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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Legal Questions, Inquiries Intensify Around Noble Health’s Rural Missouri Hospital Closures

KFF Health News Original

A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recently confirmed an “ongoing” investigation as former employees continue to go unpaid and cope with unpaid medical claims.

Temp Nurses Cost Hospitals Big During Pandemic. Lawmakers Are Now Mulling Limits.

KFF Health News Original

Missouri is considering making it a felony to jack up temporary health care staffing prices during a statewide or national emergency. It’s one of at least 14 states looking to reel in travel nurse costs, after many hospitals struggled to pay for needed staffers earlier in the covid pandemic.

Listen to ‘Tradeoffs’: Medical Debt Delivers ‘A Shocking Amount of Misery’

KFF Health News Original

Medical debt in America pushes families to the edge. Ariane Buck and his wife, Samantha, were denied care at their doctor’s office because of an unpaid bill of less than $100. A trip to the emergency room added thousands of dollars to their health care debt, which topped $50,000 by the time they filed for bankruptcy.

Two Counties Square Off With California Over Mental Health Duties

KFF Health News Original

The state wants to stop paying Kaiser Permanente for treating severely mentally ill Medi-Cal patients in Sacramento and Solano counties and force the counties to take on the task. The counties’ leaders say they can’t afford it.

An Arm and a Leg: Wrestling With a Giant: How to Dispute a Hospital Bill

Podcast

One listener tried to dispute a $1,300 “facility fee” with the treating hospital, his insurer, a bill-mediation service provided by his employer, and finally a debt collector. He didn’t win, but he learned valuable lessons about advocating for hospital discounts.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Biden Budget Touches All the Bases

Podcast

Very little in the proposed budget released by the Biden administration is likely to become law, particularly with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House. Still, the document is an important statement of the president’s policy priorities, and it’s clear health programs are among those he feels are important. Meanwhile, five women who were denied abortions when their pregnancies threatened their lives are suing Texas. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Harris Meyer, who reported and wrote the two latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” features. Both were about families facing unexpected bills following childbirth.

Planes de salud de Medicaid intentan proteger a sus miembros… y a sus ganancias

KFF Health News Original

Estos planes, muchos administrados por titanes de los seguros, incluidos UnitedHealthcare, Centene y Aetna, han visto aumentar sus ingresos en miles de millones a medida que su membresía aumentaba en millones.

¿Por qué cuesta tanto la insulina? Las grandes farmacéuticas no son las únicas que influyen en los precios

KFF Health News Original

La insulina representa lo perverso del sistema sanitario estadounidense, ya que los precios de venta de este medicamento centenario, del que dependen 8,4 millones de estadounidenses para sobrevivir, se quintuplicaron en dos décadas.

Watch: Emergency Room Turns Simple Injury Into a Big Bill

KFF Health News Original

This installment of InvestigateTV and KHN’s “Costly Care” series looks at the case of a New Orleans woman whose thumb injury saddled her with a big ER bill for a tetanus shot and some minor care.

For Young People on Medicare, a Hysterectomy Sometimes Is More Affordable Than Birth Control

KFF Health News Original

While Medicare was designed as health insurance for those 65 and older, it also covers people with disabilities who are young enough to still get pregnant. Yet they often struggle to get their birth control covered and end up with large medical bills — or instead opt for hysterectomies or tubal ligations, which Medicare sometimes will cover.

Hospitales rurales aplican a nuevo programa federal para intentar sobrevivir

KFF Health News Original

Más de 140 hospitales rurales han cerrado en todo el país desde 2010, y observadores de políticas de salud no están seguros de cuántas de las más de 1,700 instalaciones rurales elegibles para la nueva designación aplicarán a un nuevo programa.

Decisión de Eli Lilly de bajar el precio de su insulina logrará cambios históricos en los costos

KFF Health News Original

Expertos en precios de medicamentos celebraron la noticia de Eli Lilly y otros esfuerzos. Y estas otras iniciativas para llevar al mercado insulina de menor costo, a su vez, presionarían a Eli Lilly para que mantuviera sus precios bajos.