When uninsured people are diagnosed with cancer, accessing resources and paying for treatment can be daunting. The safety nets meant to help often fall short, say cancer physicians and health policy experts who study access to care. Some patients find it easier to play the odds.
Georgia is among 35-plus states that have used an under-the-radar federal funding mechanism to boost payments for hospitals and other providers under Medicaid. But a government watchdog and a congressional advisory commission say sparse oversight makes it hard to tell if the “directed payments” program is meeting its goals.
A federal judge’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act is by no means the final word. Even parsing its impact is complicated. Here are key issues to watch as the case works its way through the legal system.
Montana is one of several states considering expanding coverage of continuous glucose monitors, but insurance companies and some providers argue that not all people with diabetes need them.
A recent Gallup Poll suggests that Americans are putting off medical care because of costs. Inflation and rising rents make it harder for people to make ends meet.
As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.
Could a charity hospital founded by a crusading Dutch playwright, a group of Quakers, and a judge working undercover become a model for the U.S. health care system? In this episode of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Dr. Ricardo Nuila to find out. Nuila’s new book, The People’s […]
At least eight states have implemented or are considering limits on what patients can be billed for the use of a hospital’s facilities even without having stepped foot in the building.
Pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage ends just two months after childbirth in Texas — some advocates and researchers say that cutoff contributes to maternal deaths and illnesses in the state.
A U.S. District Court ruling overturned the section of the Affordable Care Act that makes preventive health services — from colonoscopies to diabetes screenings and more — available at no cost to consumers.
