Health Care Costs

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Latest Scandal Too Much For HHS Secretary Tom Price. He’s Out.

KFF Health News Original

Tom Price resigned from running the Department of Health and Human Services after a series of news stories detailing how he tallied more than $400,000 in private plane travel paid for by taxpayers. 

¿Medicaid cubre todo eso? Cómo es el programa de salud más grande del país

KFF Health News Original

El programa federal de salud gerenciado por los estados cubre al 39% de los niños y paga por casi la mitad de los nacimientos. Pero su aporte va mucho más allá: también ayuda a personas con discapacidades, a programas especiales en escuelas y a pacientes con VIH, entre otros.

Reporter’s Notebook: In Health Care, A Good Price (Or Any Price) Is Hard To Find

KFF Health News Original

Not only are health prices hidden, industry players are contractually obligated to keep them secret. That’s why answering a simple question — how much does it cost to have a baby in Mountain View, Calif.? — became a journalistic quest.

Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Hurricane Harvey And Health Costs

KFF Health News Original

In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the potential health impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast, and what impact the relief effort in Washington could have on an already jampacked September agenda. Also this week: an interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal about why medical care costs so much.

Facebook Live: The Prescription Drug Pricing Pipeline

KFF Health News Original

In this Facebook Live, KHN’s Julie Appleby talks with Stephanie Stapleton and answers readers’ questions about the prescription drug pricing pipeline and the industry stakeholders who have a role in what you pay.

Too Few Patients Follow The Adage: You Better Shop Around

KFF Health News Original

Three-quarters of participants in a newly released study said they did not know of resources for comparing health care costs, while half said that if a website were available to provide such information, they would use it.

In Appalachia, Two Hospital Giants Seek State-Sanctioned Monopoly

KFF Health News Original

Tennessee and Virginia regulators are considering approval of a merger between Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System under their state laws. If they allow it, the Federal Trade Commission would be powerless to stop it.

Whichever Way ‘Repeal And Replace’ Blows, Pharma Is Due For Windfall

KFF Health News Original

A little-noticed provision in President Donald Trump’s executive order on drug prices may offer a clue to why Big Pharma hasn’t opposed a bill that could bleed their balance sheets of millions of patients.