Author

Jordan Rau

Jordan Rau has been a senior correspondent at KHN since its start in 2009. His stories have been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA Today and other media outlets. He previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, the Concord (N.H.) Monitor and the Rutland (Vt.) Herald. He graduated from Wesleyan University.

Finance

Medicare Cuts Payment to 774 Hospitals Over Patient Complications

Jordan Rau Feb 19, 2021

The penalties, based on patients who stayed in the hospitals anytime between mid-2017 and 2019, before the pandemic, are not related to covid-19. They were levied under a program created by the Affordable Care Act that uses the threat of…

Business

If This Self-Sufficient Hospital Cannot Stand Alone, Can Any Public Hospital Survive?

Jordan Rau Jan 30, 2021

New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a publicly owned hospital delivering good care at lower prices than most others and still makes money ― yet the county is selling the hospital to one of the state’s…

Health

Feds Approve Fractious Georgia Plan to Change ACA Marketplace

Jordan Rau Nov 3, 2020

In an approval letter, Seema Verma, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said the enrollment outreach set up by the Obama administration, known as the Navigator program, “simply had limited impact on…

Health

North Carolina Treasurer Took On the Hospitals; Now He’s Paying Political Price

Jordan Rau Oct 26, 2020

Dale Folwell (left), a Republican, has tried to persuade hospitals to accept lower payments, but he has struggled to discover the existing rates the plan pays each hospital. Photo: Folwell Campaign. Folwell’s Democratic challenger, Ronnie…

Health

Packed Bars Serve Up New Rounds Of COVID Contagion

Jordan Rau Jun 25, 2020

Health authorities have identified bars as the locus of outbreaks in Louisiana, Florida, Wyoming and Idaho. Last weekend, the Texas alcohol licensing board suspended the liquor licenses of 17 bars after undercover agents observed crowds…

Health

COVID-Plagued California Nursing Homes Often Had Problems In Past

Jordan Rau May 4, 2020

Jennifer Newbery contracted COVID-19 while living at the Rehabilitation Center of Santa Monica in Santa Monica, California. Her son Jorge Newbery, pictured with his mother in 2017, lives in Chicago and became alarmed when he saw her on a…

Economy

Amid Coronavirus Distress, Wealthy Hospitals Hoard Millions

Jordan Rau Apr 29, 2020

As the coronavirus wreaks havoc with hospital finances, wealthy hospitals sitting on millions or even billions of dollars are in a competitive stampede against near-insolvent hospitals for the same limited pots of financial relief. Photo…

Health

As Virus Cases Grow, So Does Scrutiny Of Nursing Home Infection Plans

Jordan Rau Mar 5, 2020

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma announced Wednesday that the agency is ordering health inspectors to focus on infection-control practices at nursing homes and hospitals, particularly those…