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Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. Itās sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals ā which may pay nearly as little for the drug ā charging so much more to administer it?
A medical billing specialist investigated her husbandās ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospitalās charges ā and provides a playbook for other consumers.
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate ā even though itās a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHNās Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
A youth mental health crisis and a shortage of therapists and other care providers who take insurance are pushing many families into financial ruin. But it's rarely acknowledged as medical debt.
Medicare can pay for some dental care if it is medically necessary to safely treat another covered medical condition, and federal officials have asked for suggestions on whether that list of conditions should be expanded.
The Biden administration has decided to try to fix the so-called āfamily glitchā in the Affordable Care Act without an act of Congress. The provision has prevented workersā families from getting subsidized coverage if an employer offer is unaffordable. Meanwhile, Medicareās open enrollment period begins Oct. 15, and private Medicare Advantage plans are poised to cover more than half of Medicareās 65 million enrollees. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNās Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read.
California put up $100 million to produce its own insulin. How did this plan come to be, and what might stand in the stateās way?
Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.
Congress wonāt be back in Washington until after Election Day, but lawmakers have left themselves a long list of items to finish up in November and December, including unfinished health care policies. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call; Jessie Hellmann, also of CQ Roll Call; and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHNās Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHNās Sam Whitehead, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR āBill of the Monthā episode about a family who tried to use urgent care to save money, but ended up with a big emergency room bill anyway.
Penny Wingard, 58, of Charlotte, North Carolina, worries she wonāt ever get out from under her medical debt despite new policies that are supposed to prevent medical debt from harming peopleās credit scores.
New policies to prevent unpaid medical bills from harming peopleās credit scores are on the way. But the concessions made by top credit reporting companies may fall short for those with the largest debt ā especially Black Americans in the South.
If an embryo has implanted in a fallopian tube, ending the pregnancy is imperative to protect the patientās life. Womenās health advocates have raised concerns that the needed treatment may be hampered by restrictive abortion laws in some states. Yet women seeking treatment in states with more liberal abortion laws may still find the process expensive and harrowing.
An industry has grown up around sleep apnea, stirring concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks with NPR's "Consider This" podcast about her reporting on families confronted with medical bills while grieving the loss of a baby who received expensive hospital care.
Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In this KHN video, her father shows the 2-inch stack of medical bills generated by Sterlingās care.
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.
After reporting from KHN, NPR, and CBS News, a patientās $2,700 ambulance bill was pulled back from collections.
Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.
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