted jet fuel and metal inside. This story also ran on The Daily Beast. It can be republished for free. The retired Army staff sergeant had …

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Children’s Hospitals Grapple With Young Covid ‘Long Haulers’

Children's Health, Chronic Disease Care, clinics, Cost and Quality, COVID-19, Health Care Costs, hospitals, public health / March 3, 2021 March 3, 2021

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free. A slumber party to celebrate Delaney DePue’s 15th birthday last summer marked a new chapter — one defined by illness and uncertainty. The teen from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, tested positive for covid-19 about a week later, said her mother, Sara, leaving …

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Connecticut Is Doling Out Vaccines Based Strictly on Age. It’s Simpler, but Is it Fair?

aging, cancer, Chronic Disease Care, Connecticut, COVID-19, public health, States, Vaccines / March 1, 2021 March 1, 2021

With covid vaccines expected to remain scarce into early spring, Connecticut has scrapped its complicated plans to prioritize immunizations for people under 65 with certain chronic conditions and front-line workers. Instead, the state will primarily base eligibility on age. Gov. Ned Lamont pointed to statistics showing the risk of death and hospitalization from covid-19 rises …

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Learning to Live Again: A Lazarus Tale From the Covid Front Lines

California, Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, public health, States / February 26, 2021 February 26, 2021

This story also ran on LAist. It can be republished for free. The twinkle in his eyes, the delight in his smile, the joyous way he moved his disease-withered frame. They all proclaimed a single, resounding message: Grateful to be alive! “As my care team and my family tell me, ‘You were born again. You …

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Los casos prolongados de covid arrojan nueva luz sobre la fatiga crónica

Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, Noticias En Español, public health / February 2, 2021 February 2, 2021

Cuatro semanas después de que la enfermera pediátrica de San Diego, Jennifer Minhas, se enfermara de covid en marzo pasado, la tos y la fiebre habían desaparecido, pero surgieron nuevos síntomas: dolor en el pecho, ritmo cardíaco acelerado y fatiga severa. Su médico de atención primaria le dijo que tenía ansiedad y que ninguno de …

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Long-Haul Covid Cases Cast New Light on Chronic Fatigue Sufferers

Chronic Disease Care, COVID-19, public health / February 2, 2021 February 2, 2021

Four weeks after San Diego pediatric nurse Jennifer Minhas fell ill with covid-19 last March, her cough and fever had resolved, but new symptoms had emerged: chest pain, an elevated heart rate and crushing fatigue. Her primary care physician told her she was just anxious, and that none of her other covid patients had those …

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Dialysis Industry Spends Millions, Emerges as Power Player in California Politics

California, Chronic Disease Care, Cost and Quality, Elections, Health Industry, Multimedia, States / December 10, 2020 December 10, 2020

SACRAMENTO — The nation’s dialysis industry has poured $233 million into California campaigns over the past four years, establishing its leading companies as a formidable political force eager to protect their bottom line and influence state policy. This story also ran on Los Angeles Times. It can be republished for free. Most of the money …

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During ACA Open Enrollment, Picking a Plan Invites New COVID Complications

Chronic Disease Care, Copayments, Cost and Quality, COVID-19, Deductibles, Health Care Costs, Insurance, Open Enrollment, Out-of-Pocket Costs, Preexisting Conditions, Premiums, Prescription Drugs, public health, States, The Health Law / December 3, 2020 December 3, 2020

People buying their own health insurance have even more to think about this year, particularly those post-COVID-19 patients with lingering health concerns, the “long haulers,” who join the club of Americans with preexisting conditions. What type of plan is best for someone with an unpredictable, ongoing medical concern? That question is popping up on online …

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Push Is On in US to Figure Out South Asians’ High Heart Risks

California, Chronic Disease Care, Colorado, States / November 18, 2020 November 18, 2020

For years, Sharad Acharya’s frequent hikes in the mountains outside Denver would leave him short of breath. But a real wake-up call came three years ago when he suddenly struggled to breathe while walking through an airport. An electrocardiogram revealed that Acharya, a Nepali American from Broomfield, Colorado, had an irregular heartbeat on top of …

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Déjà Vu for California Voters on Dialysis

California, Chronic Disease Care, Elections, Health Industry, Propositions, States / October 26, 2020 October 26, 2020

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The survival of California’s dialysis clinics is in the hands of its voters this November. Sound familiar? Voters heard the same dire campaign claim two years ago, when the dialysis industry spent a record $111 million to defeat a statewide ballot measure that would have limited clinic revenues. Industry giants DaVita and …

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Progressive Group Highlights Trump, Tillis Weakness on Insulin Price Tags

Chronic Disease Care, diabetes, drug costs, Health Care Costs, KHN & PolitiFact HealthCheck, Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drugs / October 20, 2020 October 20, 2020

During the first presidential debate of 2020, President Donald Trump touted his efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices and declared that insulin is now “so cheap, it’s like water.” The response on social media was swift, and divided, with some people sharing pharmacy bills showing thousands of dollars they’d spent on insulin, while …

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Fighting for Patient Protections While Attacking ACA — Hard to Have It Both Ways

Chronic Disease Care, Elections, Health Care Costs, Insurance, Montana, Preexisting Conditions, States, The Health Law / October 7, 2020 October 7, 2020

Throughout the 2020 election cycle, candidates’ positions on health care have been particularly important for voters with underlying and often expensive medical needs — in short, those with preexisting conditions. It’s no surprise, then, that protections for people who have chronic health problems like diabetes and cancer have become a focal point for candidates nationwide …

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