Weekly Edition: January 3, 2020
For Her Head Cold, Insurer Coughed Up $25,865
Richard Harris, NPR News
A New York City woman, worried that her sore throat might be strep, got swabbed at her doctor’s office. The sample was sent to an out-of-network lab for sophisticated DNA tests ― with a price tag similar to a new SUV.
Watch: Woman Hit With $28K Bill For A Throat Swab
A routine doctor's visit for a sore throat brought more than $28,000 in charges for one New York City woman in our latest "Bill of the Month" installment.
Paying It Forward: ‘Bill Of The Month’ Series, A Vital Toolkit For Patients, Wraps Year 2
Hannah Norman
In our ongoing, crowdsourced investigation with NPR and CBS, we’ve armed future health system pilgrims with the tools they need to avoid exorbitant medical bills and fight back against unfair charges. Here’s a look back at 2019’s stories.
Coping With Loss Of Hospital, Rural Town Realizes: We Don’t Need A Hospital
Sarah Jane Tribble
It’s been about a year since the hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., closed. The lessons for this community about meeting its residents’ health needs could provide insights for the rest of the country.
Electronic Health Records Creating A ‘New Era’ Of Health Care Fraud
Fred Schulte and Erika Fry, Fortune
The federal government funneled billions in subsidies to software vendors and some overstated or deceived the government about what their products could do, according to whistleblowers.
Reports Of Patients’ Deaths Linked To Heart Devices Lurk Below Radar
Christina Jewett
Because of a little-known federal exemption program, death data about heart devices sits in inaccessible FDA files that can take up to two years for the public to see under open-records laws.
A Reality Check On Artificial Intelligence: Are Health Care Claims Overblown?
Liz Szabo
As happens when the tech industry gets involved, hype surrounds the claims that artificial intelligence will help patients and even replace some doctors.
Hospital Group Mum As Members Pursue Patients With Lawsuits And Debt Collectors
Jay Hancock
The influential trade association has said little over the years as health systems, including those of its own trustees, seized patients’ incomes and assets. Now it is reevaluating.
California AG Details ‘Historic’ Settlement Agreement In Sutter Health Antitrust Case
Jenny Gold
Sutter Health will pay $575 million to settle a high-profile antitrust case filed by California’s attorney general. In addition, it has agreed to end a host of practices that the state alleged unfairly stifled competition.
Extending ‘Healthspan’: Brain Scientists Tap Into The Secrets Of Living Well Longer
Sharon Jayson
New thinking about aging spins on how to stay free of chronic illnesses and cognitive decline later in life.
Government-Funded Day Care Helps Keep Seniors Out Of Nursing Homes And Hospitals
Lori Basheda
The aptly named Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly provides services funded by Medicaid and Medicare that range from medical and mental health care to hot lunches, recreation, transportation and haircuts. California’s newest PACE center opened recently in San Diego County.
Watch: Behind The Troubling Rise Of Uninsured American Kids
Sarah Varney
Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Sarah Varney and PBS NewsHour producer Jason Kane report from Tennessee, where the rate of uninsured kids has soared.
One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma
Sarah Varney
Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest "Medicare for All" proposals would affect innovation and access to care.
American Pot Is The Gold Standard. But Canada Leads The Export Game — For Now.
Markian Hawryluk
American marijuana has a reputation for being the best in the world. But the federal prohibition on marijuana makes shipments across state lines or overseas a pipe dream. While U.S. firms expect the restrictions to drop in the coming years, they are stuck operating within state borders. That’s left Canadian cannabis growers to dominate the export market, with U.S. firms falling further behind each year.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Do Other Countries Pay For Health Care?
Every country provides and pays for health care differently. Yet surveys show the U.S. health system covers fewer people and costs more than the systems of most other industrialized countries. Are there international systems that the U.S. could emulate or borrow from? On this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews international health experts Gerard Anderson of Johns Hopkins and Christopher Pope of the Manhattan Institute.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tradition Grows Into $1 Million Gift For People In Medical Debt
Dan Weissmann
Every year — for decades — the Buehler family and friends have organized a softball tournament in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area to raise money for someone with big medical expenses. In 2019, the group helped forgive $1 million in medical debt.
Texas Law Highlights Dilemma Over Care For Patients With No Hope Of Survival
Charlotte Huff
The Texas Advance Directives Act gives hospitals the authority to stop life-sustaining support if another hospital won’t accept the patient. The family of Tinslee Lewis, a 10-month-old with serious medical problems, is fighting to keep her in hospital care.
Readers And Tweeters: More Than Two Sides To Every Story
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.