KHN Weekly Edition: Dec. 23, 2022
The Case of the Two Grace Elliotts: A Medical Billing Mystery
Mark Kreidler
A health system charged a woman for a shoulder replacement at a hospital across the country that she had not visited for years. She didn’t receive the care, but she did receive the bill — and the medical records of a stranger.
KHN-NPR’s ‘Bill of the Month’ at 5: A Treasury of Solutions for Confounding Medical Bills
Readers and listeners shared more than 1,000 personal stories of medical billing problems with KHN-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” investigative series this year, helping us illuminate the financial decisions patients are pressed to make in their most vulnerable moments.
Centene, Under Siege in America, Moved Into Britain’s National Health Service
Christine Spolar
A nine-minute public hearing gave the U.S. insurance giant a foothold in Britain’s prized National Health Service. One doctor called it “privatization of NHS by stealth.” And critics worry that business efficiencies will degrade the quality of care.
ER Doctors Call Private Equity Staffing Practices Illegal and Seek to Ban Them
Bernard J. Wolfson
Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.
Hundreds of Hospitals Sue Patients or Threaten Their Credit, a KHN Investigation Finds. Does Yours?
Noam N. Levey
An examination of billing policies and practices at more than 500 hospitals across the country shows widespread reliance on aggressive collection tactics.
Inside a Children’s Hospital: Struggling to Cope With a Surge of Respiratory Illness
Kate Wells, Michigan Public
Pediatric cases of RSV and flu have families crowding into ERs, as health systems juggle staff shortages. In Michigan, only 10 out of 130 hospitals have a pediatric ICU.
The Official Who Investigates Suspicious Deaths in Your Town May Be a Doctor — Or Not
Samantha Young
Across the country, there are no consistent requirements for the officials who investigate suspicious and unexpected deaths. Some have no medical training, others are doctors trained in forensic pathology. Washington, California, Illinois, and Georgia are among the states that have recently attempted to make changes — with mixed success.
Medicare Pay Cuts Will Hurt Seniors’ Care, Doctors Argue
Michael McAuliff
New reductions in Medicare payments in 2023 will drive more doctors away from accepting Medicare patients, physicians say. They are again pushing back on efforts largely designed to control government spending.
After Tuition, Books, and Room and Board, Colleges’ Rising Health Fees Hit a Nerve
Phil Galewitz
Many colleges require students to have health insurance coverage, and the college option can be costly. In addition, some schools mandate that students pay a fee to cover health services on campus.
HIV Outbreak Persists as Officials Push Back Against Containment Efforts
Taylor Sisk
Research shows offering clean syringes to people who misuse IV drugs is effective in combating the spread of HIV. But an epidemiologist and advocates say state and local officials in West Virginia, home to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in recent years, have taken measures that render syringe exchange less accessible.
A Montana Addiction Clinic Wants to Motivate People With Rewards. Then Came a Medicaid Fraud Probe.
Katheryn Houghton
A complaint was filed with the state against an addiction treatment provider that wants to use rewards — an effective but largely unregulated tool — to help people stay in recovery.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Getting Insurance to Pay for Oral Surgery Is Like Pulling Teeth
Dan Weissmann
A car crash left a woman in need of oral surgery, but her health insurance wouldn’t cover it. Her ongoing fight shows podcast host Dan Weissmann the weird way insurance treats teeth and reveals a big problem in the Obamacare marketplace.
Seasonal Cooks’ Secret Sauce: Heaping Nutrition and Cultural Zest
Chaseedaw Giles
Two “nutrition ambassadors” from Oldways, an organization that makes tradition and pride centerpiece ingredients in food education, invite KHN into their kitchens for a peek at A Taste of African Heritage dishes to accompany holiday celebrations.
‘Caged … For No Fault of Your Own’: Detainees Dread Covid While Awaiting Immigration Hearings
Renuka Rayasam
Covid remains a threat for the roughly 30,000 people in the country’s network of immigration facilities. But ICE continues to flout its own pandemic protocols, an extension of the facilities’ poor history of medical care.
Survivors of Gangs and Gun Violence, These Women Now Help Others Navigate Grief
Cara Anthony
As teens, these three women lived amid street gangs around East St Louis, Illinois. Now, as adults, they support the families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. And because of their past, some residents trust them more than they do the police.
Colorado Considers Changing Its Red Flag Law After Mass Shooting at Nightclub
Markian Hawryluk
In El Paso County, where five people were killed in a mass shooting at a nightclub in November, officials have filed relatively few emergency petitions to temporarily remove a person’s guns, with scant approvals.
Journalists Recap Coverage of Gun Violence, Drug Imports, and Mental Health
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Covid Response Coordinator Speaks
In this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, talks with host Julie Rovner, KHN’s chief Washington correspondent, about where we are in the pandemic and how we should transition out of the public health emergency. This episode was taped on Dec. 20.