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KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured

Podcast

The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.

As More Patients Email Doctors, Health Systems Start Charging Fees

KFF Health News Original

Doctors say billing for email consultations reduces message volume and gives them more free time. The increasingly prevalent practice has also raised fears about negative impacts to patient care.

Pacientes reciben facturas por enviarles correos electrónicos a sus médicos

KFF Health News Original

Con un fuerte aumento de los mensajes de correo electrónico durante la pandemia de covid, un número creciente de sistemas de salud han empezado a cobrar a los pacientes cuando los médicos y otros profesionales clínicos responden a sus mensajes.

Why the CDC Has Recommended New Covid Boosters for All

KFF Health News Original

As covid-19 hospitalizations tick upward with fall approaching, the CDC says it’s time for new boosters — and not only for those at highest risk of serious disease. Here are seven things you need to know.

Watch: In Emergencies, First Comes the Ambulance. Then Comes the Bill.

KFF Health News Original

This installment of InvestigateTV and KFF Health News’ “Costly Care” series delves into the lack of cost protections for patients who find themselves on the hook for an emergency ground ambulance ride.

Un padre soñaba con una casa para su familia. La deuda médica casi los deja en la calle

KFF Health News Original

En todo el país, la deuda médica obliga a legiones de estadounidenses a hacer sacrificios dolorosos. Muchos recortan gastos en alimentos, asumen trabajos adicionales o agotan sus ahorros para la jubilación. Miles no pueden conseguir vivienda.

Estrategias comerciales de las grandes farmacéuticas dejan a estadounidenses sin poder comprar sus medicamentos

KFF Health News Original

Sin barreras, los precios de algunos medicamentos existentes se han disparado, incluso cuando han caído drásticamente en otros países. Los nuevos medicamentos tienen precios enormes, respaldados por el lobby y el marketing.

A Peek at Big Pharma’s Playbook That Leaves Many Americans Unable to Afford Their Drugs

KFF Health News Original

Brand-name drug prices in the U.S. — more than three times the price in other developed countries — are related neither to the amount of research and development required to bring them to market nor their therapeutic value, recent research shows. Have drugmakers overplayed their hand?

Community With High Medical Debt Questions Its Hospitals’ Charity Spending

KFF Health News Original

Pueblo, Colorado, residents have higher-than-average medical debt, while the city’s two tax-exempt hospitals provide relatively low levels of charity care.