Category: Health Care Costs

Benefit Trend: Employers Opt To Give Workers an Allowance for Coverage

Employers are showing interest in a type of health reimbursement account that gives workers a contribution to choose and buy their own plans, rather than participating in group plans.

How Minnesota Figures Into the Presidential Politics of Insulin Prices

Minnesota led the way on insulin affordability, culminating in 2020 when Gov. Tim Walz signed a law going further to cut costs than other state laws. Now, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are vying for support from people with diabetes.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Congress Punts to a Looming Lame-Duck Session

Congress left Washington for the campaign trail this week, but not before approving a spending bill that expires shortly before Christmas. Lawmakers will be busy after the election working on not just the legislation needed to keep the government running, but also several health programs set to expire. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to downplay abortion as Democrats press it as a campaign issue. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

In Chronic Pain, This Teenager ‘Could Barely Do Anything.’ Insurer Wouldn’t Cover Surgery.

An Alabama teen was told he needed surgery for debilitating hip pain. But his family’s insurer denied coverage for the procedure, which lacked a medical billing code. Expected to pay more than $7,000, his father charged it to credit cards.

California Governor Signs Law Banning Medical Debt From Credit Reports

New California legislation will bar unpaid medical bills from showing up on consumer credit reports starting in January. However, the banking industry muscled in eleventh-hour amendments that weakened the protections for patients, the bill’s lead sponsor says.

Vance Rewrites History About Trump and Obamacare

During the Trump administration, enrollment in Affordable Care Act health plans fell by more than 2 million people and the number of uninsured Americans rose.

Across North Carolina, Medical Debt Exacts a Heavy Toll

The state has among the highest levels of medical debt in the country, data shows.

How North Carolina Made Its Hospitals Do Something About Medical Debt

State officials threatened to withhold public money from hospitals, pioneering a strategy that could become a national model.

These Alabama Workers Were Swamped by Medical Debt. Then Their Employer Stepped In.

A decades-old manufacturing company opened a clinic and made primary care and prescriptions free for employees and their families.

Tennessee Tries To Rein In Ballad’s Hospital Monopoly After Years of Problems

Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system with the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, serves patients in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.