Texas Democrats Swept Statewide Races. Now Comes the Hard Part of Solving Healthcare Angst.
The blue wave in the state on Nov. 3 now runs headlong into the reality of Texas politics and a compressed legislative calendar.
Cost Transparency
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Expecting a Baby? Five Tips To Help You Prepare for Pregnancy Costs
The cost of having a baby is frustratingly difficult to predict. The actual amount families pay varies widely. Here are five tips to help you prepare for the often-unexpected costs of pregnancy and giving birth.
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Hidden Help
Medical Debt Is Crushing Hospital Patients in Los Angeles. Health Officials May Have a Fix.
In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, a new system could screen hospital patients for financial aid, preventing hundreds of thousands from getting bills they can’t pay.
Medicare Is More Broken Than We Thought
Season 16, Episode 2At least 2 million seniors will receive notice this fall that their Medicare Advantage plans will disappear at year’s end, some without a comparable alternative. Here’s a look at this increasingly common problem with Medicare Advantage, and what it says about Medicare as a whole.
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Hidden Help
Hospitals Have a Little-Known Tool To Prevent Medical Debt. Here’s How It Works.
Getting financial assistance from hospitals often involves filling out cumbersome forms. Some states now require hospitals to identify and automatically enroll patients eligible for charity care.
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California Weighs Penalties for Healthcare Providers That Don’t Rein In Costs
About half of U.S. adults say they can’t afford healthcare. California is among at least eight states that have set spending growth targets for the healthcare sector. It may soon impose enforcement penalties aimed at pushing hospitals and other providers to meet those goals.
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Watch: Mark Cuban Says You Can’t Fix Healthcare Until Every Price Is Known
With his online pharmacy, Mark Cuban changed how generic drugs are sold — and he has thoughts about how to fix the healthcare system. The billionaire businessman talks to KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to answer the question: “How Would You Fix It?”
By Julie Rovner and Hannah Norman -
Hospital Prepayment Requirements Add New Wrinkles to Patients’ Financial Responsibility
Hospitals and other medical providers are increasingly asking for payment before providing care, collecting more of what patients might owe as rising insurance deductibles add to Americans' financial pressures.
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Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push Up Healthcare Costs
A federal disclosure rule is offering new insight on the effect of healthcare monopolies on pricing, following a wave of U.S. mergers.
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Cheaper, Alternative Health Plans Are Having a Moment, but Critics Urge Caution
Congress' decision not to extend enhanced marketplace tax credits has boosted the appeal of alternative health coverage with lower monthly premiums. Consumer advocates dismiss the plans as "junk insurance,” while proponents say patients need alternatives to pricey marketplace options.
By Sarah Kwon -
Journalists Unpack Latest on Vaccines, Vaping, and TrumpRx
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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Trump Required Hospitals To Post Their Prices for Patients. Mostly It’s the Industry Using the Data.
Politicians have pushed for price transparency in health care. But instead of patients shopping for services, it’s mostly health systems and insurers that are using the information, as fodder for negotiations over pay.
By Darius Tahir -
As Trump Punts on Medical Debt, Battle Over Patient Protections Moves to States
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
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Why Young Americans Dread Turning 26: Health Insurance Chaos
Young adults without jobs that provide insurance find their options are limited and expensive. The problem is about to get worse.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal and Hannah Norman -
A Guide To Finding Insurance at 26
It’s a difficult rite of passage for young adults without job-based insurance. Here are some tips for getting started.
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Perspective
Surprise Medical Bills Were Supposed To Be a Thing of the Past. Surprise — They’re Not.
The No Surprises Act, which was signed in 2020 and took effect in 2022, was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation that would protect people who had health insurance from receiving surprise medical bills. And yet bills that take patients by surprise keep coming.
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Trump’s DOJ Accuses Medicare Advantage Insurers of Paying ‘Kickbacks’ for Primo Customers
The Department of Justice alleges that several major health insurers paid brokerages “hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks” to get agents to steer consumers into their Medicare Advantage plans, allegations the insurers strongly dispute.
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Proposed Rule Would Make Hospital Prices Even More Transparent
A Biden administration proposal would help standardize the data on prices that hospitals provide to patients, increase its usefulness to consumers, and boost enforcement. Previous rules gave hospitals too many loopholes.
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States Step In as Telehealth and Clinic Patients Get Blindsided by Hospital Fees
At least eight states have implemented or are considering limits on what patients can be billed for the use of a hospital’s facilities even without having stepped foot in the building.
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Eli Lilly Slashed Insulin Prices. This Starts a Race to the Bottom.
Eli Lilly's news that it plans to cut insulin costs for patients will help, not hinder, the recent efforts in California and by entrepreneurs such as Mark Cuban to offer lower-cost alternatives, drug pricing experts said.
By Bram Sable-Smith and Samantha Young