Some federal employees face insurance paperwork glitches that affect their health coverage and add pressure to the stress of going without pay.
Category: Cost and Quality
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Drug Prices Are Rising Again. Is Someone Going To Do Something About It?
As drugmakers hike prices, interest to rein them in grows on Capitol Hill. Next week marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, and both the House, whose leaders back abortion rights, and the Senate, controlled by abortion foes, are holding statement votes. And the government shutdown is still affecting health programs. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Alice Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues.
Call The Midwife! (If The Doctor Doesn’t Object)
Hospitals and medical practices are battling outdated stereotypes and sometimes their own doctors to hire certified nurse midwives. Research shows that women cared for by certified nurse midwives have fewer cesarean sections, which can produce significant cost savings for hospitals.
Patients Turn To GoFundMe When Money And Hope Run Out
Medical fundraisers account for 1 in 3 of the website’s campaigns and bring in more money than any other GoFundMe category. Americans’ confidence they can afford health care is slipping, some say.
GoFundMe CEO: ‘Gigantic Gaps’ In Health System Showing Up In Crowdfunding
Fundraising for medical expenses leads this crowdfunding website and, according to its chief executive, highlights a deep national need to address the high costs of health care.
Health Care Industry Spends $30B A Year Pushing Its Wares, From Drugs To Stem Cell Treatment
Critics say patients are often misled by ads that advocate high-priced drugs or genetic tests.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Ask Us Anything!
From Medicare dental coverage to drug prices to fetal tissue research, the panelists answer listeners’ questions. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner.
Insured But Still In Debt: 5 Jobs Pulling In $100K A Year No Match For Medical Bills
An Arizona couple played by the rules and bought employer-provided health insurance. But after they had a baby this year, their out-of-pocket hospital costs and doctors’ bills climbed to more than $12,000 — and medical debt now threatens their new family.
Massachusetts Stroke Patient Receives ‘Outrageous’ $474,725 Medical Flight Bill
After a 34-year-old woman suffered a stroke in Kansas, doctors there arranged for her to be transferred to a Boston hospital, via an Angel MedFlight Learjet. The woman and her father believed the cost of the medical flight would be covered by her private insurance. Then they got the bill.
