How Much Is That MRI, Really? Massachusetts Shines A Light
A state law now requires insurers to reveal prices of their medical tests, and the variation is amazing, bargain hunters say. An MRI of the back is $614 at one place; $1,800 at another.
Price Tags On Health Care? Only In Massachusetts
Under a new state law, Massachusetts insurers have to post how much tests and procedures cost at different providers in a consumer-friendly way.
Victory In Mass. Health Costs May Be Temporary
This story is part of a partnership that includes WBUR, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) Two years ago, Massachusetts set what was considered an ambitious goal: The state would not let that persistent monster, rising health care costs, increase faster than the economy as a whole. Today, […]
To Beat Heroin Addiction, A Turn To Coaches
A one-year pilot project in Gosnold, Mass., provides recovering addicts with daily, sometimes hourly, help from a recovery coach.
Mass. Inches Toward Health Insurance For All
The latest analysis shows that Massachusetts is close to having most of its eligible residents insured, some eight years after Gov. Mitt Romney signed its landmark state law. But a failed website has delayed the processing of applications, and some of those waiting may yet decide not to buy health plans.
More Health Insurance Equals Fewer Deaths In Massachusetts
Fewer people died in Massachusetts after the state required people to have health insurance, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health. In each of the first four years of the state law, 320 fewer Massachusetts men and women died than would have been expected. That’s one life extended for every 830 newly […]
Mass. To Drop Contractor Behind Flawed Health Insurance Website
Massachusetts is negotiating an end to its contract with CGI, the Canadian vendor that built the state’s flawed health insurance website while scrambling to fix it. The site was supposed to be up last October, offering one-stop health insurance shopping for anyone in Massachusetts. But six months later, only a few functions work but have […]
Mass. Patients Can ‘Shop’ For Health Care — At Least In Theory
Part of the state’s health care cost control law requires hospitals and doctors tell patients how much things cost, if they ask.
How Much Is That X-Ray? Still Hard To Say, Even In Massachusetts
A new state law requires price transparency, but it is still a days-long quest for one reporter to find out how much a simple back X-ray costs.
Five Lessons From Massachusetts About Obamacare Rollout
Health reform in Massachusetts — also known as “Romneycare” — had a messy start in late 2006, but the state figured out how to make sure nearly everyone has insurance coverage.
Don Berwick’s Newest Phase: Candidate, But Still Dr. Quality
The former acting administrator of CMS, now running for governor of Massachusetts, explains his “Letter to the People of England,” a call for continuous learning to improve quality within Britain’s National Health Service.
Moving People Home After Nursing Home Stay Is Complicated
A program aimed at getting people out of nursing homes and back in their own homes is off to a slow start. Organizers say it’s a challenge to find out which services each person needs, from meals delivered to a whole new apartment.
Report: Mass. Residents Paying More, Getting Less From Health Insurance
If Massachusetts residents have the feeling they’re getting less coverage from their health insurance even though it’s costing more, there’s now evidence that they’re right. A state report says Bay State premiums rose 9.7 percent between 2009 and 2011, while the value of that coverage shrank 5.1 percent. “What we’ve seen over the last couple of years […]
Patients Lead The Way As Medicine Grapples With Apps
Health apps are turning smartphones and tablets into exercise aides, blood pressure monitors and devices that transmit an EKG. But the explosion of apps is way ahead of tests to determine which ones work.
Boston Marathon Survivor Has Long Road Ahead
Marc Fucarile is one of the last two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to be released from the hospital. He knows he will get some compensation from Boston’s One Fund, but he wonders if it will be enough.
Mass. Advocates Want To Snuff Out Higher Premiums For Smokers
You’ve heard all the campaigns and statistics: Smoking Kills. It’s the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. And it’s expensive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says smoking costs the country $193 billion a year in lost productivity and health care spending. Add another $10 billion for secondhand smoking expenses. That’s why […]
Boston Couple Faces Amputation Rehab, Together
Only the most seriously injured of the 188 marathon bombing patients remain hospitalized. Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky Downes are among them. The couple was cheering runners near the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the explosions threw them apart. Patrick and Jessica each lost the lower part of their left legs. Friends are having […]
What’s The Price? Simple Question, Complicated Answer In Medicare
I wrote to Medicare a while back, asking for a price. I know nothing is simple in the world of health care costs, but I just needed one number, a number Medicare uses all the time, I supposed, to calculate payments to doctors and hospitals. Here’s what I wanted to know: How much does Medicare […]
Mass. Weighs Governor’s Plan To Tax Candy And Soda
Are candy and soda food? In Massachusetts, candy and soda are considered food and are exempt from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. But Gov. Deval Patrick wants to change that. He’s proposing that the legislature tax every bag of M&M’s and bottle of Pepsi bought in the state. “Half of the people in the […]
How Much For An MRI? $500? $5,000? A Reporter Struggles To Find Out
A health reporter tries to solve the mystery of her migraines with a doctor-recommended imaging test, but trying to find out the real cost of that test induces headaches of its own.
