KHN Weekly Edition: Oct. 15, 2021

Insurance Focused on Virtual Visits? The Pros and Cons of a New Twist in Health Plans
By Julie Appleby New, often lower-cost plans capitalize on the convenience of telemedicine — and patients’ growing familiarity with it. But consumers should weigh costs and care options before enrolling in a “virtual-first” plan.

How to Crush Medical Debt: 5 Tips for Using Hospital Charity Care
By Emily Pisacreta The law says nonprofit hospitals are supposed to offer low-income patients financial assistance. But the average person doesn’t know about it. Here’s how to get help.

Surprise-Billing Rule ‘Puts a Thumb on the Scale’ to Keep Arbitrated Costs in Check
By Julie Appleby Patients soon will not have to worry about the prospect of these often-costly unexpected bills, a federal law promises. Some experts say the new policy could also slow the growth of health insurance premiums.

Covid Testing, Turnaround Times Are Still Uneven This Far Into Pandemic
By Rae Ellen Bichell The availability of covid testing and turnaround times for results still vary widely around the country, some 19 months since the pandemic was declared a national crisis. A jumbled testing system, technician burnout and squirrely spikes in demand are all part of the problem.

Q&A: How Will California’s New 988 Mental Health Line Actually Work?
By Jenny Gold California Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored legislation to create and fund the state’s new 988 phone line for mental health emergencies, spoke with KHN about the effort and what more will be needed to create a full-fledged response network for people experiencing mental health crises.

Reluctant Localities Are Being Dragged Into Court to Fix Sidewalks for People With Disabilities
By Maureen O’Hagan Hundreds of towns, cities and states across the U.S. have ignored part of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and now it’s costing them billions of dollars to comply.

Health Industry Wields Power in California’s High-Stakes Battle to Lower Health Care Costs
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to regulate out-of-control health care spending in California. The effort is being shaped by the very health industry players that would be regulated.

A Wrenching Farewell: Bidding Adieu to My Primary Care Doctor After Nearly 30 Years
By Judith Graham Long-term relationships between patients and doctors often enrich the quality of care and create deep emotional bonds. When the doctors retire or move on, saying goodbye can be hard.

The Public Backs Medicare Rx Price Negotiation Even After Hearing Both Sides’ Views
By Amanda Michelle Gomez But Americans generally have little confidence that the White House or Congress will recommend the right thing, a new poll shows.

6 Months to Live or Die: How Long Should an Alcoholic Liver Disease Patient Wait for a Transplant?
By Aneri Pattani In a practice dating to the 1980s, many hospitals require people with alcohol-related liver disease to complete a period of sobriety before they can be added to the waiting list for a liver. But this thinking may be changing.

Community Clinics Shouldered Much of the Vaccine Rollout. Many Haven’t Been Paid.
By Rachana Pradhan and Rachel Bluth Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a “massive cash flow problem.”

‘Are You Going to Keep Me Safe?’ Hospital Workers Sound Alarm on Rising Violence
By Bram Sable-Smith and Andy Miller Health care workers already bore the brunt of workplace violence in the U.S. Now, tensions from an exhausting pandemic are spilling over into hospitals.

Journalists Examine Vaccination Rates Among Student Nurses and in Covid Hot Spots
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.

New California Law Bans Harassment at Vaccination Sites, but Free Speech Concerns Persist
By Rachel Bluth Effective immediately, it will be a misdemeanor in California to harass people on their way to get a covid, or any other, vaccine. But First Amendment experts say the new law violates free speech protections and could face a constitutional battle.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Politics of Vaccine Mandates
Like almost everything else associated with the covid-19 pandemic, partisans are taking sides over whether vaccines should be mandated. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling to find compromise in their effort to expand health insurance and other social programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews best-selling author Beth Macy about her book “Dopesick,” and the new Hulu miniseries based on it.