Investigations

Profit Strategy: Psychiatric Facilities Prioritize Out-of-State Kids

Nearly all psychiatric residential treatment centers for children in South Carolina operate as for-profit businesses — some backed by private equity — and many prioritize out-of-state kids because it’s better for the bottom line. The scramble to secure treatment for children and teenagers has become so competitive that South Carolina will spend millions more each year as of April 1 to keep out-of-state patients from flooding the state’s treatment facilities.

The Case of the $489,000 Air Ambulance Ride

Diagnosed with aggressive leukemia on a Western trip, a young man thought his insurance would cover an air ambulance ride home to North Carolina. Instead, questions about medical necessity left him with an astronomical bill.

An $80,000 Tab for Newborns Lays Out a Loophole in the New Law to Curb Surprise Bills

The insurance company said that the birth of the Bull family’s twins was not an emergency and that NICU care was “not medically necessary.” The family’s experience with a huge bill sent to collections happened in 2020, but it exposes a hole in the new No Surprises law that took effect Jan. 1.

‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain

In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California’s largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.

The Doctor Didn’t Show Up, but the Hospital ER Still Charged $1,012

A St. Louis-area toddler burned his hand on the stove, and his mom took him to the ER on the advice of her pediatrician. He wasn’t seen by a doctor, and the dressing on the wound wasn’t changed. The bill was more than a thousand dollars.

NICU Bill Installment Plan: That’ll Be $45,843 a Month for 12 Months, Please

After baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and spent more than 50 days in the neonatal ICU, his parents received a bill of more than $550,000 — despite having insurance. The Florida hospital had a not-so-helpful suggestion: monthly payments of more than $45,000 for a year.