Insurance Coverage & Costs 082621
Headed Away to School? Here’s What Students With Health Issues Need to Know
Sandy West
College and grad students with chronic health conditions as common as asthma and diabetes may need to clear hurdles to make sure their health needs are covered by insurance if they go to school far from home.
Analysis: Don’t Want a Vaccine? Be Prepared to Pay More for Insurance.
Elisabeth Rosenthal and Glenn Kramon
Health insurers could do more to encourage vaccination, including letting the unvaccinated foot their bills.
Why Doesn’t Medicare Cover Services So Many Seniors Need?
Julie Rovner
When the program began half a century ago, backers believed the benefits would expand over time, but politics and concerns about money have stymied most efforts. Now congressional Democrats are looking to add vision, dental and hearing care.
Mission and Money Clash in Nonprofit Hospitals’ Venture Capital Ambitions
Jordan Rau
Nonprofit hospitals of all sizes have been trying their luck as venture capitalists, saying their investments improve care through the creation of new medical devices, health software and other innovations. But the gamble at times has been harder to pull off than expected.
A Health Care Giant Sold Off Dozens of Hospitals — But Continued Suing Patients
Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
Community Health Systems, a large, for profit hospital chain, shrank from more than 200 to 84 facilities. It is continuing to sue patients for hospitals that now exist as little more than legal entities.
Injuries Mount as Sales Reps for Device Makers Cozy Up to Surgeons, Even in Operating Rooms
Fred Schulte
Aggressive sales tactics have allegedly led surgeons to use defective or wrong-size implants, screws or other products on patients, including former Olympian Mary Lou Retton.
Surgeons Cash In on Stakes in Private Medical Device Companies
Fred Schulte
Doctors tied to professional sports teams share in investment bonanza.
Pharmacies Face Extra Audit Burdens That Threaten Their Existence
Markian Hawryluk
Pharmacy benefit managers have curtailed in-person audits of pharmacy claims during the pandemic, switching to virtual audits done by computer. That has markedly increased the number of claims they can review — and the chances for payment denials — squeezing pharmacies and bringing in more cash for the benefit companies.
2+2=? Senate Uses Murky Math as It Shelves Drug Pricing Rule to Fund Infrastructure
Michael McAuliff
The Medicare rule, designed by the Trump administration to take money away from drug industry brokers and provide refunds to patients, has not been implemented. But budget analysts say if it were, it would cost the government money. So senators are pushing the rule aside and claiming to save billions of dollars, which they want to use instead on new projects.
Diabetes Drug’s New Weight Loss Formula Fuels Cost-Benefit Debate
Julie Appleby
Health plans’ coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy — which has a $1,300-a-month price tag — is not a sure thing.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Meet the Mississippi Lawyer Who Helped Start the Fight for Charity Care
Dan Weissmann
The man famous for taking on Big Tobacco in the '90s, and winning, launched a series of ill-fated national lawsuits against nonprofit hospitals. This episode is the first in a series looking at the origins of charity care.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Booster Time
As the delta variant continues to spread around the U.S., the Biden administration is taking steps to authorize covid vaccine boosters, require nursing home workers to be vaccinated and protect school officials who want to require masks despite state laws banning those mandates. Meanwhile, the U.S. House is returning from its summer break early to start work on its giant budget bill, which includes a long list of health policy changes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Senate Acts
The U.S. Senate worked well into its scheduled August recess to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget blueprint that outlines a much larger bill — covering key health priorities — to be written this fall. Meanwhile, the latest surge of covid is making both employers and schools rethink their opening plans. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Análisis: ¿No quieres una vacuna? Prepárate para pagar más por tu seguro de salud
Elisabeth Rosenthal and Glenn Kramon
A pesar de que las compañías de seguros negocian precios más bajos y cubren gran parte del costo de la atención, los costos asociados al tratamiento de covid deberían ser un incentivo bastante aterrador.
Readers and Tweeters Ponder Vaccines and Points of Fairness
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.