Category: Cost and Quality

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.

App Attempts to Break Barriers to Bankruptcy for Those in Medical Debt

Medical bills are a leading reason people get stuck in a cycle of debt. Declaring bankruptcy is one lifeline, but attorney and court fees can put it out of reach. The nonprofit Upsolve created an app it calls the “TurboTax of bankruptcy” to help people hit the reset button and rebuild their financial lives.

Clinics Say California’s New Medicaid Drug Program Will Force Them to Cut Services

On Jan. 1, California started buying prescription drugs for its nearly 14 million Medicaid enrollees, a responsibility that had primarily been held by managed-care insurance plans. State officials estimate California will save hundreds of millions of dollars by flexing its purchasing power, but some health clinics expect to lose money.

California Ballot Will Be Heavy on Health Care

In the Nov. 8 general election, California voters will consider overturning the state’s flavored tobacco ban and hiking medical malpractice awards. Other proposals to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, target dialysis clinics and boost public health funding could also be on the ballot, along with a plan to limit business and school closures during public health emergencies.

A New Paradigm Is Needed: Top Experts Question the Value of Advance Care Planning

Prominent researchers say the nationwide effort to get people to spell out how they want to be treated as they die is not improving patients’ care.

‘Then the Bill Came’: Year 4 of KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month Is a Wrap

Our crowdsourced investigation of the high, confusing and arbitrary medical bills generated by our health system is set to begin its fifth year in 2022.

Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages

Add nursing homes to the list of industries jolted by Amazon’s handsome hourly wages. Enticed by an average starting pay rate of $18 an hour and the potential for benefits and signing bonuses, low-wage workers are fleeing entry-level elder care for jobs packing boxes.

Rural Communities Left Hurting Without a Hospital, Ambulance or Doctors Nearby

Rural areas such as Echols County, Georgia, have high levels of uninsured people and profound physician shortages that compound the lack of health care options, especially in the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Manchin Blows Up Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on Acast. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dashed the hopes of President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for passage of the giant “Build Back Better” bill before the end of […]

‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Rapid-Test Edition: Who’s Making a Buck?

In this episode, host Dan Weissmann talks to reporters who investigated the shortage of tests and traced the U.S. rapid-testing problem back to government agencies.