A bill one family considered paid wrongfully resurfaced, resurrecting painful memories. It’s a scenario that’s not uncommon but grievously unsettling.
Category: Hospitals
The Case of the $489,000 Air Ambulance Ride
Diagnosed with aggressive leukemia on a Western trip, a young man thought his insurance would cover an air ambulance ride home to North Carolina. Instead, questions about medical necessity left him with an astronomical bill.
In Nurse’s Trial, Investigator Says Hospital Bears ‘Heavy’ Responsibility for Patient Death
Nashville nurse RaDonda Vaught is charged with reckless homicide for giving the wrong medication to a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
As a Nurse Faces Prison for a Deadly Error, Her Colleagues Worry: Could I Be Next?
Former nurse RaDonda Vaught is on trial for reckless homicide, and her case raises consequential questions about how nurses use computerized medication-dispensing cabinets.
No Surprises Act Quiz
A new federal law provides new consumer protections against “surprise” medical bills beginning this year. Test your knowledge about its provisions with this 12-question quiz.
Long Waits for Montana State Hospital Leave Psychiatric Patients in Jail
A backlog at Montana’s psychiatric hospital for those facing criminal charges has left people with serious mental illness behind bars for months without adequate treatment. In some cases, judges have freed defendants over due-process violations.
How to Avoid Surprise Bills — And the Pitfalls in the New Law
The No Surprises Act offers protection from many surprise medical bills — but that protection may be only as good as a patient’s knowledge of the law and ability to make sure it’s enforced. Here’s what you need to know.
Readers and Tweeters Have Mental Health Care on Their Minds
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
An $80,000 Tab for Newborns Lays Out a Loophole in the New Law to Curb Surprise Bills
The insurance company said that the birth of the Bull family’s twins was not an emergency and that NICU care was “not medically necessary.” The family’s experience with a huge bill sent to collections happened in 2020, but it exposes a hole in the new No Surprises law that took effect Jan. 1.
Other States Keep Watchful Eye on Snags in Washington’s Pioneering Public-Option Plan
Washington was the first state in the U.S. to introduce a public option for health insurance, but the rollout hasn’t been smooth. Other states with public options in the works are taking notice.
