Bill of the Month
KFF Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, examines and decodes your perplexing medical bills.
Investigations
Priced Out
America’s health insurance crisis
Deadly Denials
Prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities.
381 - 400 of 423 Results
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Simple Surgeries. Tragic Results.
Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark
A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.
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Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns
As more Americans are diagnosed with dementia, families who have firearms struggle with ways to stay safe. A KHN investigation uncovered dozens of cases of deaths and injuries.
By JoNel Aleccia and Melissa Bailey -
KHN EXCLUSIVE
How America Got Hooked On A Deadly Drug
An inside look at how Purdue Pharma pushed OxyContin despite risks of addiction and fatalities.
By Fred Schulte -
FDA Launches Criminal Investigation Into Unauthorized Herpes Vaccine Research
The Food and Drug Administration rarely prosecutes research violations, but its criminal division is looking into the experimental herpes vaccine research by Southern Illinois University professor William Halford.
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Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback?
Kaiser Health News launches “Pre$cription for Power,” a groundbreaking database to expose Big Pharma’s ties to patient groups.
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Participants In Rogue Herpes Vaccine Research Take Legal Action
Three participants in unauthorized herpes vaccine research file a lawsuit against scientist’s company, alleging adverse side effects.
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Simple surgeries. Tragic results.
As Surgery Centers Boom, Patients Are Paying With Their Lives
An investigation by Kaiser Health News and the USA TODAY Network discovers that more than 260 patients have died since 2013 after in-and-out procedures at surgery centers across the country. More than a dozen — some as young as 2 — have perished after routine operations, such as colonoscopies and tonsillectomies.
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Listen: Got A Sky-High Bill? Don’t Write The Check.
Have you gotten a medical bill that sounds way too expensive or is just downright confusing? Send it to us. KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal talks with NPR Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep about the launch of “Bill Of The Month,” KHN and NPR's new crowdsourced investigation.
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Bill Of The Month: A College Student’s $17,850 Drug Test
Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with NPR, kicks off a series that will examine and decode your perplexing medical bills.
By Fred Schulte -
Pain Hits After Surgery When A Doctor’s Daughter Is Stunned By $17,850 Urine Test
Elizabeth Moreno got hit with a $17,850 bill from a Texas lab after leaving a urine sample at her doctor’s office.
By Fred Schulte -
Big Pharma Greets Hundreds Of Ex-Federal Workers At The ‘Revolving Door’
A KHN data analysis finds that the door of opportunities connecting Capitol Hill, the federal government and the drug industry likely spins in Big Pharma’s favor.
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University Under Fire For Off-The-Grid Herpes Vaccine Experiments
Southern Illinois University’s medical school has halted all herpes research, one of its most high-profile projects, amid growing controversy over a researcher’s unauthorized methods offshore and in the U.S.
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Grassley Calls For ‘Corrective Action’ On Abuses In Herpes Vaccine Research
The Republican senator sent out letters to the Food and Drug Administration and HHS demanding an explanation about a rogue herpes vaccine trial.
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Unregulated Herpes Experiments Expose ‘Black Hole’ Of Accountability
Controversial research methods by university researcher unlikely to prompt federal response or institutional change, experts say.
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Doing More Harm Than Good? Epidemic of Screening Burdens Nation’s Older Patients
Patients are often aggressively screened for cancer, even if they won’t live long enough to benefit.
By Liz Szabo -
Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
Genetic testing firms declare bankruptcy and wipe out debt to the federal government.
By Fred Schulte -
University Was Tipped Off To Possible Unauthorized Trials Of Herpes Vaccine
Southern Illinois University has concluded its researcher violated university rules and U.S. law.
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Doctors Make Big Money Testing Urine For Drugs, Then Ignore Abnormal Results
Medicare and insurers struggle to oversee a booming business in testing urine samples. In some cases, pain doctors’ lack of follow-through can turn fatal.
By Fred Schulte -
Taken For A Ride? Ambulances Stick Patients With Surprise Bills
Public outrage over surprise medical bills prompted 21 states to pass consumer protection laws. But these laws largely ignore ambulance rides, which can leave patients stuck with hundreds or even thousands of dollars in bills.
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Years Before Heading Offshore, Herpes Researcher Experimented On People In U.S.
Southern Illinois University’s William Halford conducted unregulated human herpes experiments in hotels near university campus, emails show.