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Although it’s possible to buy travel insurance that provides some health coverage, the devil is in the fine print. Obama-era laws that prevent refusal of payment for preexisting conditions don’t apply to travel insurance.
Congress is making slow progress toward completing its ambitious social spending bill, although its Thanksgiving deadline looks optimistic. Meanwhile, a new survey finds the average cost of an employer-provided family plan has risen to more than $22,000. That’s about the cost of a new Toyota Corolla. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Rebecca Love, a nurse academic and entrepreneur, about the impending crisis in nursing.
TV ads and mailings targeting seniors tout Medicare Advantage plans this time of year, but millions choosing traditional Medicare make a costly and difficult decision about Medigap coverage, which gets much less attention.
Fueled by consumer frustration with high premiums and deductibles, two new offerings promise a means for consumers to take control of their health care costs. But experts say they pose risks.
The nine commercial insurers in Medi-Cal must reapply by submitting bids for new contracts. The state hopes the process will improve care for low-income residents and tighten accountability, something critics say has been missing.
A Seattle patient discovers the hard way that you can still hit a lifetime limit for certain types of care. And health plans can vary a lot from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.
Health insurers could do more to encourage vaccination, including letting the unvaccinated foot their bills.
Health plans’ coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy — which has a $1,300-a-month price tag — is not a sure thing.
The landmark federal health law required most commercial health plans to cover a comprehensive list of birth control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration free of charge to female patients. But health plans don’t have to cover every option, and newer methods are not included in the federal list of covered services.
More than 80 million Americans with low incomes were receiving health coverage through the federal-state program in January. The program now covers nearly 1 in 4 people nationwide.
A report from the Government Accountability Office paints a picture of an already strained behavioral health system struggling after the pandemic struck to meet the treatment needs of millions of Americans with conditions like alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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.
In his campaign, President Joe Biden promised to undo policies, particularly health policies, implemented by former President Donald Trump. Yet, despite immense executive power, reversing four years of action takes time and resources.
The numbers of people wearing these monitors are soaring as prices have fallen and device-makers promote them to doctors and patients. But few studies show the devices lead to better outcomes for the nearly 25 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes who don’t inject insulin to regulate their blood sugar.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s surprising choice of Blue Shield to lead the state’s covid vaccination effort raised questions about the role politics played in the decision — and whether the insurer is up to the task.
A provision the Trump administration tucked into its final rule on health plan price transparency requires telling consumers what they will pay out-of-pocket for drugs and showing them what the plan paid.
With health insurance that can leave him on the hook for more than a quarter of his salary every year, a Kentucky essential worker who has heart disease is one of millions of Americans who are functionally uninsured. At only 31, he has already been through bankruptcy and being sued by his hospital. This year, he faced a bill for more than $10,000.
A robust sign-up for flu shots could help head off a nightmare scenario in the coming winter of hospitals stuffed with both COVID-19 patients and those suffering from severe effects of influenza. Plus, no one knows how flu and COVID might interact if a patient got both.
Early in the pandemic, insurers expected the costs of treating COVID-19 would vastly increase medical spending. Instead, non-COVID care has plummeted and insurers have pocketed the result. Still, few industry observers are predicting broad-based premium cuts in 2021, though some health plans have proposed lowering their rates.
Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.
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