A Trump administration Medicare rule will push some hospital patients into a Catch-22: The government says several hundred procedures no longer need to be done in a hospital, but it did not approve them to be performed elsewhere. So patients will still need to use a hospital while not officially admitted — and may be charged more out-of-pocket for the care.
Insurance giant Blue Shield of California has made millions in charitable and political donations to Gov. Gavin Newsom over nearly two decades, largely to his dearly held homeless initiatives. In turn, Newsom has rewarded the insurer with a $15 million no-bid contract to lead the state’s covid vaccination distribution.
Montana is looking to join most other states in requiring small businesses to offer laid-off employees temporary continuity of their health care plans. But the bill, if it passes, likely won’t take effect in time to help people directly affected by the pandemic.
The covid relief bill signed by President Joe Biden includes a long list of new health benefits for consumers. But many eligible people may have difficulty taking advantage of them because of the interaction with the income tax system and a lack of expert guidance. Meanwhile, Democrats are debating internally about what should come next on the health agenda. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
President Joe Biden may want to continue the previous administration’s efforts to lower drug prices and make medical costs transparent.
The numbers of people wearing these monitors are soaring as prices have fallen and device-makers promote them to doctors and patients. But few studies show the devices lead to better outcomes for the nearly 25 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes who don’t inject insulin to regulate their blood sugar.
Health provider conflicts, fraud and access disparity temper the covid telehealth revolution.
Early in the pandemic, many patients couldn’t be tested. The lack of a covid diagnosis complicates disability insurance for those whose illness continues.
Experts say the two-year expansion of subsidies for most people who buy insurance through the government exchanges would be among the most significant changes to the affordability of private insurance since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
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