Author's posts
Congress Acts To Spare Consumers From Costly Surprise Medical Bills
Congress has passed a long-debated measure to stop health care providers from billing patients for charges not covered by their insurance. Here’s how the new protection works.
Hey, COVID-19 Long-Haulers: Take Care In Shopping For Health Insurance
Anyone with lingering effects of COVID-19 should be extra careful in picking a 2021 health plan, specialists say. You now have a “pre-existing condition” that could increase medical expenses in 2021.
A Kid, A Minor Bike Accident And A $19,000 Medical Bill
It was a surprise even for a family of lawyers. A process called “subrogation” began with a Nevada family’s health insurer denying their claim for an ER visit after their 9-year-old fell off his bike.
How To Tell A Real COVID-19 Contact Tracer’s Call From A Scammer’s
A loved one’s health could depend on the truth if you get a call from a real contact tracer about your exposure to the coronavirus. But beware impostors who ask you for payment or to click on a link.
Early Coronavirus Testing Restrictions Led To Some Big ER Bills
People with COVID-19 symptoms in March and April were often billed for expensive scans and bloodwork because they didn’t qualify back then for a confirmatory coronavirus test. Some are crying foul.
Why It Takes So Long To Get Most COVID-19 Test Results
Even many symptomatic patients and exposed health workers who are able to get a COVID-19 test must wait nearly a week to get results. Others get results in hours. Here’s why it varies so much.
A $41,212 Surgery Bill Compounded A Patient’s Appendicitis Pain
A young man averted disaster after a friend took him to the nearest hospital just before his appendix burst. But more than a year later, he’s still facing a huge bill for his out-of-network surgery.
Some Parts Of Trump’s Executive Order On Medicare Could Lead To Higher Costs
Reviving ideas that were argued over in the 1990s, Trump’s new order on Medicare could have some unintended consequences, depending how its implemented.
What Would Trumpcare Look Like? Follow GOP’s ‘Choice And Competition’ Clues
President Trump promises he has a “phenomenal” health plan if the ACA is overturned in court. Here’s a glimpse, according to analysts and his advisers, of what might be included in a GOP health plan.
Trump Team’s Bid To Make Hospital Costs More Transparent Is Data-Heavy
The administration’s rules would require hospitals to provide far more detail about the actual prices they charge insurers for medical care. Would patients welcome the data, or feel overwhelmed?
