Healthcare Costs Archives - Page 46 of 95

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Hits the Road to Sell Democrats’ Record

With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate — even though it’s a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Oct. 20, 2022

Diagnosis: Debt

Kids’ Mental Health Care Leaves Parents in Debt and in the Shadows

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.

By Yuki Noguchi, NPR News

Oct. 19, 2022

dentist working on a patients mouth with dentistry tools laid out in the foreground

After Congress Fails to Add Dental Coverage, Medicare Weighs Limited Benefit Expansion

Medicare can pay for some dental care if it is medically necessary to safely treat another covered medical condition, and federal officials have asked for suggestions on whether that list of conditions should be expanded.

By Susan Jaffe

Oct. 17, 2022

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally Fixing the ‘Family Glitch’

The Biden administration has decided to try to fix the so-called “family glitch” in the Affordable Care Act without an act of Congress. The provision has prevented workers’ families from getting subsidized coverage if an employer offer is unaffordable. Meanwhile, Medicare’s open enrollment period begins Oct. 15, and private Medicare Advantage plans are poised to cover more than half of Medicare’s 65 million enrollees. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, 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 topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read.

Oct. 13, 2022

Podcasts

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Checking Up on California’s DIY Insulin Project

California put up $100 million to produce its own insulin. How did this plan come to be, and what might stand in the state’s way?

By Dan Weissmann

Oct. 13, 2022

A mother with dark brown hair and a yellow sweater sits on a couch and watches her young daughter, about one year old, play with a toy.

Patients For Profit: How Private Equity Hijacked Health Care

Baby, That Bill Is High: Private Equity ‘Gambit’ Squeezes Excessive ER Charges From Routine Births

Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.

By Rae Ellen Bichell

Oct. 13, 2022

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Looking Ahead to the Lame-Duck Session

Congress won’t be back in Washington until after Election Day, but lawmakers have left themselves a long list of items to finish up in November and December, including unfinished health care policies. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call; Jessie Hellmann, also of CQ Roll Call; and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Sam Whitehead, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a family who tried to use urgent care to save money, but ended up with a big emergency room bill anyway.

Oct. 6, 2022

A woman walks towards a red brick hospital building.

Diagnosis: Debt

Listen: Medical Bills Upended Her Life and Her Credit Score

Penny Wingard, 58, of Charlotte, North Carolina, worries she won’t ever get out from under her medical debt despite new policies that are supposed to prevent medical debt from harming people’s credit scores.

By Aneri Pattani

Oct. 6, 2022

A woman in a white shirt stands in front of a dark red couch.

Diagnosis: Debt

Medical Debt Sunk Her Credit. New Changes From the Credit Reporting Agencies Won’t Help.

New policies to prevent unpaid medical bills from harming people’s credit scores are on the way. But the concessions made by top credit reporting companies may fall short for those with the largest debt — especially Black Americans in the South.

By Aneri Pattani

Oct. 6, 2022

A photo shows a woman wearing a hospital gown and sitting at the edge of a hospital bed.

$80,000 and 5 ER Visits: An Ectopic Pregnancy Takes a Toll Despite NY’s Liberal Abortion Law

If an embryo has implanted in a fallopian tube, ending the pregnancy is imperative to protect the patient’s life. Women’s health advocates have raised concerns that the needed treatment may be hampered by restrictive abortion laws in some states. Yet women seeking treatment in states with more liberal abortion laws may still find the process expensive and harrowing.

By Michelle Andrews

Oct. 5, 2022

Severe Sleep Apnea Diagnosis Panics Reporter Until He Finds a Simple, No-Cost Solution

An industry has grown up around sleep apnea, stirring concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

By Jay Hancock

Oct. 3, 2022

KHN On Air

Journalists Dig In on the Fiscal Health of the Nation and Hospital Closures in Rural Missouri

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.

Oct. 1, 2022

A photo shows Bennett Markow looking at his brother, Eli, in a hospital bed during a family visit.

The Cruelest Bills

Listen: Grieving Families Face the Cruelest Bills

KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks with NPR's "Consider This" podcast about her reporting on families confronted with medical bills while grieving the loss of a baby who received expensive hospital care.

Sept. 30, 2022

A still from a video shows Sterling Raspe lying down and wearing a nasal cannula.

KHN On Air

Watch: Their Baby Died. The Medical Bills Haunted Them.

Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In this KHN video, her father shows the 2-inch stack of medical bills generated by Sterling’s care.

Sept. 30, 2022

Letters to the Editor

Readers and Tweeters Take a Close Look at Eye Care and White Mulberry Leaf

KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Sept. 29, 2022

A photo shows Frankie and Russell Cook sitting on a porch swing together at home.

Bill Of The Month

Turned Away From Urgent Care — And Toward a Big ER Bill

Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.

By Sam Whitehead

Sept. 29, 2022

A woman sits at a table next to a window and reads pieces of paper.

KHN Impact

$2,700 Ambulance Bill Pulled Back From Collections

After reporting from KHN, NPR, and CBS News, a patient’s $2,700 ambulance bill was pulled back from collections.

By Bram Sable-Smith

Sept. 28, 2022

A man in a checkered shirt sits on a brown couch in a living room.

Diagnosis: Debt

Few Places Have More Medical Debt Than Dallas-Fort Worth, but Hospitals There Are Thriving

Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.

By Noam N. Levey

Sept. 28, 2022

A digital illustration in pencil and watercolor. A mother, painted in lively pinks and golds with vibrant red hair, holds a ghostly, colorless outline of her baby, who is wrapped in medical bills.

The Cruelest Bills

Shattered Dreams and Bills in the Millions: Losing a Baby in America

On top of fearing for their children’s lives, new parents of very fragile, very sick infants can face exorbitant hospital bills — even if they have insurance. Medical bills don’t go away if a child dies.

By Lauren Weber

Sept. 23, 2022

A photo shows a toddler lying asleep in bed, being checked with a stethoscope.

Shift in Child Hospice Care Is a Lifeline for Parents Seeking a Measure of Comfort and Hope

Terminally ill children, unlike adults, can get hospice services while continuing to receive life-extending or curative care. More than a decade after the inception of the federal policy, it is widely credited with improving the quality of life for ailing children and their families, even as some parents find themselves in a painful stasis.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Sept. 22, 2022

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