An Arm and a Leg: Wrestling With a Giant: How to Dispute a Hospital Bill
By Dan Weissmann
March 13, 2023
Podcast
One listener tried to dispute a $1,300 “facility fee” with the treating hospital, his insurer, a bill-mediation service provided by his employer, and finally a debt collector. He didn’t win, but he learned valuable lessons about advocating for hospital discounts.
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.
An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)
By Dan Weissmann
December 14, 2023
Podcast
Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills. But is this even an effective way for hospitals to recoup lost revenue? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with medical-debt experts to explore a different solution.
Payback: Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash
April 20, 2023
Page
Featured Story Lookup tool of payouts Table of state councils Map of Opioid Settlement Cash Localize The Data If you are a journalist who wants to investigate opioid settlement transparency data for your area, here’s how you can do that. Share Your Settlement Story Do you have concerns about how your state or locality is […]
‘American Diagnosis’ Episode 1: On the Navajo Nation, Root Causes Complicated the Covid Fight
January 18, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Explore what made the Navajo people ― also known as the Diné ― so vulnerable to the first surges of the covid-19 pandemic. The first episode of “Rezilience,” Season 4 of the “American Diagnosis” podcast, begins in the forests outside the Grand Canyon.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Shutdown
September 21, 2023
Podcast
Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to roil the GOP presidential primary field, this time with comments about abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, 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?': Abortion — Again — At the Supreme Court
April 24, 2024
Podcast
For the second time in as many months, the Supreme Court heard arguments in an abortion case. This time, the justices are being asked to decide whether a federal law that requires emergency care in hospitals can trump Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. Meanwhile, the federal government, for the first time, will require minimum staffing standards for nursing homes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 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?': 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.
‘American Diagnosis’: Two Indigenous Students Share Their Path to Medicine
July 26, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A lack of Native physicians means many tribal communities rely on doctors who don’t share their lived experience, culture, or spiritual beliefs. In Episode 9, meet two medical students working to join the ranks of Indigenous physicians.
Journalists Cut Through the Noise, From Open Enrollment to Magic Mushrooms
November 5, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
A Legal Battle Over Herring Fishing Has Big Implications for Health Care
By Julie Rovner
January 30, 2024
KFF Health News Original
What do herring fishing and health policy have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out, owing to a case now before the Supreme Court. If the justices rule as expected, based on this month’s oral arguments, they could dramatically change the way federal health agencies operate. “The upheaval caused … would be immense,” argues […]
‘An Arm and a Leg’: A Fight for the Right to Help
By Dan Weissmann
March 28, 2022
KFF Health News Original
It’s illegal for a person who isn’t a lawyer to give even basic legal advice to people being sued for medical debt. Two New Yorkers are suing to change that.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally, a Fix for the ‘Family Glitch’
April 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
President Joe Biden welcomed former President Barack Obama back to the White House this week to announce a new policy for the Affordable Care Act that would make subsidies available to more families with unaffordable employer coverage. Meanwhile, Congress struggled to find a compromise for continued federal funding of covid-19 vaccines, testing, and treatments. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Biden Wins Early Court Test for Medicare Drug Negotiations
February 15, 2024
Podcast
A federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit attempting to invalidate the Biden administration’s Medicare prescription-drug price negotiation program. But the suit turned on a technicality, and several more court challenges are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health policy pops up in Super Bowl ads, as Congress approaches yet another funding deadline. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat 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.
An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare Machines
By Dan Weissmann
April 10, 2024
Podcast
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: News You Might Have Missed
April 14, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Congress is in recess, so the slower-than-average news week gives us a chance to catch up on underreported topics, like Medicare’s coverage decision for the controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm and ominous new statistics on drug overdose deaths and sexually transmitted diseases. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico 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.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas
August 10, 2023
Podcast
Nearly a year to the day after Kansas voters surprised the nation by defeating an anti-abortion ballot question, Ohio voters defeated a similar, if cagier, effort to limit access in that state. This week, they rejected an effort to raise the threshold for approval of future ballot measures from a simple majority, which would have made it harder to protect abortion access with yet another ballot question come November. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance has dropped to an all-time low, though few noticed. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, about how the “Medicaid unwinding” is going, as millions have their eligibility for coverage rechecked.
An Arm and a Leg: A ‘Payday Loan’ From a Health Care Behemoth
By Dan Weissmann
June 6, 2023
Podcast
UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer in the United States. And it keeps growing. This has led some health care experts to call for antitrust regulation of this “behemoth” company.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': New Year, Same Abortion Debate
January 4, 2024
Podcast
Some Supreme Court justices were wrong if they assumed overturning “Roe v. Wade” would settle the abortion issue before the high court. At least two cases are awaiting consideration, and more are in the legal pipeline. Meanwhile, Congress once again has only days until the next temporary spending bill runs out, with no budget deal in sight. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, about how public health can regain public trust.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion Pill’s Legal Limbo Continues
August 17, 2023
Podcast
A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market — rejecting a lower court’s decision to effectively cancel the drug’s FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug easier to obtain. Nothing changes immediately, however, as the Supreme Court blocked the lower court’s ruling in the spring. It will be up to the high court to determine whether the pill remains available in the U.S. and under which conditions. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, 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.