KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Crisis Is Officially Ending, but Covid Confusion Lives On
May 11, 2023
Podcast
The public health emergency declaration for covid-19 ends May 11, ushering in major changes in how Americans can access and pay for the vaccines, treatments, and tests particular to the culprit coronavirus. But not everyone will experience the same changes, creating a confusing patchwork of coverage — not unlike health coverage for other diseases. Meanwhile, outside advisers to the FDA formally recommended allowing a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription. If the FDA follows the recommendation, it would represent the first over-the-counter form of hormonal contraception. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico 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.
He Returned to the US for His Daughter’s Wedding. He Left With a $42,000 Hospital Bill.
By Sarah Jane Tribble
May 23, 2023
KFF Health News Original
After emergency surgery, an American expatriate with Swiss insurance now carries the baggage of a five-figure bill. Costs for medical care in the U.S. can be two to three times the rates in other developed countries, so foreigners and expats with good insurance in their home countries need travel insurance to protect themselves from “crazy prices.”
How a Medical Recoding May Limit Cancer Patients’ Options for Breast Reconstruction
By Rachana Pradhan and Anna Werner, CBS News and Leigh Ann Winick, CBS News
May 31, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The federal government’s arcane process for medical coding is influencing which reconstructive surgery options are available, creating anxiety for breast cancer patients.
New Social Security Report Shows Growing Overpayment Problem Tops $23B
By Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group and KFF Health News Staff
November 17, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Social Security has been overpaying recipients for years, then demanding the money back, leaving people with bills for up to tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Exclusive: Social Security Chief Vows to Fix ‘Cruel-Hearted’ Overpayment Clawbacks
By Fred Clasen-Kelly
March 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley is promising to change how the agency reclaims billions of dollars it wrongly pays to beneficiaries, saying the existing process is “cruel-hearted and mindless.”
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 2023 Is a Wrap
December 21, 2023
Podcast
2023 was another busy year in health care. As the covid-19 pandemic waned, policymakers looked anew at long-standing obstacles to obtaining and paying for care in the nation’s health care system. Meanwhile, abortion has continued to be an issue in much of the nation, as states respond to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to the procedure. This week, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and wrap up the year in health. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Jordan Rau about his joint KFF Health News-New York Times series “Dying Broke.”
As Medicaid Purge Begins, ‘Staggering Numbers’ of Americans Lose Coverage
By Hannah Recht
June 1, 2023
KFF Health News Original
In what’s known as the Medicaid “unwinding,” states are combing through rolls to decide who stays and who goes. But the overwhelming majority of people who have lost coverage so far were dropped because of technicalities, not because officials determined they are no longer eligible.
Hacking at UnitedHealth Unit Cripples a Swath of the US Health System: What to Know
By Darius Tahir
Updated March 1, 2024
Originally Published February 29, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Change Healthcare, a firm recently bought by insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, reportedly suffered a cyberattack. The company processes 14 billion transactions annually, including payments and requests for insurance authorizations.
His Anesthesia Provider Billed Medicare Late. He Got Sent to Collections for the $3,000 Tab.
By Phil Galewitz
July 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But after the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner, it billed the patient instead.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': More Medicaid Messiness
September 27, 2023
Podcast
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient’s family for more than a year.
In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength
By Phil Galewitz and Colleen DeGuzman
February 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Medicare pays hospitals about double what it pays other providers for the same services. The hospital lobby is fighting hard to make sure a switch to “site-neutral payments” doesn’t become law.
It’s Getting Harder to Find Long-Term Residential Behavioral Health Treatment for Kids
By Aaron Bolton, MTPR
November 16, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Intermountain Residential in Montana is one of the only facilities in the United States that offer long-term residential behavioral treatment for kids as young as four. Now, administrators say they’re not sure how long it can keep its doors open.
Save Billions or Stick With Humira? Drug Brokers Steer Americans to the Costly Choice
By Arthur Allen
September 19, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Thousands of patients with autoimmune diseases who rely on Humira, with a list price of $6,600 a month, could get financial relief from new low-cost rivals. So far, the pharmacy benefit managers that control drug prices in America have not delivered on those savings.
The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients
By Judith Graham
March 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
It’s estimated that an older patient can spend three weeks of the year getting care — and that doesn’t count the time it takes to arrange appointments or deal with insurance companies.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill
March 28, 2024
Podcast
The Supreme Court this week heard its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, about an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. But while it seems likely that this case could be dismissed on a technicality, abortion opponents have more challenges in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health issues are heating up on the campaign trail, as Republicans continue to take aim at Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act — all things Democrats are delighted to defend. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Tony Leys, who wrote a KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about Medicare and a very expensive air-ambulance ride. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats See Opportunity in GOP Threats to Repeal Health Law
December 7, 2023
Podcast
Sensing that Republicans are walking into a political minefield by threatening once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration is looking to capitalize by rolling out a series of initiatives aimed at high drug prices and other consequences of “corporate greed in health care.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hears a case that could determine when and how much victims of the opioid crisis can collect from Purdue Pharma, the drug company that lied about how addictive its drug, OxyContin, really was. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dan Weissmann of KFF Health News’ sister podcast, “An Arm and a Leg,” about his investigation into hospitals suing their patients over unpaid bills.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 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.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Policy, and Politics, of Medicare Advantage
March 23, 2023
Podcast
Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, is embroiled in a growing controversy over whether insurers are being overpaid and what it would mean to reduce those payments. Meanwhile, even as maternal mortality in the U.S. continues to rise, providers of care to pregnant women say they’re leaving states with abortion bans that prevent them from treating pregnancy complications. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Centene Agrees to $215 Million Settlement With California for Alleged Medicaid Overbilling
By Samantha Young
February 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The nation’s largest Medicaid insurer denies wrongdoing after the California attorney general’s office investigated it for inflating prescription drug costs.
LA County Invests Big in Free Virtual Mental Health Therapy for K-12 Students
By Molly Castle Work
December 12, 2023
KFF Health News Original
California is spending almost $5 billion to address a growing youth mental health crisis. In Los Angeles County, a contract with teletherapy provider Hazel Health is funding free therapy sessions for all interested students. School districts are grateful for the additional support, but express concerns about the remote arrangement.