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North Carolina Hospitals Have Sued Thousands of Their Patients, a New Report Finds

KFF Health News Original

An analysis of court records by the state treasurer and Duke researchers finds Atrium Health, originally a public hospital system, accounted for almost a third of the legal actions against North Carolina patients over roughly five years.

Proposed Rule Would Make Hospital Prices Even More Transparent

KFF Health News Original

A Biden administration proposal would help standardize the data on prices that hospitals provide to patients, increase its usefulness to consumers, and boost enforcement. Previous rules gave hospitals too many loopholes.

Your Exorbitant Medical Bill, Brought to You by the Latest Hospital Merger

KFF Health News Original

After decades of unchecked mergers, health care is the land of giants, with huge medical systems monopolizing care in many cities, states, and even whole regions of the country. This decreases patient choice, impedes innovation, erodes quality of care, and raises prices. And federal regulators have been slow to act.

What One Lending Company’s Hospital Contracts Reveal About Financing Patient Debt

KFF Health News Original

Within two years of North Carolina’s public university system going into business with AccessOne to finance patients’ payment plans, nearly half of its patients were in loans that charged interest. As federal scrutiny increases on lenders, KFF Health News is sharing that contract and others obtained through public records requests.

The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer’s Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers

KFF Health News Original

The annual cost of lecanemab treatment quadruples if the expense of brain scans to monitor for bleeds and other associated care is factored in. The full financial toll likely puts it beyond reach for low-income seniors at risk of Alzheimer’s, experts say.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’

Podcast

President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.

Covered California to Cut Patient Costs After Democratic Lawmakers Win Funding From Gov. Newsom

KFF Health News Original

California’s health insurance exchange will reduce how much some patients pay for care next year, including hospital deductibles, appointment copays, and prescription drugs. Lawmakers pressed Gov. Gavin Newsom to make good on a four-year-old pledge to use proceeds from a tax penalty on uninsured people to help people pay for treatment.

Medical Debt Is Making Americans Angry. Doctors and Hospitals Ignore This at Their Peril.

KFF Health News Original

Doctors and hospitals hold an exalted position in American life, retaining public confidence even as other institutions such as government, law enforcement, and the media are losing people’s trust. But with health care debt out of hand, medical providers risk their good standing.

A Mom Owed Nearly $102,000 for Hospital Care. Her State Attorney General Said to Pay Up.

KFF Health News Original

As politicians bash privately run hospitals for their aggressive debt collection tactics, consumer advocates say one North Carolina family’s six-figure medical bill is an example of how state attorneys general and state-operated hospitals also can harm patients financially.

¿Cuánto costará la píldora anticonceptiva de venta libre? ¿La cubrirán los seguros?

KFF Health News Original

Los defensores de la salud reproductiva celebraron esta histórica aprobación como un paso que puede ayudar a millones de personas a evitar embarazos no deseados, que ocurren casi la mitad de las veces en los Estados Unidos.