Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Fighting Medical Bills; Going Off Psychiatric Drugs; And Ambulance Bills
Vox: How To Fight An Outrageous Medical Bill, Explained
I recently interviewed a dozen patients who successfully got their bills reduced, some who were unsuccessful, and even one whose bill went up after he attempted to get it lowered (more on that later).(Sarah Kliff, 4/1)
The New Yorker: The Challenge Of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs
Her parents took her to a family therapist, who, after several months, referred her to a psychiatrist. Laura was given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and prescribed Depakote, a mood stabilizer that, the previous year, had been approved for treating bipolar patients. She hid the pills in a jewelry box in her closet and then washed them down the sink. (Rachel Aviv, 4/1)
NPR: Lessons In Life And Death From 12-Year-Old Lola : The Picture Show
On Aug. 26, 2016, Lola Muñoz was diagnosed with a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an inoperable brain tumor. DIPG affects children almost exclusively, with a 0% survival rate and an average prognosis of nine to 12 months.Photographer Moriah Ratner spent over a year and a half documenting Lola's journey, first in New York and, later, in Chicago following a family move. (Moriah Ratner, 3/31)
The American Prospect: Taken For A Ride: How Ambulance Debt Afflicts The Extreme Poor
Police and ambulances arrived, and before they touched me the paramedics politely asked me if they could take my vital signs. However, no one ever warned me about the financial duress that I would face when I emerged from my nervous breakdown on the streets.That burden translated into nearly $4,000 for three ambulance rides between April 2016 and March 2017. These debts wrought havoc on my credit and hampered my recovery from homelessness. (Lori Yearwood, 3/29)
Vox: The Doctor’s Strike That Nearly Killed Canada’s Medicare-For-All Plan, Explained
Canada experienced massive upheaval and protest when its single-payer system launched in 1962. Back then, Canadian single-payer opponents were making the exact same arguments against the program as American single-payer opponents do today: that it was too much government in medicine, that physicians would no longer be able to practice medicine in the way they saw fit. The doctors even went on strike (for more than three weeks) when the system launched. (Sarah Kliff, 3/29)
