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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

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.

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.