Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Spotlight Shines On Texas Health Hospitals' High Prices
Dallas Morning News: Texas Health Hospitals Charge Over Three Times Medicare Rates — And Want A Big Increase
The region’s largest health system, controlling nearly a quarter of the hospital market, already has the highest health care charges in North Texas — roughly a third higher than the average for the state and nation. (Schnurman, 9/30)
More on health care costs and medical bills —
Crain's Detroit Business: Michigan-Based Hospital System Lays Off 'Hundreds' As Losses Mount
Sparrow Health System plans to lay off hundreds of workers after recording a $90 million loss during the first six months of the year, even as it struggles with worker shortages. (Walsh, 9/30)
Charlotte Ledger and North Carolina Health News: Tryon Drops Medical Plan, Panicking Patients
As tensions escalate nationally over health care costs, insurers and health care providers are increasingly playing hardball in their contract negotiations, creating stress and confusion for patients. That phenomenon was on display this past week in Charlotte, where Tryon Medical Partners – the largest independent primary care practice in the Charlotte region – told patients it would no longer accept the Humana Medicare Advantage insurance plan. (Crouch, 10/3)
Des Moines Register: How To Navigate Hospital Prices To Get A Better Deal
So how can patients know they're getting the best price for their care? "It’s a rocky road right now, and it's really the assertive consumers that are winning the game," said PatientRightsAdvocate.org founder and chairperson Cynthia Fisher. (Ramm, 10/2)
KHN: Listen: Grieving Families Face The Cruelest Bills
NPR’s “Consider This” podcast tells the stories of the Markow, Shickel, and Raspe familes. All had very sick infants who died after needing highly technical, very expensive treatment in neonatal intensive care units. Medical bills lived on for each family even after their babies died. “All Things Considered” host Juana Summers spoke to KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber about her reporting on The Cruelest Bills. (9/30)
In other health care industry news —
Stat: Threats Prompt Hospitals To Strip Websites Of Info On Gender-Affirming Care
Children’s hospitals that have been targeted on social media for providing gender-affirming care — and even some that haven’t — are stripping information about those services from their websites. Advocates fear the changes could make it even harder for transgender adolescents to get care. (Bannow and Sheridan, 10/3)
NBC News: There's A Big Disparity In The Number Of Latino Doctors And Surgeons. Advocates Are Working To Change That
"For the last 40 years, the number of Latino physicians has not changed. That's a failure," Dr. Cesar Padilla, one of the organizers of the campaign and a clinical assistant professor at Stanford's University School of Medicine, told NBC News. (Flores, 9/30)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Hospital Launches Study Into Water Births As Safe Option
For more than four hours, as first-time mother Sarah Hisamoto labored to bring her son, Gavin, into the world, the scene around her was one that would be hard to find in a hospital setting — certainly in southeastern Wisconsin. In a hospital room at Milwaukee's Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Hisamoto was moving freely in a small inflatable pool. (Shastri, 9/30)
KHN: Journalists Dig In On The Fiscal Health Of The Nation And Hospital Closures In Rural Missouri
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed health care costs and the fiscal health of Medicare and Social Security on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” on Sept. 28. She also discussed President Joe Biden’s comments about the covid-19 pandemic being “over,” as well as health inflation, the government funding bill, and other domestic news on WAMU/NPR’s “1A” on Sept. 23. (10/1)
In global news —
Reuters: Ebola Kills Doctor In Uganda, First Health Worker Killed In Latest Outbreak
A Tanzanian doctor working in Uganda who contracted Ebola has died, the first health worker killed by the disease in the latest outbreak in the country, Uganda's health minister said on Saturday. "I regret to announce that we have lost our first doctor, Dr. Mohammed Ali, a Tanzanian national, 37-year-old Male," the health minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, tweeted. (10/1)
