Category: Health Care Costs

‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care

Thousands of people shared their experiences and related to the financial drain on families portrayed in the “Dying Broke” series, a joint project by KFF Health News and The New York Times that examined the costs of long-term care.

‘Until It Is Fixed’: Congress Ramps Up Action on Social Security Clawbacks

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, vowed to meet monthly with Social Security officials until the problems surrounding overpayment demands are fixed.

An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)

Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills. But is this even an effective way for hospitals to recoup lost revenue? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with medical-debt experts to explore a different solution.

Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals

An award-winning project by KFF Health News and NPR found that at least 100 million people in the United States are saddled with medical bills they cannot pay — and exposed a health care system that systematically pushes people into debt.

Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals

An award-winning project by KFF Health News and NPR found that at least 100 million people in the United States are saddled with medical bills they cannot pay — and exposed a health care system that systematically pushes people into debt.

Watch: She Had a Home and a Good-Paying Job. Then Illness and Debt Upended It All.

A chronic health diagnosis and medical debt reordered Sharon Woodward’s life.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Democrats See Opportunity in GOP Threats to Repeal Health Law 

Sensing that Republicans are walking into a political minefield by threatening once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration is looking to capitalize by rolling out a series of initiatives aimed at high drug prices and other consequences of “corporate greed in health care.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hears a case that could determine when and how much victims of the opioid crisis can collect from Purdue Pharma, the drug company that lied about how addictive its drug, OxyContin, really was. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dan Weissmann of KFF Health News’ sister podcast, “An Arm and a Leg,” about his investigation into hospitals suing their patients over unpaid bills.

Dodging the Medicare Enrollment Deadline Can Be Costly

As open enrollment ends, many people are tuning out. They could wind up with a surprise next year: higher costs and less access to health care providers.

Colorado Blames Biden Team and Drugmakers for Delaying Canadian Imports

Colorado officials say they haven’t been able to stand up a program to import drugs from Canada because of drugmaker opposition — and the Biden administration’s inaction.

Social Security Clawbacks Hit a Million More People Than Agency Chief Told Congress

More than 2 million people a year have been sent notices that Social Security overpaid them and demanding they repay the money. That’s twice as many as the head of Social Security disclosed at a congressional hearing in October.