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Showing 121-140 of 3,394 results for "bill of the month"

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A sign shows the Department of Health and Human Services logo outside of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services headquarters.

The Ranks of Obamacare ‘Fixers’ Axed in Trump’s Reduction of Health Agency Workforce

By Julie Appleby April 22, 2025 KFF Health News Original

These fixers, officially known as caseworkers, unraveled complex and arcane health insurance rules to solve people’s coverage issues. They worked in a little-known federal department with which most consumers never interact — until they need help.

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A photo of the exterior of California's capitol building.

Fighting Staff Shortages With Scholarships, California Bill Aims To Boost Mental Health Courts

By Molly Castle Work September 20, 2024 KFF Health News Original

A new bill would create a scholarship program for students who agree to work with specialized courts in California to get patients into treatment, but some people argue the state shouldn’t restrict scholarship aid to a new, untested program given broader behavioral health workforce shortages.

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An array of solar panels on the roof of a building with a skyline in the background.

Patients Couldn’t Pay Their Utility Bills. One Hospital Turned to Solar Power for Help.

By Martha Bebinger, WBUR December 12, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Doctors in Boston got tired of writing letters to utility companies asking for assistance for their medically vulnerable patients who need power and heat to stay healthy. So a hospital decided to share the power its solar panels generate with patients who needed help with their electricity and gas bills.

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A photo of food bank attendees picking up loaves of bread, half-gallons of milk, and bags of produce.

Federal Cuts Gut Food Banks as They Face Record Demand

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez May 1, 2025 KFF Health News Original

Food banks nationwide are being pinched by record demand, high food prices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts. As the economy plods onto shaky ground, food bank leaders hope Congress patches the holes by passing a new farm bill.

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A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receiving a tour of a food distribution center. Shelves behind him show crates filled with orange bell peppers.

Meet the Florida Group Chipping Away at Public Benefits One State at a Time

By Katheryn Houghton and Samantha Liss May 8, 2025 KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform has boosted the agenda of a conservative think tank that’s been working for more than a decade to reshape the nation’s public assistance programs.

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The silhouette of a woman standing by a window.

Her Life Was at Risk. She Needed an Abortion. Insurance Refused To Pay.

By Sarah Varney August 26, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. Patients often don’t know when or if a procedure or abortion pills are covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has exacerbated the confusion.

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A photo of a teenager standing indoors for a portrait.

In Chronic Pain, This Teenager ‘Could Barely Do Anything.’ Insurer Wouldn’t Cover Surgery.

By Lauren Sausser September 25, 2024 KFF Health News Original

An Alabama teen was told he needed surgery for debilitating hip pain. But his family’s insurer denied coverage for the procedure, which lacked a medical billing code. Expected to pay more than $7,000, his father charged it to credit cards.

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A photo of an older man and older woman standing for a photo in their living room. They're holding a school photo of their daughter.

Iowa Medicaid Sends $4M Bills to Two Families Grieving Deaths of Loved Ones With Disabilities

By Tony Leys February 18, 2025 KFF Health News Original

States are required to claw back health care costs from the estates of many Medicaid recipients. Some, including Iowa, are particularly aggressive in their pursuit.

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1st Biden-Trump Debate of 2024: What They Got Wrong, and Right

By KFF Health News and PolitiFact staffs June 28, 2024 KFF Health News Original

A debate marked by President Joe Biden’s faltering performance featured clashes over insulin costs, inflation, abortion, immigration, and Jan. 6.

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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Compromise Is Coming — Maybe

November 4, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Biden’s social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York 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 KHN’s Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.

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A still from a video shows Sterling Raspe lying down and wearing a nasal cannula.

Watch: Their Baby Died. The Medical Bills Haunted Them.

September 30, 2022 KFF Health News Original

Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In this KHN video, her father shows the 2-inch stack of medical bills generated by Sterling’s care.

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Jacob Gooch Sr. is standing on crutches in a room in his home. The room is dark, but he stands in a beam of light coming in through a window.

Super Bowl Parade Shooting Survivors Await Promised Donations While Bills Pile Up

By Peggy Lowe, KCUR and Bram Sable-Smith June 21, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Families of the people hurt during the Feb. 14 mass shooting are carrying what one expert calls “victimization debt.” In the third story of our series “The Injured,” we learn about the strain of paying small and large medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs.

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A photo of a man pouring pills into his hand.

Medicare Drug Plans Are Getting Better Next Year. Some Will Also Cost More.

By Susan Jaffe October 21, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Every year, Medicare officials encourage beneficiaries to shop around for their drug coverage. Few take the time. This year, it might be more important than ever.

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A small prison cell. There is a narrow bed agains the wall with dilapidated sheets, and a metal table connected to the wall.

In a Broken Mental Health System, a Tiny Jail Cell Becomes an Institution of Last Resort

By Katheryn Houghton April 29, 2025 KFF Health News Original

Like local jails nationwide, Montana’s small holding facilities have become institutions of last resort as patients in mental health crisis stall in backlogs, waiting for beds at the state-run mental hospital.

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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Much Ado About Drug Prices

September 16, 2021 KFF Health News Original

Democrats have hit a snag in their effort to compile a $3.5 trillion social-spending bill this fall — moderates are resisting support for Medicare drug price negotiation provisions that would pay for many of the measure’s health benefit improvements. Meanwhile, the new abortion restrictions in Texas have moved the divisive issue back to the political front burner. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interview’s KHN’s Phil Galewitz about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment, about two similar jaw surgeries with very different price tags.

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A nurse is seen from behind administering a mammogram to a woman.

Preventive Care May Be Free, but Follow-Up Diagnostic Tests Can Bring Big Bills

By Michelle Andrews June 14, 2022 KFF Health News Original

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers cannot charge consumers for various preventive services that have been recommended by experts. But if those screenings indicate more testing is needed to determine whether something is wrong, patients may be on the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars for diagnostic services.

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A photo of an alarm clock on a desk next to blocks with the letters "T-A-X" written on them.

Tax Time Triggers Fraud Alarms for Some Obamacare Enrollees

By Julie Appleby April 10, 2025 KFF Health News Original

Consumers who were enrolled fraudulently in Affordable Care Act coverage could receive unexpected tax bills — the first and possibly only clue they were a victim of fraud. Getting help may become difficult as federal workers are laid off and funding for assistance programs is cut.

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A photo of a large corporate building with the United Healthcare logo on it.

UnitedHealth Wins Ruling Over $2B in Alleged Medicare Advantage Overpayments

By Fred Schulte March 4, 2025 KFF Health News Original

A special master found the Justice Department failed to prove wrongdoing by the giant health insurer.

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States Target Health Insurers’ ‘Prior Authorization’ Red Tape

By Bram Sable-Smith February 12, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Doctors, patients, and hospitals have railed for years about the prior authorization processes that health insurers use to decide whether they’ll pay for patients’ drugs or medical procedures. The Biden administration announced a crackdown in January, but some state lawmakers are looking to go further.

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States Get in on the Prior Authorization Crackdown

By Bram Sable-Smith February 15, 2024 KFF Health News Original

Last month, my colleague Lauren Sausser told you about the Biden administration’s crackdown on insurance plans’ prior authorization policies, with new rules for certain health plans participating in federal programs such as Medicare Advantage or the Affordable Care Act marketplace. States are getting in on the action, too. Prior authorization, sometimes called pre-certification, requires patients […]

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