Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News

Author's posts

After Accident, Patient Crashes Into $700,000 Bill for Spine Surgery

Generous personal injury coverage on your car policy may not be enough to cover medical bills. Patients can get financially blindsided when auto insurance and health insurance policies differ.

In His Continued Sparring With Fauci, Sen. Rand Paul Oversimplified the Science

The Kentucky lawmaker was right that a recent study offered evidence that vaccination and previous infection appear to neutralize covid-19. But experts say that doesn’t mean people should be complacent.

Ouch! Needle-Phobic People Scarred by So Many Images of Covid Shots

The pictures are on the nightly news, on billboards, bus stop posters and all over social media. How can people who fear needles manage to get their covid shots?

Calling All Vaccinators: Closing the Next Gap in Covid Supply and Demand

In the herculean effort to vaccinate America, the emphasis so far has been on trying to increase the number of vaccine doses available. Soon there could be a shortfall in people to administer the shots.

The State of Vaccine Supply: ‘Opaque.’ Unpredictable. ‘Hard to Pin Down.’

Americans’ frustrations surrounding the amount of available covid vaccine hinges on several factors — not the least of which is that demand far exceeds supply.

How a Bounty of Vaccines Flooded a Small Hospital and Its Nearby College

An ad hoc, chaotic distribution system is leading to a bizarre mix of vaccine haves and have-nots.

Feeling Left Out: Private Practice Doctors, Patients Wonder When It’s Their Turn for Vaccine

Doctors say some patients, and even medical staff members, don’t know where to go to be vaccinated against covid-19.

Hospital Prices Just Got a Lot More Transparent. What Does This Mean for You?

Under a rule that kicked in Jan. 1, hospitals are required to make public the prices they negotiate with insurers. That’s a lot more information than was previously required, which was only the posting of “chargemasters” — the hospital-generated list prices that few consumers or health plans actually pay.

Surprise! Congress Takes Steps to Curb Unexpected Medical Bills

A long-debated measure to stop doctors, hospitals and other health care providers from billing patients for charges not covered by their insurance will gain congressional approval as part of the sweeping government spending package.

Supply Is Limited and Distribution Uncertain as COVID Vaccine Rolls Out

Hospitals and nursing homes must decide who gets the initial doses as the U.S. heads into the biggest vaccination effort in history. There’s a lot left to figure out.