KFFHN Weekly Edition: July 19, 2024

Her Hearing Implant Was Preapproved. Nonetheless, She Got $139,000 Bills for Months.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal Even when patients double-check that their care is covered by insurance, health providers often send them bills as they haggle with insurers over reimbursement, which can last for months. It’s stressful and annoying — but legal.

At Trump’s GOP Convention, There’s Little To Be Heard on Health Care
By Phil Galewitz Republicans were once the party of Obamacare repeal and abortion opposition. They’ve said little about either issue in Milwaukee.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': At GOP Convention, Health Policy Is Mostly MIA
After an assassination attempt last weekend sent former President Donald Trump to the hospital with minor injuries, the Republican National Convention went off with little mention of health care issues. And Trump’s newly nominated vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has barely staked out a record on health during his 18 months in office — aside from being strongly opposed to abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam, who wrote June’s installment of KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about a patient who walked into what he thought was an urgent care center and walked out with an emergency room bill. 

JD Vance, Trump’s VP Pick, Says Media Twisted His Remarks on Abortion and Domestic Violence
By Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFact In his first interview after being named as the vice presidential pick by former President Donald Trump, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) spoke about his previous statements on topics like abortion.

Trump Is Wrong in Claiming Full Credit for Lowering Insulin Prices
By Jacob Gardenswartz Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.

The Nation’s 911 System Is on the Brink of Its Own Emergency
By Stephanie Armour 911 outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency response communications due in part to wide disparities in capabilities and funding.

A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Makes Money Doing It
By Angela Hart Healthcare in Action, a California medical group that exclusively serves homeless people, has tapped into growing demand and funding for street medicine services. Three years in, the innovative nonprofit is raking in revenue and serving thousands of people who otherwise might flock to the hospital for high-cost care.

Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
By Tony Leys Fewer than half of rural U.S. hospitals offer labor and delivery services. In some areas, births have dropped by three-quarters since the baby boom’s peak.

Misleading Ads Play Key Role in Schemes to Gin Up Unauthorized ACA Sign-Ups, Lawsuit Alleges
By Julie Appleby Misleading money-for-groceries ads helped lure people to call centers where some were enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage — or switched from their existing plans — without their express permission, a new lawsuit alleges.

HealthSherpa and Insurers Team Up To Curb Unauthorized ACA Enrollment Schemes
By Julie Appleby The initiative targets the biggest incentive driving fraudulent sign-ups and plan switches: the commissions that rogue agents or large call centers seek.

California Health Care Pioneer Goes National, Girds for Partisan Skirmishes
By Samantha Young Anthony Wright, a champion for Californians’ health care rights, will take the helm of Families USA in Washington, D.C., where he plans to campaign for more affordable and accessible care nationally. He leaves Health Access California, where he helped outlaw surprise medical billing, require companies to report drug price increases, and cap hospital bills for uninsured patients.

Montana’s Plan To Curb Opioid Overdoses Includes Vending Machines
By Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press Details about where the machines would go — and how they would help those most at risk — are sparse. The state has proposed using them to distribute naloxone and fentanyl testing strips.

Colorado Poultry Workers Battle Bird Flu in Heat Wave as US Struggles to Contain Outbreak
By Amy Maxmen So far, all 10 cases reported nationally this year at dairy and poultry farms have been mild, consisting of respiratory symptoms and eye irritation. Scientists have warned that the virus could mutate to spread from person to person, like the seasonal flu, and spark a pandemic.

Despite Past Storms’ Lessons, Long-Term Care Residents Again Left Powerless
By Sandy West Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.

Before Michigan Legalized Surrogacy, Families Found Ways Around the Ban
By Kate Wells, Michigan Public Until this spring, Michigan was the only state that had a broad criminal ban on surrogacy. Many families say that left them in limbo: forcing them to leave the state to have children, finding strangers on Facebook who would carry their child, or going through the legal hassle of having to adopt their biological children.

Tennessee Agrees To Remove Sex Workers With HIV From Sex Offender Registry
By Brett Kelman For years, Tennessee has required anyone convicted of prostitution while HIV-positive to register as a sex offender for life. In response to DOJ and ACLU discrimination suits, the state has agreed to reverse course.

An Arm and a Leg: The Woman Who Beat an $8,000 Hospital Fee
By Dan Weissmann In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Georgann Boatright, a patient in Mississippi who was willing to drive to another state to avoid paying a steep fee to her local hospital.

Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week.

Journalists Discuss FTC and Supreme Court Actions — And What’s Up With the Bird Flu
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.