Jordan Rau
Senior correspondentJordan Rau, Senior Correspondent at KFF Health News, reports on cost and quality in the American health care system with a focus on hospitals and nursing homes. He joined KFF Health News at its founding in 2009 and specializes in data journalism. His articles have revealed: rampant infection control problems in nursing homes; dangerous daily swings in staffing levels in nursing homes; hospitals that do not follow their own charity care policies; byzantine ownership structures of skilled nursing facilities; and the proliferating and contradictory “best hospital” rating industry. On occasion he has digressed to write about the joys of remote schooling and the pretensions of children’s art. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he previously worked as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times and Newsday.
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Health plans often limit physical therapy to 20 or 30 sessions, even for people who may need months of treatment, multiple times a week, after severe accidents or health conditions. They're stuck paying out of pocket for the rest of the sessions they need to return to work or caring for kids. -
The United States has a patchwork system of long-term medical care that usually leaves elderly people and their families footing most of the bill. Medicaid can cover much of the cost, but in Kansas and Missouri, seniors and people with disabilities have to earn below the poverty level and have less than $2,000 in assets before they can qualify for Medicaid.
