Mark Kreidler - KFF Health News | Health News Florida

Back pain? Bum knee? Be prepared to wait for a physical therapist

Physical therapists left the field en masse during the pandemic, even as demand skyrocketed. While universities try to boost training programs, patients seeking relief from debilitating pain are left to wait.

In 2013, Grace E. Elliott spent a night in a hospital in Florida for a kidney infection that was treated with antibiotics. Eight years later, she got a large bill from the health system that bought the hospital. This bill was for an unrelated surgical procedure she didn't need and never received. It was a case of mistaken identity, she knew, but proving that wasn't easy.

NPR Health

The case of the two Grace Elliotts: a medical bill mystery in Florida

Mark Kreidler - KFF Health News

A Venice health system charged a woman for a shoulder replacement she didn't need and hadn't received. She didn't receive the care, but she did receive the bill — and some medical records of a stranger.

During recent blackouts in California, people like Fern Brown (left) and her sister, Lavina Suehead, came to a pop-up community center at the Auburn, Calf., fairgrounds to use electricity. Brown, 81, needed a treatment for her chronic lung condition.

NPR Health

California's Preemptive Blackouts Put A Strain On People With Home Medical Needs

Mark Kreidler - KFF Health News

People who rely on plug-in health devices or medicine that requires refrigeration are scrambling to find ways to avoid potentially life-threatening disruptions now and in future fire season shutdowns.