Bill of the Month
吃瓜不打烊, in collaboration with The Washington Post, examines and decodes your perplexing medical bills.
Investigations
Priced Out
America鈥檚 Health Insurance Crisis
Common Ground
Americans are split over many issues, but helping people with cancer and other serious illnesses retains broad bipartisan support.
281 - 300 of 454 Results
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Five Quick Takeaways From a Yearlong Investigation of Medical Debt in America
Today, debt from medical and dental bills touches nearly every corner of American society.
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Tell Us About Your Medical Debt
Have you been forced into debt because of a medical or dental bill? Have you had to make any changes in your life because of such debt? Have you been pursued by debt collectors for a medical bill? We want to hear about it.
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Buy and Bust: When Private Equity Comes for Rural Hospitals
Noble Health swept into two small Missouri towns promising to save their hospitals. Instead, workers and vendors say it stopped paying bills and government inspectors found it put patients at risk. Within two years 鈥 after taking millions in federal covid relief and big administrative fees 鈥 it locked the doors.
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Misinformation Clouds America鈥檚 Most Popular Emergency Contraception
At a moment when half of U.S. states stand poised to outlaw or sharply curtail abortion services, the nation鈥檚 most popular emergency contraception brand rests in the unlikely stewardship of two private equity firms.
By Sarah Varney -
Despite a First-Ever ‘Right-to-Repair’ Law, There鈥檚 No Easy Fix for Wheelchair Users
Colorado lawmakers approved a measure that will make it easier for people to fix their power wheelchairs when they wear out or break down, but arcane regulations and manufacturers create high hurdles for nationwide reform.
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Her First Colonoscopy Cost Her $0. Her Second Cost $2,185. Why?
Preventive care, like screening colonoscopies, is supposed to be free of charge to patients under the Affordable Care Act. But some hospitals haven鈥檛 gotten the memo.
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Betting on 鈥楪olden Age鈥 of Colonoscopies, Private Equity Invests in Gastro Docs
An aging population in need of regular cancer screenings has driven private equity companies, seeking profits, to invest in many gastroenterology practices and set up aggressive billing practices. Steep prices on routine tests are one consequence for patients.
By Emily Pisacreta and Emmarie Huetteman -
Even When IVF Is Covered by Insurance, High Bills and Hassles Abound
Only 15 states require insurance to cover in vitro fertilization, a common path to parenthood for people who have trouble getting pregnant. And even for those whose insurance covers IVF, the expensive procedures and required drugs can lead to unexpected bills.
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After Medical Bills Broke the Bank, This Family Headed to Mexico for Care
The Fierro family owed a Yuma, Arizona, hospital more than $7,000 for care given to mom and dad, so when a son dislocated his shoulder, they headed to Mexicali. The care was quick, good, and affordable.
By Paula Andalo -
Private Equity Ownership of Nursing Homes Triggers Capitol Hill Questions 鈥 And a GAO Probe
In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden decried these financial arrangements, which two members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee had already asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate.
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Profit Strategy: Psychiatric Facilities Prioritize Out-of-State Kids
Nearly all psychiatric residential treatment centers for children in South Carolina operate as for-profit businesses 鈥 some backed by private equity 鈥 and many prioritize out-of-state kids because it鈥檚 better for the bottom line. The scramble to secure treatment for children and teenagers has become so competitive that South Carolina will spend millions more each year as of April 1 to keep out-of-state patients from flooding the state's treatment facilities.
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Big Pharma Is Betting on Bigger Political Ambitions From Sen. Tim Scott
The South Carolina senator led the congressional pack in pharma campaign contributions for the second half of 2021. There are clear reasons.
By Rachana Pradhan and Victoria Knight -
The Case of the $489,000 Air Ambulance Ride
Diagnosed with aggressive leukemia on a Western trip, a young man thought his insurance would cover an air ambulance ride home to North Carolina. Instead, questions about medical necessity left him with an astronomical bill.
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Campaign Contributions Tracker
Pharma Cash to Congress
A 吃瓜不打烊 database tracks campaign donations from drugmakers over the past 10 years.
By Elizabeth Lucas and 吃瓜不打烊 Staff -
An $80,000 Tab for Newborns Lays Out a Loophole in the New Law to Curb Surprise Bills
The insurance company said that the birth of the Bull family鈥檚 twins was not an emergency and that NICU care was 鈥渘ot medically necessary.鈥 The family鈥檚 experience with a huge bill sent to collections happened in 2020, but it exposes a hole in the new No Surprises law that took effect Jan. 1.
By Jay Hancock -
鈥業njections, Injections, Injections鈥: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California鈥檚 largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
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Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws to Target Health Care Fraud
Investigators allege a Texas company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes accepted bribes in violation of 1960s-era racketeering law.
By Fred Schulte -
Watch: ER Charged $1,012 for Almost No Care
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal weighs in on the January installment of KHN-NPR's Bill of the Month, in which a family gets burned over a visit to the emergency room.
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The Doctor Didn鈥檛 Show Up, but the Hospital ER Still Charged $1,012
A St. Louis-area toddler burned his hand on the stove, and his mom took him to the ER on the advice of her pediatrician. He wasn鈥檛 seen by a doctor, and the dressing on the wound wasn鈥檛 changed. The bill was more than a thousand dollars.
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Watch and Listen: Examining the Risks of Covid鈥檚 Spread Within Hospitals
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks about the risks of covid鈥檚 spread in hospitals on the 鈥1A鈥 radio program and on the Newsy TV network.