She Paid Her Husband’s Hospital Bill. A Year After His Death, They Wanted More Money.
By Samantha Liss
August 29, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A widow encountered a perplexing reality in medical billing: Providers can come after patients to collect well after a bill has been paid.
This State Isn’t Waiting for Biden To Negotiate Drug Prices
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
March 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
As the federal government negotiates with drugmakers to lower the price of 10 expensive drugs for Medicare patients, impatient legislators in some states are trying to go even further. Leading the pack is Colorado, where a new Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board is set to recommend an “upper payment limit” for drugs it deems unaffordable. In late […]
Nikki Haley Wants ‘Consensus’ on Contraception. It’s Not That Easy.
By Julie Rovner
February 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Nikki Haley, the last candidate standing between Donald Trump and the GOP presidential nomination, insists that being “unapologetically pro-life” doesn’t make her anti-birth control. “Let’s find consensus,” she urged at a GOP presidential debate in November. “Let’s make sure we make contraception accessible.” If only consensus were that easy. In some conservative circles, contraception is […]
An Arm and a Leg: To Get Health Insurance, This Couple Made a Movie
By Dan Weissmann
November 30, 2023
Podcast
On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” hear how a couple wrote and directed a short film, starring one of them — just to maintain health insurance through the actors union.
Millions Were Booted From Medicaid. The Insurers That Run It Gained Medicaid Revenue Anyway.
By Phil Galewitz
April 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Big health insurers that have contracts with state Medicaid programs find themselves making more money even as enrollment in Medicaid programs has dropped. Here’s why.
An Arm and a Leg: Credit Card, Please
By Dan Weissmann
July 3, 2023
Podcast
What do you do when a medical provider asks you to provide a credit card upfront? In this episode, we hear advice about your options in this situation.
Giant Health System Almost Saved a Community Hospital. Now, It Wants to ‘Extract Every Dollar.’
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Melissa Montalvo, The Fresno Bee
July 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A bankruptcy judge will soon decide whether a Central Valley hospital needs to liquidate to repay its creditors. Its largest creditor, St. Agnes Medical Center, is the very entity that backed out of purchasing the Madera Community Hospital last December.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump Puts Obamacare Repeal Back on Agenda
November 30, 2023
Podcast
Although Republicans have never united behind a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, 2024 GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said this week he wants to put the issue back on the national agenda. That delights Democrats, who have won at least two elections partly by defending the now-popular health law. Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court takes up a case brought by women who say their pregnancy complications further endangered their health due to the vagueness of Texas’ near-total ban on abortions. Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Victoria Knight of Axios News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Rachana Pradhan, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.
States Expand Health Coverage for Immigrants as GOP Hits Biden Over Border Crossings
By Phil Galewitz
December 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
More than 1 million immigrants, most lacking permanent legal status, are covered by state health programs. Several states, including GOP-led Utah, will soon add or expand such coverage.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
September 14, 2023
Podcast
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
Opposition to Medicaid Expansion Thaws in an Unexpected Place: The Deep South
By Daniel Chang and Andy Miller
February 23, 2024
KFF Health News Original
For more than a decade, some Southern states have resisted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, even though data suggest it could help their residents. Today, the large majority of uninsured Americans who would gain coverage under Medicaid expansion — and who would benefit from affordable access to care — live in non-expansion states […]
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': For ACA Plans, It’s Time to Shop Around
November 2, 2023
Podcast
It’s Obamacare open enrollment season, which means that, for people who rely on these plans for coverage, it’s time to shop around. With enhanced premium subsidies and cost-sharing assistance, consumers may find savings by switching plans. It is especially important for people who lost their coverage because of the Medicaid unwinding to investigate their options. Many qualify for assistance. Meanwhile, the countdown to Election Day is on, and Ohio’s State Issue 1 is grabbing headlines. The closely watched ballot initiative has become a testing ground for abortion-related messaging, which has been rife with misinformation. This week’s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News.
Southern Lawmakers Rethink Long-Standing Opposition to Medicaid Expansion
By Daniel Chang and Andy Miller
February 16, 2024
KFF Health News Original
While many Republican state lawmakers remain firmly against Medicaid expansion, some key leaders in holdout states are showing a willingness to reconsider. Public opinion, financial incentives, and widening health care needs make resistance harder.
Cancer Patients Face Frightening Delays in Treatment Approvals
By Lauren Sausser
December 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Delaying cancer treatment can be deadly — which makes the roadblock-riddled process that health insurers use to approve or deny care particularly daunting for oncology patients.
A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?
By April Dembosky, KQED
March 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access
April 11, 2024
Podcast
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.
California Governor and Democratic Lawmakers at Odds Over Billions in Health Care Funds
By Angela Hart
May 30, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting pressure from his political allies to begin spending money on health care that the state raised by fining Californians who go without health insurance. But Newsom says the state can’t afford to.
Out for Blood? For Routine Lab Work, the Hospital Billed Her $2,400
By Rachana Pradhan
November 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Convenient as it may be, beware of getting your blood drawn at a hospital. The cost could be much higher than at an independent lab, and your insurance might not cover it all.
As Republicans Wrestle With IVF, the Biden Administration Expands Benefits
By Michelle Andrews
April 5, 2024
KFF Health News Original
While Republican lawmakers try to walk a fine line on in vitro fertilization — expressing support for the popular procedure, even as some of their supporters argue life begins at conception — the federal government expanded fertility benefits for millions of workers this year, including up to $25,000 a year for IVF. Many employers have […]
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate
August 24, 2023
Podcast
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump — and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for not giving them enough notice or a way to contest their being dropped from the program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.