health care costs 11/7

As Congress Works To Curb Surprise Medical Bills, N.Y.’s Fix Gets Examined
By Rachel Bluth A USC-Brookings analysis finds that the New York plan to resolve disputes between providers and insurers without leaving patients on the hook might actually be driving up costs in the system.

As UVA Scales Back Lawsuits, Pain For Past Patients Persists
By Jay Hancock Patients were thrilled last month when UVA announced it would scale back lawsuits and provide more financial assistance, but the excitement has waned.

Sen. Grassley Questions UVA Health On Findings From KHN Investigation
By Elizabeth Lucas A letter from the Senate Finance Committee chairman questions the University of Virginia Health System about its financial assistance policies, billing practices and prices.

Grief Grew Into A Mental Health Crisis And A $21,634 Hospital Bill
By Laura Ungar She spent five days in the hospital undergoing psychiatric care. The bill she got is about the same price as a new Honda Civic.

Moved Overseas For School, Stayed For Insulin
By Shefali Luthra Katie West, an American health researcher who has lived in Germany the past three years, hasn’t mastered the language and misses her family. But not having to worry about the cost of her lifesaving medication makes it OK.

Compression Garments Can Ease Lymphedema. Covering Costs? Not So Easy.
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez Private insurance plans vary in coverage for compression garments, and some fall short of meeting patients’ needs. Although Medicaid programs cover some of these expenses, Medicare does not.

Surprise Settlement In Sutter Health Antitrust Case
By Jenny Gold Sutter Health has reached a tentative settlement in an antitrust suit brought by the California Attorney General’s Office. Details have not been made public.

Patients Eligible For Charity Care Instead Get Big Bills
By Jordan Rau Nonprofit hospitals admit they sent $2.7 billion in bills over the course of a year to patients who probably qualified for free or discounted care.

California’s New Transparency Law Reveals Steep Rise In Wholesale Drug Prices
By Barbara Feder Ostrov and Harriet Blair Rowan Pharmaceutical companies raised the wholesale cost of their drugs by a median of nearly 26% from 2017 to early 2019, according to California’s first-ever report stemming from a new drug price transparency law. Prices for generic drugs rose nearly 38% during that time.

Age-Old Health Care Debate Shifts From Insuring More People To Cutting Costs
U.S. political parties for years have argued about the role of government in providing health care and expanding coverage to more people. But as the cost of medical services continues to grow faster than most Americans’ incomes, even people with private insurance coverage are finding the cost of care becoming unaffordable, KHN’s Julie Rovner writes in a new article in BMJ.