Category: Health Care Costs

Severe Sleep Apnea Diagnosis Panics Reporter Until He Finds a Simple, No-Cost Solution

An industry has grown up around sleep apnea, stirring concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

Watch: Their Baby Died. The Medical Bills Haunted Them.

Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In this KHN video, her father shows the 2-inch stack of medical bills generated by Sterling’s care.

Turned Away From Urgent Care — And Toward a Big ER Bill

Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.

$2,700 Ambulance Bill Pulled Back From Collections

After reporting from KHN, NPR, and CBS News, a patient’s $2,700 ambulance bill was pulled back from collections.

Few Places Have More Medical Debt Than Dallas-Fort Worth, but Hospitals There Are Thriving

Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.

Shattered Dreams and Bills in the Millions: Losing a Baby in America

On top of fearing for their children’s lives, new parents of very fragile, very sick infants can face exorbitant hospital bills — even if they have insurance. Medical bills don’t go away if a child dies.

Shift in Child Hospice Care Is a Lifeline for Parents Seeking a Measure of Comfort and Hope

Terminally ill children, unlike adults, can get hospice services while continuing to receive life-extending or curative care. More than a decade after the inception of the federal policy, it is widely credited with improving the quality of life for ailing children and their families, even as some parents find themselves in a painful stasis.

Opponents of California’s Abortion Rights Measure Mislead on Expense to Taxpayers

California Together, which opposes Proposition 1, warns that taxpayers will pay millions more if the abortion rights constitutional amendment passes because it would attract women from out of state. We take a closer look.

Death Is Anything but a Dying Business as Private Equity Cashes In

Investors are banking on increased demand in death care services as 73 million baby boomers near the end of their lives.

Private Equity Sees the Billions in Eye Care as Firms Target High-Profit Procedures

As private equity groups are swarming into aging America’s eye care, the consolidation is costing the U.S. health care system and patients more money.