Attorney General Rob Bonta handily won election on a progressive, social justice platform. He’s already begun with an inquiry into hospital software programs that might bake in racial discrimination.
Category: Hospitals
How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills
Hospitals strike deals with financing companies, generating profits for lenders, and more debt for patients.
Fight Over Health Care Minimum Wage Yields a Split Decision in Southern California
Voters in Inglewood were poised to approve a union-backed $25 minimum wage for workers at private hospitals and facilities, while Duarte voters rejected it.
KFF’s Kaiser Health News Investigates Private Equity’s Stealth Takeover of Health Care in the United States
A new investigation by KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) lays bare the sizeable efforts by private equity investors to take over large and lucrative parts of the U.S health care system in recent years. KHN found that private equity firms have invested nea…
Cost of COVID-19 Hospital Admissions among People with Private Health Coverage
This analysis examines the cost of COVID-19 treatment for inpatient care among people with health coverage through large employers. It finds that in 2020, COVID-19 hospitalizations cost an average of $41,611, including an average out-of-pocket payment …
Hospital Giant HCA Fends Off Accusations of Questionable Inpatient Admissions
The nation’s largest private health system, HCA Healthcare, has faced years of scrutiny over its share of emergency room patients who are admitted to the hospital. And now U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat from New Jersey, is calling for a federal investigation, prompting an escalating defense by the hospital system, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hospital Charity Care: How It Works and Why It Matters
This issue brief examines the role that hospital charity care programs play in helping patients who are unable to afford their care. It describes how hospital charity care programs work, the amount of charity care that hospitals provide, relevant feder…
Half of All Hospitals Have Charity Care Costs That Represent 1.4% or Less of Their Operating Expenses
Half of hospitals reported that the cost of providing charity care to patients represented 1.4% or less of their operating expenses in 2020, though the rates vary widely from hospital to hospital, a new KFF analysis finds. Based on a review of hospital…
Haven’t Seen Your Doctor in a Few Years? You May Need to Find a New One
Some primary care physicians will drop seldom-seen patients. That’s a particular problem for those who postponed doctor visits during the pandemic.
Cash for Colonoscopies: Colorado Tries to Lower Health Costs Through Incentives
State employees could receive checks ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars if they choose the right provider.
