Category: Health Care Costs

‘An Arm and a Leg’: One ER Doctor Grapples With the Inequities of American Health Care

This episode is an interview with Dr. Thomas Fisher, author of “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER.”

In America, Cancer Patients Endure Debt on Top of Disease

Medical breakthroughs mean cancer is less likely to kill, but survival can come at an extraordinary cost as patients drain savings, declare bankruptcy, or lose their homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.

Seeking to Kick-Start Biden’s Agenda, Schumer Unveils a Bill for Medicare Drug Price Negotiations

In addition to allowing federal officials to negotiate the price that Medicare pays for some drugs, the bill would cap annual out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000. But before Democrats can pass the bill under special rules that prevent Republicans from staging a filibuster, they must get approval from the Senate parliamentarian.

‘Free’ Screening? Know Your Rights to Get No-Cost Care

Even a decade in, the Affordable Care Act’s recommendations to simply cover preventive screening and care without cost sharing remain confusing and complex.

How to Get Rid of Medical Debt — Or Avoid It in the First Place

Medical bills can add stress to the already stressful experience of dealing with a medical crisis. And if you can’t pay those bills, they can linger, wreaking havoc on your financial goals and credit. Here’s how to protect yourself.

How Much Health Insurers Pay for Almost Everything Is About to Go Public

New government rules force health insurers to publicly disclose what they pay for just about every service. That information could help consumers and employers know whether they’re getting a fair deal.

Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging

The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office say seniors enrolled in the program are suffering and taxpayers are getting bilked for billions of dollars a year.

Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging

The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office say seniors enrolled in the program are suffering and taxpayers are getting bilked for billions of dollars a year.

‘American Diagnosis’: Indigenous Advocates Work for Better Reproductive Care

From forced sterilizations in the 1960s to scant access to abortion care today, barriers to health care threaten Native people’s reproductive autonomy. Episode 7 explores efforts to protect and expand Native Americans’ access to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The FDA Goes After Nicotine

The FDA is using its power to regulate tobacco products — ordering the vaping device Juul off the market and announcing its intention to lower the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and other products. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rules on Medicare and kidney dialysis, and Congress makes progress on legislation surrounding guns and mental health. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Noam N. Levey about the new KHN-NPR project on the growing impact of medical debt.