Latest KFF Health News Stories
For Medically Vulnerable Families, Inflation’s Squeeze Is Inescapable
Inflation hasn’t hit Americans like this in decades. And families living with chronic diseases have little choice but to pay more for the medicine, supplies, and food they need to stay healthy.
Watch: How Nursing Homes Put Friends and Families on the Hook for Residents’ Debts
In pursuit of unpaid bills, nursing homes across Rochester, New York, have been suing relatives and friends of their residents. This CBS News report, done in partnership with a KHN-NPR investigation, takes a look at the practice and tells the stories of some of the people affected.
Big Pharma Went All In to Kill Drug Pricing Negotiations
For more than a century, the drug industry has issued dire warnings of plunging innovation whenever regulation reared its head. In general, the threat hasn’t materialized.
No, the Senate-Passed Reconciliation Bill Won’t Strip $300 Billion From Medicare
Under the Medicare drug negotiations provisions in the reconciliation bill, the federal government would see its outlays reduced by about $300 billion. That reduction wouldn’t result from cuts in benefits. Instead, Medicare would be empowered to leverage its market power to pay lower prices for certain drugs.
Rapper Fat Joe Says No One Is Making Sure Hospitals Post Their Prices
A TV and social media ad offers a reason to check on the enforcement of a sweeping rule that requires hospitals to post information about what they charge insurers and cash-paying patients.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Her Bill for a Prenatal Test Felt Like a ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Scheme
Her doctor told her the noninvasive genetic test would be $99. When she called, she was told $250 and if she didn’t pay quickly it could be $800.
La crisis de deuda que los estadounidenses enfermos no pueden evitar
Poca atención pública se ha centrado en lo que es, al menos estadísticamente, una crisis de deuda más grande: se estima que 100 millones de personas, o el 41% de todos los adultos del país, tienen deudas de atención médica, en comparación con 42 millones con deuda estudiantil.
The Debt Crisis That Sick Americans Can’t Avoid
The federal government is stepping in to assist student loan borrowers. But little public attention has been focused on what is — statistically, at least — a bigger, broader debt crisis in our country: An estimated 100 million people in the U.S., or 41% of all adults, are saddled with pernicious health care debt.
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discusses the Senate Democrats’ plans to let Medicare negotiate some drug prices, cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and fund enhanced subsides for ACA marketplace health plans.
Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts
Debt lawsuits — long a byproduct of America’s medical debt crisis — can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
Listen: Can California Lower the Price of Insulin?
California Healthline senior correspondent Angela Hart describes California’s ambitious plan to manufacture generic insulin under the state’s new “CalRx” drug label.
Health Insurance Price Data: It’s Out There, but It’s Not for the Faint of Heart
Health insurers and self-insured employer plans are now required to post their negotiated rates for almost every type of medical service. But navigating through the trove of information is no easy task.
The Ambulance Chased One Patient Into Collections
After a car wreck, three siblings were transported to the same hospital by ambulances from three separate districts. The sibling with the most minor injuries got the biggest bill.
‘True Cost of Aging’ Index Shows Many Seniors Can’t Afford Basic Necessities
The Elder Index, developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, shows that nearly 5 million older women living alone, 2 million older men living alone, and more than 2 million older couples have incomes that make them economically insecure.
‘So Rudderless’: A Couple’s Quest for Autism Treatment for Their Son Hits Repeated Obstacles
Amparo and Victor Rios began searching for answers about their son’s development when he didn’t hit some milestones after turning 2. Three years later, they are still trying to get their insurance to pay for expensive therapy to help him.
Parents Become Drug Developers to Save Their Children’s Lives
Families affected by ultra-rare diseases are starting their own companies to speed the development of treatments for their kids, venturing into territory that traditional drugmakers deem too risky.
A Free-for-All From Readers and Tweeters, From Medical Debt to Homelessness
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Listen: Why Medical Debt Touches Every Corner of America
KHN senior correspondent Noam N. Levey joined WBEZ and Wisconsin Public Radio to talk about medical debt and health care costs in the U.S.
Patients With Epilepsy Navigate Murky Unregulated CBD Industry
The FDA has approved a cannabis-derived drug, Epidiolex, to treat some forms of epilepsy. Now people who have other forms of the condition are using over-the-counter CBD products in hopes of taming their seizures. But doctors and patients worry about the unregulated world of CBD, in which product ingredients can be a mystery.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: One ER Doctor Grapples With the Inequities of American Health Care
This episode is an interview with Dr. Thomas Fisher, author of “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER.”
