Latest KFF Health News Stories
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dealing With Drug Prices
Medicare officials tentatively plan to restrict the use of a controversial Alzheimer’s drug to only those patients participating in clinical trials, while the Department of Health and Human Services looks into lowering the monthly Medicare Part B premium. Meanwhile, covid confusion still reigns, as the Biden administration moves, belatedly, to make more masks and tests available. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
South Dakota Voters to Decide Medicaid Expansion
Despite state Republican leaders’ rigid opposition to expanding the health program designed for low-income residents, advocates successfully gathered enough signatures to get the measure on the fall ballot.
With Sexually Transmitted Infections Off the Charts, California Pushes At-Home Tests
A new law makes California the first state to require that health insurance plans, including Medicaid, cover home STI tests. But some details still need to be worked out.
Con récord de infecciones de transmisión sexual, California impulsa las pruebas caseras
California se ha convertido en el primer estado en exigir que los seguros médicos cubran las pruebas caseras para infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) como el VIH, la clamidia y la sífilis.
An Anesthesiology Practice’s Busy Day in Court Collecting on Surprise Bills
Legislative crackdowns on out-of-network bills haven’t kept specialists from hitting patients with unexpected charges running into thousands of dollars.
Record Number of Americans Sign Up for ACA Health Insurance
Nearly 14 million Americans have enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace health plans for next year — a record since the health law’s coverage expansion took effect in 2014. A boost in subsidies marketing and assistance in navigating the process increased the rolls of the insured.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Manchin Blows Up Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dealt a blow to congressional efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda bill, forcing Democrats to regroup starting in 2022. Meanwhile, the omicron covid variant spreads rapidly in the U.S., threatening the stability of the nation’s health care system. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more, plus a look back at the year in health policy. Also this week, Rovner interviews Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.
New Parents Slapped With Surprise Bills for Treating Newborns
Regular use of a more advanced screening method turns a low-cost procedure into a pricier one.
Layers of Subcontracted Services Confuse and Frustrate Medi-Cal Patients
Many of the 14 million patients in Medi-Cal are in managed care health plans that outsource their care to subcontractors or sub-subcontractors. For patients with difficult health care needs, it can be hard to know where to turn.
NICU Bill Installment Plan: That’ll Be $45,843 a Month for 12 Months, Please
After baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and spent more than 50 days in the neonatal ICU, his parents received a bill of more than $550,000 — despite having insurance. The Florida hospital had a not-so-helpful suggestion: monthly payments of more than $45,000 for a year.
The letters function as liens that “protect” spine surgery clinics while patients could be left with inflated medical bills and unexpected health risks.
Covered California’s Insurance Deals Range From ‘No-Brainer’ to Sticker Shock
Families of four with incomes of less than about $40,000 a year can pay no premiums and have low deductibles. For some others, health insurance in 2022 will cost more than in 2021 — in some cases, significantly more.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: She Fights Health Insurers for Fun — And Wins
Law professor Jackie Fox looks at health insurance policies like any other contract, and she has spent 30 years making sound legal arguments to help patients get the care they need.
Post-Pandemic, What’s a Phone Call From Your Physician Worth?
Medicare billing codes for audio-only follow-up check-ins lead to new reimbursement battles.
A Tale of Two Medicaid Expansions: Oklahoma Jumps In, While Missouri Lags
Voters in Missouri and Oklahoma approved Medicaid expansion to begin in 2021. But while Oklahoma has enrolled over 200,000 people so far, Missouri has enrolled fewer than 20,000. Why are two such similar states handling the public insurance rollout so differently?
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How to Avoid the Worst Health Insurance
Listen to a journalist’s first-person horror story on shopping for health insurance — and learn how to avoid the pitfalls.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Insurance Warrior’s Battle Plan
Health care — and how much it costs — is scary. But knowledge is power. Take a master class in winning insurance appeals. In the case of Matthew Lientz, taking on his insurance also meant going up against his employer.
Stranded by the Pandemic, He Had Only Travel Insurance. It Left Him With a $38,000 Bill.
Although it’s possible to buy travel insurance that provides some health coverage, the devil is in the fine print. Obama-era laws that prevent refusal of payment for preexisting conditions don’t apply to travel insurance.
Patients Get Stranded Out of Network as Insurer-Hospital Contract Talks Fall Apart
As hospital systems and insurers adjust to the pandemic, their contract negotiations grow increasingly fraught. Contracts for in-network care are ending without a new deal, leaving patients suddenly with out-of-network bills or scrambling to find new in-network providers.
Missouri’s Thin Dental Safety Net Stretched Amid Medicaid Expansion
An estimated 275,000 Missouri adults can get dental insurance now as the state has expanded who is eligible for Medicaid. But with so few dentists participating in the program, the state’s already-backlogged dental clinics are facing a glut of new clients.
