Lauren Sausser
KFF Health News
Charleston, SC, United States
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Past articles by Lauren:
Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients
The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from d… → Read More
Public Health Agencies Try to Restore Trust as They Fight Misinformation
As public health departments work on improving their message, the skepticism and mistrust often reserved for covid-19 vaccines now threaten other public health priorities, including flu shots and c… → Read More
Mass Shootings Reopen the Debate Over Whether Crime Scene Photos Prompt Change or Trauma
After almost every mass shooting, a debate is renewed over whether to publish the photos of the carnage the guns have inflicted. → Read More
Hurricane Ian Shows That Coastal Hospitals Aren’t Ready for Climate Change
Hundreds of medical centers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts face serious risks from even relatively weak storms as climate change accelerates sea-level rise — not to mention big ones like Catego… → Read More
Wastewater Surveillance Has Become a Critical Covid Tracking Tool, but Funding Is Inconsistent
Dashboards that rely on positive covid test results reported to local health departments no longer paint a reliable picture of how covid is spreading in an area. Some experts say wastewater surveil… → Read More
The $18,000 Breast Biopsy: When Having Insurance Costs You a Bundle
An online calculator told a young woman that a procedure to rule out cancer would cost an uninsured person about $1,400. Instead, the hospital initially charged almost $18,000 and, with her high-de… → Read More
To Retain Nurses and Other Staffers, Hospitals Are Opening Child Care Centers
More than two years into the pandemic, parents face a child care crisis. That’s why some hospitals are considering starting child care centers to address recruitment and retention troubles. → Read More
A Nearly Century-Old Maternity Home for Teens in the South Makes Plans for Expansion
Homes for pregnant girls may seem like a vestige of the past. But they still exist and, in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on abortion, may become more necessary. → Read More
Trauma Surgeons Detail the Horror of Mass Shootings in the Wake of Uvalde and Call for Reforms
Trauma surgeons say that the weapons used in mass shootings are not new but that more of these especially deadly guns are on the street, causing injuries that are difficult to survive. → Read More
Addressing the ‘Trust Factor’: South Carolina Researchers Tackle Health Disparities Using Genetics
A new genetic research project underway in South Carolina aims to reduce health disparities between Black and white residents — such as cancer and cardiovascular disease rates — that have long rank… → Read More
To Shed Bias, Doctors Get Schooled to Look Beyond Obesity
Research has long shown that doctors are less likely to respect patients who are overweight or obese — terms that now apply to nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. The Association of America… → Read More
Persistent Problem: High C-Section Rates Plague the South
Some U.S. states have reduced use of the procedure, including by sharing C-section data with doctors and hospitals. But change has proved difficult in the South, where women are generally less heal… → Read More
Profit Strategy: Psychiatric Facilities Prioritize Out-of-State Kids
Nearly all psychiatric residential treatment centers for children in South Carolina operate as for-profit businesses — some backed by private equity — and many prioritize out-of-state kids because … → Read More
SC has first two presumptive cases of coronavirus, DHEC confirms
Two South Carolina residents have presumptively tested positive for coronavirus. COVID-19 has accounted for more than 3,300 deaths worldwide to date. → Read More
Critics argue SC Medicaid plan to add work requirements for adults will mostly harm moms
In South Carolina, Medicaid covers more than 1 million people. A proposal to impose work requirements on beneficiaries could potentially kick thousands of adults out of the program. → Read More
Records allege children are punished in 'tight, dark' rooms at Charleston-area group home
Joette Kizer, CEO of Pinelands Group Homes in Summerville, denied the use solitary confinement for children under the facility's care. She said she didn't know why court-appointed experts made such → Read More
Medicaid, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina impose limits on length of opioid prescriptions
New rules for painkiller prescriptions will impact tens of thousands of people dealing with a host of conditions, including women recovering from childbirth, patients suffering from broken bones, teenagers who → Read More
Telling stories that show ‘real life-or-death consequences’ of health care bill
THE BETTER CARE RECONCILIATION ACT—the Senate GOP’s version of the American Health Care Act—may be the most anticipated and least understood piece of legislation put forth by Republican lawmakers under the Trump Administration. Editorial boards around the country have criticized the secrecy surrounding the bill’s conception—as “detestable” and “unhealthy” and “too much.” Newsrooms have an… → Read More
South Carolina improves for kids, but still ranks near bottom
A new report names South Carolina one of the worst states in the country for children. → Read More
‘You do not have control over your own body’: Opponents implore Gov. Haley to veto abortion ban
In 2010, doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina told Leanne Duryea that her unborn baby suffered from such severe birth defects that it surely would die outside the womb. → Read More