A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husband’s ER Bill
By Bram Sable-Smith
October 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A medical billing specialist investigated her husband’s ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospital’s charges — and provides a playbook for other consumers.
California Author Uses Dark Humor — And a Bear — To Highlight Flawed Health System
By Rachel Scheier
January 31, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A new graphic novel by Kathleen Founds follows an angst-ridden bear on his quest for mental health treatment. Founds drew on her own experience with bipolar disorder.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The FDA Goes After Nicotine
June 23, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The FDA is using its power to regulate tobacco products — ordering the vaping device Juul off the market and announcing its intention to lower the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and other products. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rules on Medicare and kidney dialysis, and Congress makes progress on legislation surrounding guns and mental health. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Noam N. Levey about the new KHN-NPR project on the growing impact of medical debt.
States Step In as Telehealth and Clinic Patients Get Blindsided by Hospital Fees
By Markian Hawryluk
April 3, 2023
KFF Health News Original
At least eight states have implemented or are considering limits on what patients can be billed for the use of a hospital’s facilities even without having stepped foot in the building.
Readers and Tweeters Have Mental Health Care on Their Minds
February 24, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Congress Shelves Covid Funding for Now
March 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration’s request for billions more in funding to fight covid-19 hit a snag on Capitol Hill this week, as Democrats objected to Republican demands that money allocated to states but not yet spent be reclaimed. Meanwhile, the big annual spending bill about to cross the finish line addresses other health policy changes, such as giving the FDA authority to regulate “synthetic” nicotine. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Jessie Hellmann of Modern Healthcare join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Kids’ Mental Health Care Leaves Parents in Debt and in the Shadows
By Yuki Noguchi, NPR News
October 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A youth mental health crisis and a shortage of therapists and other care providers who take insurance are pushing many families into financial ruin. But it’s rarely acknowledged as medical debt.
Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor but Find Health Plans Standing in the Way
By Aneri Pattani
June 8, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Despite a consensus that patients should be able to get mental health care from primary care doctors, insurance policies and financial incentives may not support that.
Adventist, Blue Shield Contract Talks May Affect Many Californians
December 11, 2023
Morning Briefing
Contract negotiations between Adventist Health and Blue Shield of California fell through last week, and now the San Francisco Chronicle is warning thousands of Californians may have to pay out-of-network medical costs at their nearest hospital.
What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America
By Sarah Jane Tribble
October 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Dollar General’s pilot mobile clinic program has been touted by company officials, rural health experts, and analysts as a model that could help solve rural America’s primary care shortage. But its Tennessee launch has been met with local skepticism.
Post-‘Roe,’ People Are Seeking Permanent Sterilizations, and Some Are Being Turned Away
By Aaron Bolton, MTPR and Ellis Juhlin
July 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Doctors in states where abortion is or could be banned say more patients are seeking permanent sterilization procedures, but some patients are reporting that providers are unwilling to operate on people of childbearing age.
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.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Contagion Confusion
January 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
It’s 2022 and the covid-19 pandemic is still with us, as are congressional efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s big health and social spending bill. But other issues seem certain to take center stage on this year’s health agenda, including abortion, the state of the health care workforce, and prescription drug prices. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico 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 Victoria Knight, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.
ER Doctors Call Private Equity Staffing Practices Illegal and Seek to Ban Them
By Bernard J. Wolfson
December 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.
It Was Already Hard to Find Evusheld, a Covid Prevention Therapy. Now It’s Even Harder.
By Hannah Recht
March 17, 2022
KFF Health News Original
At least 7 million immunocompromised people could benefit from the monoclonal antibody injections designed to prevent covid-19. The government says it has enough doses for a fraction of those in need ― and it doesn’t have the money to buy more.
ER Visit Times Stretch Longer As Hospitals Face Staffing Crunch
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Axios reports that hospitals in Washington, D.C., logged the longest median ER visit times in 2022, clocking in at 5 hours and 29 minutes. Other health care industry news is on union membership, rural nursing home staffing, out-of-network ambulance claims, and more.
After Accident, Patient Crashes Into $700,000 Bill for Spine Surgery
By Julie Appleby
April 22, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Generous personal injury coverage on your car policy may not be enough to cover medical bills. Patients can get financially blindsided when auto insurance and health insurance policies differ.
Becerra Says Surprise Billing Rules Force Doctors Who Overcharge to Accept Fair Prices
By Michael McAuliff
November 22, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Health and Human Services secretary says the administration has heard complaints from doctors and hospitals about the rules it unveiled for implementing the law to end surprise medical bills. But he says providers who have exploited a complicated system to charge exorbitant rates will have to bear their share of the cost — or close.
Readers and Tweeters Remain Vigilant on Masking and Billing
By Terry Byrne
March 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
After 18 Months, Sutter Antitrust Settlement Finally Poised for Formal Approval
By Jenny Gold
July 22, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A year and a half after Sutter Health agreed to a tentative settlement in a closely watched antitrust case, the San Francisco judge presiding over the case indicated she would sign off on the terms, pending agreement on another contentious issue: attorney fees.