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Showing 61-80 of 3,578 results for "bill of the month"

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Readers Weigh Downsides of Medicare Advantage and Stick Up for Mary Lou Retton

January 29, 2024 KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

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She Received Chemo in Two States. Why Did It Cost So Much More in Alaska?

By Arielle Zionts September 29, 2023 KFF Health News Original

A breast cancer patient who received similar treatments in two states saw significant differences in cost, illuminating how care in remote areas can come with a stiffer price tag.

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An Arm and a Leg: The Woman Who Beat an $8,000 Hospital Fee

By Dan Weissmann July 17, 2024 Podcast

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.

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A photo of a mother holding her infant son while looking at medical bills.

A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?

By Molly Castle Work March 25, 2024 KFF Health News Original

There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasn’t medically necessary.

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A photo of a laptop screen on GoFundMe's medical fundraising webpage. Text on the screen reads, "Get help with medical fundraising."

GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility

By Elisabeth Rosenthal February 12, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Resorting to crowdfunding to pay medical bills has become so routine, in some cases health professionals recommend it.

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It’s 2026 and You’re Uninsured. Now What?

By Renuka Rayasam February 2, 2026 KFF Health News Original

Many Americans are expected to lose ACA or Medicaid coverage in coming months and years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the expiration of enhanced pandemic-era subsidies that helped people afford Obamacare plans. Doctors and researchers say there are still ways to find affordable care.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl

October 19, 2023 Podcast

Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large — often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio’s November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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A pregnant woman is at reception for doctor's office, signing a piece of paper.

Pay First, Deliver Later: Some Women Are Being Asked To Prepay for Their Baby

By Renuka Rayasam November 15, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Pregnant women are being asked to make large cash payments months before they deliver their babies. Some patient advocates worry this billing practice allows providers to hold treatment hostage.

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‘Then the Bill Came’: Year 4 of KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month Is a Wrap

December 25, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Our crowdsourced investigation of the high, confusing and arbitrary medical bills generated by our health system is set to begin its fifth year in 2022.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact

June 7, 2023 Podcast

The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program’s new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: Dancing Under the Debt Ceiling

April 27, 2023 Podcast

House Republicans passed their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, along with major cuts to health (and other domestic) programs. Unlikely to become law, it calls for new work requirements for adults on Medicaid. Meanwhile, state efforts targeting trans people bear a striking resemblance to the fight against abortion rights. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Renuka Rayasam, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a specialist’s demand to be paid as much as $15,000 before treating a woman’s serious pregnancy complication.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: Newly Minted Doctors Are Avoiding Abortion Ban States

May 9, 2024 Podcast

For the second year in a row, medical school graduates across specialties are shying away from applying for residency training in states with abortion bans or significant restrictions, according to a new study. Meanwhile, Medicare’s trustees report that the program will be able to pay its bills longer than expected — which could discourage Congress from acting to address the program’s long-term financial woes. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health and Politico Magazine, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

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Sign Here? Financial Agreements May Leave Doctors in the Driver’s Seat

By Katheryn Houghton April 30, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Agreeing to an out-of-network doctor’s own financial policy — which generally protects their ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing insurance and legal jargon — can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: Biden Budget Touches All the Bases

March 10, 2023 Podcast

Very little in the proposed budget released by the Biden administration is likely to become law, particularly with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House. Still, the document is an important statement of the president’s policy priorities, and it’s clear health programs are among those he feels are important. Meanwhile, five women who were denied abortions when their pregnancies threatened their lives are suing Texas. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Harris Meyer, who reported and wrote the two latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” features. Both were about families facing unexpected bills following childbirth.

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What One Expectant Mom’s Effort To Get an RSV Shot Says About Health Policy

By Elisabeth Rosenthal November 13, 2023 KFF Health News Original

Today we bring you the story of a patient seeking the RSV vaccine — and how her frustrating journey illustrates why it can be so hard in the United States to get an important medicine recommended by federal regulators. Hannah Fegley of Silver Spring, Md., says she spent seven hours on the phone last month […]

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The Hospital Bills Didn’t Find Her, but a Lawsuit Did — Plus Interest

By Bram Sable-Smith June 27, 2023 KFF Health News Original

Recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery, a Tennessee woman said she spent months without a permanent mailing address and never got a bill. She was sued by the health system two years later.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: The ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid

April 6, 2023 Podcast

As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News: Year-End Bill Holds Big Health Changes

January 5, 2023 Podcast

The year-end spending bill passed by Congress in late December contains a wide array of health-related provisions, including a structure for states to begin to disenroll people on Medicaid whose coverage has been maintained through the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is taking steps to make the abortion pill more widely available. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Mark Kreidler, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a billing mix-up that took about a year to sort out.

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He Had Short-Term Health Insurance. His Colonoscopy Bill: $7,000.

By Julie Appleby March 28, 2025 KFF Health News Original

After leaving his job to launch his own business, an Illinois man opted for a six-month health insurance plan. When he needed a colonoscopy, he thought it would cover most of the bill. Then he learned his plan’s limited benefits would cost him plenty.

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Readers and Tweeters Are Horrified by Harm Tied to Dental Device

March 31, 2023 KFF Health News Original

KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

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